Custer Rallies for 13th at Phoenix
HaasTooling.com Ford Driver Earns Eighth Top-15 of 2021 in Season Finale

Date: Nov. 7, 2021
Event: Season Finale 500 (Round 36 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Phoenix Raceway (1-mile oval)
Format: 312 laps, broken into three stages (75 laps/115 laps/122 laps)
Start/Finish: 7th / 13th (Running, completed 312 of 312 laps)
Point Standing: 26th with 575 points
Champion: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Race Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Martin Truex Jr. of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-75):

● Cole Custer started seventh and finished seventh, earning four bonus points.

● The No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang fired off tight at the beginning of the 312-lap race at Phoenix. Custer reported that he struggled with his racecar in turn three. He fell back to 16th before the caution came out on lap seven.

● Crew chief Mike Shiplett made the call to keep his driver out on track during the initial caution to stay on a similar pit strategy to the leaders.

● The yellow flag came out just three laps after the lap-12 restart while Custer was running 13th. He pitted for four tires, fuel and a minor adjustment to combat a tight Ford Mustang.

● When the race restarted on lap 21, the No. 41 HaasTooling.com driver was 19th. He worked his way back into the top-10 by lap 45.

● As the rest of the stage went caution-free, Custer worked his way all the way up to seventh, where he finished the stage.

● During the stage break, the 23-year-old driver reported that his car was good but could be tightened up a bit after the last run. The No. 41 HaasTooling.com team pitted for four tires, fuel and a trackbar adjustment.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 76-190):

● Custer started 13th and finished 18th.

● The Ladera Ranch, California, native struggled with the short-run speed on his Ford Mustang during the opening laps of the second stage.

● When the caution came out on lap 129, the No. 41 HaasTooling.com driver was running 12th. The team took the opportunity to pit for four tires, fuel and a minor adjustment.

● Custer reported during the lap-154 caution that his Ford Mustang was “building tight.” The team pitted again for four tires, fuel and another minor adjustment.

● As the stage continued, the No. 41 HaasTooling.com driver was unable to overcome the balance issues and finished 18th.

● The team pitted during the stage break for four tires, fuel and an adjustment.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 191-312):

● Custer started 18th and finished 13th.

● After the initial restart of final stage, the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang fell back to 23rd as Custer continued to struggle with the balance of his racecar.

● The 23-year-old driver broke back into the top-20 by lap 202 and continued to gain spots from there. He was quiet on the radio during the opening laps and worked his way up to 15th before green-flag pit stops began.

● On lap 245, Shiplett called the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang to pit road for a scheduled stop to put on four fresh tires, fill up on fuel and make another small adjustment. Unfortunately, the caution came out just three laps later while Custer was running 24th, one lap down. The team took the wave-around under caution to get its lap back.

● Custer restarted 24th on lap 255. He raced up to 20th by the time the caution came out again on lap 283. The No. 41 HaasTooling.com driver came to pit road for a trackbar adjustment and four tires. He restarted 18th.

● On the final restart on lap 288, Custer was on a mission. He worked his way up to 13th by the checkered flag to earn his eighth top-15 of 2021.

Notes:

● Custer earned his eighth top-15 of the season and his second top-15 in four career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Phoenix.

● Kyle Larson won the Season Finale 500 to score his 16th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his series-high 10th of the season and his first at Phoenix. His margin over second-place Martin Truex Jr., was .398 of a second.

● Larson earned his first NASCAR Cup Series championship by virtue of his win. He is the 35th different driver to win the series title.

● There were nine caution periods for a total of 51 laps.

● Only 24 of the 39 drivers in the Season Finale 500 finished on the lead lap.

Cole Custer, driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“We started off strong today and finished in the top-10 in the first stage but then started to really struggle with the balance on our racecar in the second stage. That caution during green-flag pit stops in the final stage put us back, but we were able to recover for a top-15. Thankful for the support this season from all of our sponsors, Ford Performance and SHR. We learned a lot this season and will continue to build in 2022.”

