Team Penske NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Report
Track: Texas Motor Speedway
Race: O’Reilly Auto Parts 300
Date: October 24, 2020
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No. 22 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang – Austin Cindric
Start: 7th
Stage 1: 6th
Stage 2: 5th
Finish: 4th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 200/200
Laps Led: 10
Point Standings (behind first): 2nd (-30)

Notes:

Austin Cindric led laps and was in contention for a win before settling for a fourth-place finish Saturday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway. Cindric claimed his 18th top-five finish of the season and his fourth in six starts at Texas. The driver of the Menards/Richmond Ford enters the final race of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Round of 8 second in the standings, 30 behind leader Chase Briscoe and 14 ahead of the cutline.

Cindric started the 200-lap, 300-mile event from seventh position after the field was set per the NASCAR rule book. He battled a loose-handling Menards/Richmond Mustang throughout the first 45-lap stage, a segment that was slowed by four yellow flags including the competition caution on lap 20. Crew chief Brian Wilson called his driver to the pit lane during the competition caution for four tires, fuel, and adjustments to aid the loose balance of the No. 22 Mustang. Cindric restarted 26th on lap 25 and steadily worked his way through traffic over the next 20 laps to finish sixth at the conclusion of Stage 1. Wilson made call to pit during the stage caution for four tires. A mix of different pit strategies shuffled Cindric back to 20th when the race went green on lap 51.

The 22-year-old driver raced his way to the eighth position by lap 60 and over the long run, the balance on the Menards/Richmond Ford improved. Cindric began running the fastest lap times on track and finished fifth when the caution-free Stage 2 ended on lap 90. He pitted during the stage caution for four tires and restarted third on lap 97.
Stage 3 was hampered by five cautions with Cindric steadily running among the top-five. He pitted during the eighth caution on lap 159 for four scuffed Goodyears and fuel and took the green flag third on lap 163. He was fourth when the ninth caution on lap 170 set up a restart that changed the complexion of the race. Shortly after the restart on lap 175, playoff drivers Justin Allgaier, Ross Chastain and Brandon Jones were involved in an accident that brought out the final yellow of the race. Cindric took the lead but on lap 185, shortly after the final restart and 15 laps from the finish, he slipped up the racetrack in Turn 4 and fell to the sixth position. He was able to rebound and moved up to fourth in the closing laps to claim a top-five finish.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to action at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, October 31st, for the final race in the Round of 8. Live coverage will begin at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio

Quote: “An up and down day is definitely an understatement, from being driven through at the beginning of the race and having to waste a set of tires to get the Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang back to where it needed to be. We had a car that in clean air I think would have been able to contend for the win. The No. 7 (Justin Allgaier) and the No. 10 (Ross Chastain) were both probably just as good and it was whoever had track position. That last restart did not work out. The track was not clean up high. You got to drive it in like you want to keep the lead and I did. I kept it off the wall. I’m frustrated about that but don’t have any regrets. Somehow, we gained points today. Thanks to my team for sticking with me. I drove every lap 100 percent and I’m just glad this thing is still in one piece.”

ROOKIE HARRISON BURTON MAKES A LAST LAP PASS TO SCORE VICTORY AT TEXAS
Burton earns his third victory of the season at Texas Motor Speedway

FORT WORTH (October 24, 2020) – Rookie of the Year leader Harrison Burton drove past leader Noah Gragson on the final corner to score the win in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday evening. Burton started the day by scoring his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series stage win in the second stage before suffering a spin, but that didn’t get the 20-year-old driver down. He drove back through the field and to Victory Lane for the third time in his career. With the victory, Burton and his father, Jeff Burton, become the first father-son duo to win at Texas Motor Speedway. Brandon Jones also had a great Supra winning the opening stage. Jones was running in the top-five when he was involved in an accident. He was unable to finish the race, but due to his work in the first two stages, Jones goes into the final race of the Round of 8 – Martinsville Speedway – just four points below the cutline.

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Texas Motor Speedway
Race 31 of 33 – 300 miles, 200 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, HARRISON BURTON
2nd, Noah Gragson*
3rd, Anthony Alfredo*
4th, Austin Cindric*
5th, Brandon Brown*
13th, MATT MILLS
20th, CJ MCLAUGHLIN
25th, BRANDON JONES
31st, RILEY HERBST
33rd, AUSTIN HILL
34th, CHAD FINCHUM
36th, TIMMY HILL
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

HARRISON BURTON, No. 20 Morton Buildings/DEX Imaging Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 1st

Did you think with one lap to go that you would have a shot at Noah Gragson?