Next Up:

The 2022 season begins with a non-points exhibition race Feb. 6 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before kicking off its 36-race slate of points-paying events with the 64th Daytona 500 on Feb. 20 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. FS1 will broadcast the Busch Clash at the Coliseum, and FOX will broadcast the Daytona 500. Each event will be live and can also be heard on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Almirola Finishes Sixth at Phoenix Finale
Smithfield Driver Caps Off Season With Back-to-Back Sixth-Place Results

Date: Nov. 7, 2021
Event: Season Finale 500 (Round 36 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Phoenix Raceway (1-mile oval)
Format: 312 laps, broken into three stages (75 laps/115 laps/122 laps)
Start/Finish: 18th / 6th (Running, completed 312 of 312 laps)
Point Standing: 15th with 2,215 points
Champion: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Race Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Martin Truex Jr. of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-75):

● Aric Almirola started 18th and finished 12th.

● Almirola raced the Smithfield Ford Mustang to 14th before a caution on lap 15.

● He pitted for four fresh tires and fuel to restart 20th due to multiple cars staying out of the pits.

● The Smithfield driver continued to advance, but he said he could use more side bite and turn in the middle of the exit.

● Almirola pitted at the end of the stage for four tires, fuel and chassis adjustments.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 76-190):

● Almirola started 12th and finished 14th.

● The Smithfield Ford driver entered the top-10 on lap 95 and raced to ninth on lap 107.

● Almirola pitted for four tires, fuel and adjustments during a lap-130 caution.

● He restarted 12th and raced back to ninth before another caution on lap 140.

● Almirola was served a speeding penalty on pit road and was forced to restart at the rear of the field.

● The Smithfield driver raced all the way back inside the top-15 by the end of the stage.

● He pitted at the end of the stage for four tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 191-312):

● Almirola started 11th and finished sixth.

● Almirola raced back inside the top-10 on the restart and had advanced to seventh on lap 238.

● A caution was called on lap 248 with Almirola in the fifth position.

● The Smithfield driver restarted seventh and was scored eighth before another caution on lap 281.

● He pitted for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment and restarted fifth.

● The No. 10 Smithfield driver raced in and around the top-five before the checkered flag waved.

Notes:

● Almirola earned his fifth top-10 of the season and his seventh top-10 in 22 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Phoenix.

● This was Almirola’s second straight top-10. He finished sixth in the series’ prior race at Martinsville (Va.) Raceway.

● This was Almirola’s fourth straight top-15 at Phoenix. He finished 11th in the series’ prior visit to the track in March.

● Kyle Larson won the Season Finale 500 to score his 16th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his series-high 10th of the season and his first at Phoenix. His margin over second-place Martin Truex Jr. was .398 of a second.

● Larson earned his first NASCAR Cup Series championship by virtue of his win. He is the 35th different driver to win the series title.

● There were nine caution periods for a total of 51 laps.

● Only 24 of the 39 drivers in the Season Finale 500 finished on the lead lap.

Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“What a season. What a day. We worked so hard to finish off the season strong, and we ran where this 10 team was capable of running all year. It was such a rollercoaster of a year. We had some really high highs and really low lows. We capped off the season with two sixth-place finishes when we’re running in the midst of the championship-contending playoff drivers, and I can’t be prouder of that after the year we’ve had.”

Next Up:

The 2022 season begins with a non-points exhibition race Feb. 6 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before kicking off its 36-race slate of points-paying events with the 64th Daytona 500 on Feb. 20 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. FS1 will broadcast the Busch Clash at the Coliseum, and FOX will broadcast the Daytona 500. Each event will be live and can also be heard on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Harvick Scores 17th Straight Top-10 at Phoenix
Driver of No. 4 Busch Light #BuschPitBoss Ford Mustang
Finishes Eighth in Season Finale and Earns Fifth-Place Points Finish

Date: Nov. 7, 2021
Event: Season Finale 500 (Round 36 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Phoenix Raceway (1-mile oval)
Format: 312 laps, broken into three stages (75 laps/115 laps/122 laps)
Start/Finish: 9th / 8th (Running, completed 312 of 312 laps)
Point Standing: 5th with 2,361 points
Champion: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Race Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Martin Truex Jr., of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-75):

● Kevin Harvick started ninth and finished second, earning nine bonus points.

● The No. 4 Busch Light #BuschPitBoss Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) proved strong, with Harvick up to fifth by lap eight.

● A caution on lap 16 allowed Harvick to pit for four tires and fuel on lap 17. While he gained two spots on pit road, a handful of other drivers elected to stay out.

● Harvick lined up 10th for the lap-21 restart.

● By lap 26, Harvick was back up to fifth and his march toward the front continued. He passed Brad Keselowski for fourth on lap 27, Chase Elliott for third on lap 34 and Kyle Larson for second on lap 35.

● Harvick soon chased down race leader Ryan Blaney, and after a spirited battle between them during laps 42-48, Harvick finally took the lead on lap 49.

● The battle continued, however, with Blaney retaking the lead on lap 50 before Martin Truex Jr., led the final 25 laps of the stage.

● “As I run, I can’t put the throttle down. Just need more drive off (the corner),” said Harvick at the end of the stage.

● Pitted for four tires and fuel at end of the stage, with the only adjustment being to tire pressures.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 76-190):

● Harvick started third and finished sixth, earning five bonus points.

● The No. 4 Busch Light #BuschPitBoss Ford Mustang was a steady presence in the top-five, running a comfortable fourth after 100 laps.

● “The exit (of the corner) is better, but I still need more,” said Harvick while running third on lap 126.

● Caution on lap 130 allowed Harvick to pit for four tires and fuel on lap 131. Tire pressures were the only adjustment.

● Lined up second for the lap-135 restart, but Larson was able to take the spot on the following lap, sending Harvick back to third.

● Harvick was fourth when the caution came out on lap 156, allowing him to pit on lap 157 for four tires and fuel.

● The No. 4 Busch Light #BuschPitBoss Ford Mustang was ninth for the lap-162 restart.

● “I’ve lost turn-in and rear grip this run,” said Harvick on lap 178 while running sixth.

● Harvick maintained sixth place through the end of the stage and then pitted for four tires and fuel with another round of tire pressure adjustments.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 191-312):

● Harvick started fifth and finished eighth.

● With 100 laps remaining in the race, the No. 4 Busch Light #BuschPitBoss Ford Mustang remained solidly in fifth.

● “Now it’s just too tight as I run,” said Harvick on lap 234 while still running fifth.

● Caution on lap 249 allowed Harvick to pit for four tires and fuel with a track bar adjustment.

● Lined up seventh for the lap-255 restart and held that spot through lap 271 before passing Joey Logano for sixth.

● Caution on lap 284 gave Harvick the opportunity to pit for four tires a fuel, but he came off pit road in 10th place.

● Harvick rallied to eighth in the final laps to score his 24th top-10 of the season.

Notes:

● Harvick’s 24 top-10s in 2021 is the third highest total among NASCAR Cup Series drivers. Only Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin earned more top-10s this season, with Larson securing 26 top-10s and Hamlin getting 25 top-10s.

● Harvick earned his 27th top-10 in 38 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Phoenix.

● Harvick’s 27 top-10s at Phoenix are the most among active NASCAR Cup Series drivers.

● This was Harvick’s 17th straight top-10 at Phoenix. The last time he finished outside the top-10 was March 3, 2013 when he finished 13th.

● Harvick led one lap, increasing his laps led total at Phoenix to a series-leading 1,663.

● Harvick has now led 11,356 laps since joining SHR in 2014. He has led 15,781 laps in his entire NASCAR Cup Series career.

● Larson won the Season Finale 500 to score his 16th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his series-high 10th of the season and his first at Phoenix. His margin over second-place Martin Truex Jr., was .398 of a second.

● Larson earned his first NASCAR Cup Series championship by virtue of his win. He is the 35th different driver to win the series title.

● There were nine caution periods for a total of 51 laps.

● Only 24 of the 39 drivers in the Season Finale 500 finished on the lead lap.