“We had such a fast race car. I’ve never driven anything harder than that last corner in my life. I don’t know how it stuck. I think this might be my first win with Morton Buildings on the hood and with DEX as well. This Toyota Supra was so fast. I’ve never spun out and then come back and won so that’s kind of cool. We were obviously pushing the limits all day with speed. That’s just kind of what we came to do was to be fast and to win our first stage of the year was a good sign. To do what we did on that last lap was incredible. I don’t know how it happened, but I’m pretty damn glad it did.”

Did you talk yourself up knowing you had once chance coming to the checkered flag?

“That was kind of the only thing that was in my head. My team had talked to me about what the other guys were doing through three and four to get speed. I kind of timed that by about three or four and it stuck. I don’t know. Hats off to the 9 (Noah Gragson) for racing me clean today and hats off to the rest of the competitors. That was such a fun race. What a cool place to win at – we get to go home with cowboy hats, that’s awesome.”

How were you able to make the last lap pass?

“That was the best corner I’ve ever driven in my life. I don’t know, if I knew how to do it, I would do it every lap. Something about what happened with the 9 (Noah Gragson) and the lapped cars and the lane I took just stuck. We struggled after we won that stage and we spun. We were honestly pretty horrible. We were running 10th and we just kept tightening the car and tightening the car and then all of the sudden it came back alive. I don’t know what happened in the middle there. I lost my voice, my throat hurts, I was screaming so loud. What a race. That was so much fun. To come from the back, to spin and come back and win – it’s a testament to how strong this team is and hopefully what is more to come in the future.”

Did you have to mentally come back from the spin?

“A little bit. Obviously, when you spin out, you stepped over the boundaries. You kind of are nervous to get back on the edge of that boundary because you’ve already paid the price for it once. I’ve got grass all over me, there’s grass in the race car. I don’t know how we didn’t tear the nose off of it in the grass, but I’m pretty happy we didn’t because it worked out for us in the end.”

What does it feel like to win in Texas?

“It’s the best place. For whatever reason, I love this race track. It’s so fun. The victory lane is amazing with all the fire and the cowboy hats and all that. It’s somewhere my Dad (Jeff Burton) won his first race in a Cup car at so to add to that kind of legacy is awesome. My cousin (Jeb Burton) won his first truck race here. We’ve got a lot of good family history here and hopefully we can keep it going.”

Was the line you used to make the pass the line you wanted to use?

“Honestly, the last few laps there behind the 21 (Anthony Alfredo), I was running the bottom through there and I was making good time, but once I went up to the PJ1, I felt that was the place to be. I’m in a position with us being out of the Playoffs now, where I can just say, ‘Hey, if I wreck, I wreck, I’m going for the win.’ I drove the car in probably too deep and got on the gas probably too soon and for whatever reason it stuck. If I could do that every lap, I wish I could, but I think we saw earlier in the race that I can’t because I spun out trying to do the same thing. I’m not really sure how or why it stuck, but I’m pretty excited that it did.”

How special is it to win at a track where your father (Jeff Burton) won during his Cup career?

“That’s always cool. I love winning at places that I grew up either watching my Dad win at or seeing videos and pictures of my Dad winning. My Dad won his first Cup race here and I think it was the first Cup race here as well. Seeing pictures of my Mom crying and my Dad excited and all that. I grew up kind of watching that stuff. When my racing career kind of took off in a way where I had opportunities to come to the places that my Dad had raced at, it was always cool to kind of remember what I did here as a kid, playing on the playgrounds or eating at the race track or being in the motorhome lot with other kids in here. Now, to kind of write my own or be my own man and do my own thing here is awesome. Obviously, I haven’t done it at the level that my Dad did yet and he will probably still hold that over me as much as he can, but hopefully one day I can do that as well.”

Did you think you could catch Noah Gragson when you got around Anthony Alfredo?