Next Up:

The 2022 season begins with the non-points Busch Clash on Feb. 6 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before kicking off its 36-race slate of points-paying events with the 64th Daytona 500 on Feb. 20 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. FS1 will broadcast the Busch Clash at the Coliseum and FOX will broadcast the Daytona 500. Each event will be live and can also be heard on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
PHOENIX RACEWAY
NASCAR CHAMPIONSHIP RACE
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES & QUOTES
NOVEMBER 7, 2021

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE
5th CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA CAMARO ZL1 1LE
14th ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 42 CLOVER CAMARO ZL1 1LE
15th AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW COATINGS CAMARO ZL1 1LE
16th KURT BUSCH, NO. 1 MONSTER ENERGY CAMARO ZL1 1LE
17th WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 RAPTOR CAMARO ZL1 1LE

TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)
2nd Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota)
3rd Denny Hamlin (Toyota)
4th Ryan Blaney (Ford)
5th Chase Elliott (Chevrolet)

TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:

KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Race Winner/Champion

HERE HE IS, CLIMBING OUT OF THE CAR, CELEBRATING WITH HIS TEAM, KYLE LARSON. CONGRATULATIONS. YOU ARE A CUP SERIES CHAMPION.

“Let me get a drink here real quick. I can’t — I cannot believe it. I didn’t even think I’d be racing a Cup car a year and a half ago. To win a championship is crazy. I’ve got to say first off thank you so much to Rick Hendrick, Hendrickcars.com, Jeff Gordon, NASCAR, every single one of my supporters in the stands, watching at home, my family. I’ve got so many of my friends and family here. My parents, my sister, my wife and kids. Owen had been giving me crap a month and a half ago about how I can’t win a Cup race when he’s there, so that added a lot of pressure.

There were so many points in this race where I did not think we were going to win. Without my pit crew on that last stop, we would not be standing right here. They are the true winners of this race. They are true champions. I’m just blessed to be a part of this group. Every single man or person, man and woman at Hendrick Motorsports, this win is for all of us, and every one of you.
This is unbelievable. I’m speechless.”

WHEN YOU CROSSED THE FINISH LINE WITH THOSE TEARS IN YOUR EYES, DID YOU THINK ABOUT THAT DAY YOUR DAD BROUGHT THAT GO-KART HOME WITHOUT TELLING YOUR MOM AND THAT MOMENT LED TO THIS?

“I had a lot of thoughts, a lot of thoughts there those last — really since before intros, right before intros it all hit me. I had tears running down my face just doing the ride-around. The crowd was cheering loud, and it was just a different atmosphere than I’ve ever been a part of.

This event was crazy. This format is wild. I’m glad we were able to get it done. And yes, a big shout-out to my parents for getting me involved in racing, my dad for everything he did, building my go-karts when I was young to get me playing around, my mom for videotaping every lap I ever raced and giving me something I could look at and study and get better.
Gosh, so cool, I cannot believe it.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NASCAR CAMARO ZL1 1LE – Finished 5th

YOU LED 94 LAPS TODAY, AND ONCE YOU LOST THE LEAD WHEN THAT CAUTION CAME OUT, COULDN’T GET IT BACK. WHAT MORE DID YOU NEED TO DO BATTLE AT THE END?

“Yeah, maybe just the right set of circumstances. I felt like our NAPA Chevy was really good, and I thought our team did a really good job preparing this week. I was really proud of our group. I thought we brought a really good car and did a lot of things that we were wanting it to do today, just didn’t work out, and the sequence of the way all that went certainly was unfortunate for us.

But look, proud of our team, a lot to build on, and also congrats to Kyle and Cliff. What an amazing season. Very, very deserving champions, and glad to see Kyle have success.

When you’re a good driver and a good person and you surround yourself with good people, success is warranted. It’s good to see that. But we’ll be back stronger next year and try to give them a run.”
CHASE, YOUR RACE, YOU HAD CONTACT WITH KYLE AT ONE POINT. THAT SEEMED TO MAYBE HELP HIS CAR A LITTLE BIT IN TERMS OF DOWNFORCE

“Yeah, maybe. I kind of thought I had a run a little bit and I didn’t think there was quite enough room, and I thought he was going to come to the wall, so I was like, well, I’ll try to go to the bottom really fast, and then he ended up like not moving, and then I came down. It was just a really weird set of circumstances, ended up hitting him in the right rear and it flared the thing out. That was nice.”

Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Briscoe Named 2021 Cup Series Rookie of the Year
HighPoint.com Driver Exits Season Finale Early After Accident in Stage 2

Date: Nov. 7, 2021
Event: Season Finale 500 (Round 36 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Phoenix Raceway (1-mile oval)
Format: 312 laps, broken into three stages (75 laps/115 laps/122 laps)
Start/Finish: 22nd / 35th (Accident, completed 153 of 312 laps)
Point Standing: 23rd with 655 points
Champion: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Race Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Martin Truex Jr. of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-75):

● Chase Briscoe started 22nd and finished 14th.

● During the first caution on lap seven, Briscoe reported his HighPoint.com Mustang felt solid on the short run. He restarted 18th on lap 12 and was running 16th when the second caution occurred on lap 16.

● Briscoe pitted under yellow on lap 17 for tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment to help with drive off the exit of turn two. He restarted 22nd on lap 21.

● The Cup Series rookie gradually pushed forward through the remainder of the first stage. He finished Stage 1 in the 14th position on lap 75.

● At the stage break, Briscoe pitted for tires, fuel and another air pressure adjustment to help with turn in the center of the corner.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 76-154):

● Briscoe started 10th and finished 35th.

● The HighPoint.com driver began the second stage in the 10th position and was running 13th when the fourth caution occurred on lap 130. Briscoe pitted for tires, fuel and adjustments to free up the No. 14 Ford Mustang in the center of the corner.

● Quick work from the pit crew gave Briscoe a fifth-place spot for the lap-136 restart, and the driver from Mitchell, Indiana, held his position in the top-10 for several laps.
● Briscoe reported his Ford Mustang was struggling in the top lane after falling outside the top-10 on lap 146. Just eight laps later, while battling with Kyle Busch for the 12th position, Briscoe’s Ford Mustang got loose entering turn three as the result of a cut left rear tire and made hard contact with the outside wall. Severe damage ended his day with only 153 laps complete.

Notes:

● When the checkered flag dropped on the Season Finale 500, Briscoe was officially named the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year. Briscoe was the highest-finishing rookie 29 times this season.

● Briscoe is one of only three drivers to win the rookie-of-the-year title in all three of NASCAR’s top national touring series – Camping World Truck (2017), Xfinity (2019) and Cup (2021). He joins William Byron and Erik Jones.

● Kyle Larson won the Season Finale 500 to score his 16th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his series-high 10th of the season and his first at Phoenix. His margin over second-place Martin Truex Jr., was .398 of a second.

● Larson earned his first NASCAR Cup Series championship by virtue of his win. He is the 35th different driver to win the series title.

● There were nine caution periods for a total of 51 laps.

● Only 24 of the 39 drivers in the Season Finale 500 finished on the lead lap.

Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“We had a really, really good long-run HighPoint.com Mustang, but our short-run speed, we were just trying to hang on. We were three-wide one time off of turn four and the 18 got into me a little and gave it a little bit of a tire rub. I think he was getting frustrated because I was just trying to hold those guys up as long as I could, because I knew if I made it 15 laps I would be OK. He got into me into (turn) three. I feel like, at the same time, my left-rear tire cut. I don’t know if that was from the damage earlier and then when he got into me the second time it finally cut it or what. At that point, I was along for the ride. It is super unfortunate. We had a top-10 car, and if we could have had some long runs maybe even a top-five car. We went all year long and never crashed a car, so to end it on the last one like that is unfortunate. You always want a good run at the end of the season to build momentum into the off-season. You just want to have good runs every week. I hate it that it ended this way, but I am looking forward to the future and everything that entails.