“I knew it had to be a pretty special group of laps there. I looked at the gap and I knew that there was lapped traffic. That was something that I kind of factored in that maybe I could get through there better. I knew I just had to be perfect with hitting marks and just driving as hard as I possibly could. I’ve never really, I wish I could explain to you guys what it’s like those last few laps. How locked in you are, how focused you are. It’s like you’re in your own world and all you can feel is the grip level of the car and there’s definitely something to that. Being in that mental state of those last few laps to make it happen. I wish I could find a way to be that way throughout the whole race. I think that might be worth something. I need to look into that.”

How much do you lean on your father (Jeff Burton) for advice versus gain your own experience?

“As far as actually driving goes, I kind of have to rely on my own experience. You feel things your own way, you drive the car your own way and you want the car to be a certain way so you can drive it yourself, not so someone else can drive it. For actually driving, once I got older, my Dad stepped back. What my Dad was always great at and what I want to be great at one day is the mental side of the game. My Dad was always trying to be the best he could be. It kept him up at night knowing that other people were working trying to beat him. I kind of have that same drive in me as well where if I hear someone is working hard, that makes me want to work harder than them. I don’t know exactly what he was talking about, I haven’t re-watched the race yet. The talks that mean the most between me and my Dad is digging deep. This is such a hard sport. There are so many things that can’t go your way and so many things that can go your way and sometimes you can’t explain why or why not they happen. Being mentally tough, something that my Dad always was, is really important to me and something that I’m really proud to have from my Dad. He’s a hero to me so that’s definitely cool.”

When did you think you could get around Noah Gragson?

“Not until the last corner honestly. I knew that I had a shot. I never gave up, but not until the last corner did I think I had a real shot at passing him. I don’t really know how it stuck. I drove the car and just decided that if I crashed, I crashed or if I won, I won. That’s kind of a good place to be mentally I guess where you’re able to say that or do that. I honestly didn’t expect it until I was side-by-side with him and then I was worried about the drag race to the line, but we had so much momentum that we were gone. Then I was just excited.”

Do you have your plans confirmed for 2021?

“I don’t have anything to announce here yet, but I think we’re heading in the right direction. I love where I’m at. My partners that I have are amazing. Morton Buildings, they’ve been with me for so long and I’m pretty sure this might be the first win I’ve ever had with them. For whatever reason, it worked out that all the races I’ve won have been the DEX car and now this weekend we’re in the DEX and Morton’s Supra. That’s pretty cool. Hopefully, that kind of helps build those relationships. Those people that are on the car are why I can race and hopefully they’re excited. I’m excited to go home and call and talk to all those guys.”

BRANDON JONES, No. 19 Toyota Service Centers Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 25th

Brandon, you had a great car today. You won the first stage, and then got caught up in an accident not of your own making. Can you talk about your finish?

“I feel like track position is everything and it’s been that way for at least three quarters of the year so far. We get really good track position to start the race and can maintain it. A couple of guys try to short pit us and then once we flip-flop and start getting back in the field a little bit that’s when we start struggling. The balance is so good in clean air that when we put a bunch of cars around us, that’s when it changes. We are going to keep working on it and we are going to eventually get it dialed in. I think we made huge gains, huge improvements on our Supra this time around versus the past. Just able to see how much we are able to get the car to be able to turn there in the end. We were in the right position coming to that last restart that we had. We were kind of leaning towards the top thinking that it was going to be better, but we had that same thing go through our mind – if one of those guys were to slide up or take us out – but you hate to race like that, with fear of all of that stuff. I guess we kind of know now going forward. Harrison (Burton) winning was a big help. I’ve got the truck race before our race next week, so I think that’s going to be a huge one-up on everybody to have some laps on the track and to have just a race under your belt. I’m looking forward to it. I think we can still get into this thing. One thing is for sure, you are not going to knock us down.”

Four points out going to Martinsville. What’s your focus this week as you prepare?

“I’ve actually got simulator time Monday all the way to Thursday, and then I’ve got the race Friday, so every single day, I’m going to be making laps on the race track, which is really good. Having the truck race gave me a little added time. I’m going to get on the last day of the week before the race I’m going to get on iRacing for sure with Blake (Koch) and run through a bunch of stuff. He’s been helping myself and Harrison (Burton) a bunch this year. We are going to put a lot of effort into it for sure. There’s a lot of unknowns going into the weekend. I think we are basing our cars a bunch on our Cup cars since they go there every year but still some kind of unknowns for sure.”

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