“It’s definitely cool to end the season as Rookie of the Year and to have that in all three series. I definitely had higher expectations coming into this year, but it was a weird year. As a company, we struggled way more than we thought we would. You base your expectations off of last year, and we just weren’t quite there from a performance standpoint, so you alter those expectations a little bit. The 14 team was competitive in a couple of races and battling for a few wins and top-fives. I think we have proved that whenever we get the car driving right and have the speed, we are fully capable of running up front with those guys. I wouldn’t say the season was a thumbs up or a thumbs down, maybe somewhere in the middle. There is still a lot that I have to learn to do better. The Cup Series guys are so good. You have to be on it 100 percent and clean up a lot of little things. I feel like going into the Next Gen car it will be nice to have a year under my belt and know all the little things to work on during the off-season to try to apply to next year.”

Next Up:

The 2022 season begins with a non-points exhibition race Feb. 6 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before kicking off its 36-race slate of points-paying events with the 64th Daytona 500 on Feb. 20 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. FS1 will broadcast the Busch Clash at the Coliseum, and FOX will broadcast the Daytona 500. Each event will be live and can also be heard on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Championship Race at Phoenix | Sunday, November 7, 2021

FORD FINISHING RESULTS
4th – Ryan Blaney
6th – Aric Almirola
8th – Kevin Harvick
10th – Brad Keselowski
11th – Joey Logano
12th – Matt DiBenedetto
13th – Cole Custer
23rd – Ryan Newman
24th – Michael McDowell
25th – Chris Buescher
27th – BJ McLeod
30th – Josh Bilicki
34th – Anthony Alfredo
35th – Chase Briscoe

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Jack Links Ford Mustang — FINISHED 4th

“We had a good race. There was a group of us that were kind of behind the top-4 guys that were racing pretty much all day. We had a good Mustang there on the last run and we were able to get up to fourth. I am really proud of that effort. It was a really good last run for Todd (Gordon) before he hands it up. I wish it was a win. I can’t thank him enough for the last couple of years and I can’t thank this whole group enough for this year. It has been a lot of fun. Hopefully, we will be in the Championship 4 next year.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang — FINISHED 10th

NOW THAT YOU HAVE CLIMBED OUT OF THE 2 CAR FOR THE LAST TIME, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE RACE TODAY AND YOUR PENSKE YEARS? “Yeah, it was a fun race. We couldn’t really catch any breaks today. The first stage there we stayed out and got that long run and kind of got ate up. We recovered from that and got ourselves back in the hunt to sixth or seventh and then we pitted under green a little early to try to pick up some spots. But the yellow came out and trapped us a lap down. We were 23rd with like 50 go to and we drove back up through to 10th. I would have loved to see that race run a really long green there at the end to see what we could have done. It just wasn’t meant to be.”

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang — RETIRED EARLY DUE TO ACCIDENT ON LAP 156

WHAT HAPPENED TO CAUSE THE CONTACT FROM THE 18? “We were racing hard. We had a really, really good long-run Mustang but our short-run speed, we were just trying to hang on. We were three-wide one time off of Turn 4 and the 18 got into me a little and gave it a little bit of a tire rub. I think he was getting frustrated because I was just trying to hold those guys up as long as I could because I knew if I made it 15 laps I would be okay. He got into me into 3. I don’t know if he just sent me or what. I feel like at the same time, my left-rear tire cut. I don’t know if that was from the damage earlier and then when he got into me the second time it finally cut it or what. At that point, I was along for the ride. It is super unfortunate. We had for sure a top-10 car and if we could have had some long runs maybe even a top-five car. We went all year long and never crashed a car, so to end it on the last one like that is unfortunate. You always want a good run at the end of the season to build momentum into the off-season. You just want to have good runs every week. I hate it that it ended this way, but I am looking forward to the future and everything that entails.”

YOU ARE THE 2021 NASCAR CUP SERIES ROOKIE OF THE YEAR, HOW DOES THAT FEEL? “I wish there was more competition for it and we were going up against more guys but it is really cool to be able to win it in all three series now. That is something that is really special. I didn’t know if I would ever get a chance to run in the Truck Series, let alone all three. To be able to win Rookie of the Year, I think only two other guys have done it in all three. That is really cool to accomplish. It is a nice thing to achieve by the end of the year. You kind of start the season hoping that you win it and then to be able to lock it up is nice.”

HOW WOULD YOU RATE YOUR ROOKIE YEAR? “I don’t know. I definitely had higher expectations coming into the year. It was a weird year. As a company, we struggled way more than we thought we would. I think last year I read a stat that SHR, in general, had 42 podium finishes and this year we only had four or five. You base your expectations off of last year and we just weren’t quite there from a performance standpoint. I think you alter them a little bit. For me, we were competitive in a couple of races and battling for a few wins and top-fives. I think we have proved that whenever we get the car driving right and have the speed we are fully capable of running up front with those guys. I wouldn’t say the season was a thumbs up or a thumbs down, I would say somewhere in the middle. There is still a lot that I have to do way better. The Cup guys are so good. You have to be on it 100-percent and clean up a lot of little things. I feel like going into the Next Gen car it will be nice to have a year under my belt and know all the little things to work on during the off-season to try to apply to next year.”

TRUEX AND HAMLIN COME UP JUST SHORT IN PHOENIX
Championship 4 drivers Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin finish second and third

PHOENIX (November 7, 2021) – Martin Truex Jr. (second) and Denny Hamlin (third) came up just short of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday evening. Their Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch (seventh) and Christopher Bell (ninth) joined them inside the top-10 finishers.

Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Phoenix Raceway
Race 36 of 36 – 312 laps, 312 miles

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Kyle Larson*
2nd, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
3rd, DENNY HAMLIN
4th, Ryan Blaney*
5th, Chase Elliott*
7th, KYLE BUSCH
9th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
33rd, DAVID STARR
38th, TIMMY HILL
39th, BUBBA WALLACE
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 2nd

What more did you need to go and pass Kyle Larson?

“I don’t know. Clean air seemed to be a good bit of an advantage there. Whoever got out front was there for 20, 30, 40 laps and then the long run cars would start coming around. I don’t know. Ultimately, we needed to beat them off of pit road. It’s unfortunate, but we win and lose as a team. I’m really proud of our efforts this year. Big thanks to everyone that makes it possible – Bass Pro Shops, Auto Owners, Reser’s Fine Foods, Toyota, TRD, Sherwin Williams, Oakley, Textron, Noble Aerospace, all of our partners. That’s three times that we’ve been second and that sucks. Second hurts, I’m not going to lie, especially with the car we had and the job the guys did. That’s racing as they say, and sometimes you’re just not on the right side of things. We were on the right side of things to get the lead there, and weren’t able to hang on to it. If we could have had the lead, I think it would have been over, but that’s kind of how the 5 (Kyle Larson) did it. They had a hell of a season, congrats to them. Gosh, dang, it sucks. I hate it.”

What was going through your mind when you pulled onto pit road?

“Just how close we were again. ’18, ’19, ’21, that’s three years that we were right there. We had a car capable of winning, just for whatever reason it didn’t go the way we needed it to and then at the end there, we didn’t have quite enough speed to get to the 5 (Kyle Larson) and then around him. I thought he would stay on the bottom a little longer and I would have a shot, but he moved up and then I couldn’t do anything on the bottom, so it is what it is. They did a great job. They had a great season, congrats to them. We will go back and try next year.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 3rd

How strong did you feel your race car was in the closing laps and could you have caught Kyle Larson?

“I really liked where we were at with 25 (laps) to go. We were just exceptional in the long run, which wasn’t too surprising. Started running the 19 (Martin Truex Jr.) back down there and got within a couple car lengths. Obviously, that debris caution changed a lot. Special congrats to (Kyle) Larson and their team. Any time you win 10 races in a year, you’re absolutely a deserving champion. They did a great job on the last pit stop and got him out there. It was over after that. Proud of my team, great effort adjusting on the car all day getting it so much better. Thank you to our partners at FedEx, Toyota, Jordan Brand – just a really good year, a really, really good year. It just didn’t pan out. We needed that thing to go green and it didn’t.”

About Toyota

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