Toyota GAZOO Racing – Brandon Jones
NASCAR Xfinity Series Quotes

CHARLOTTE (September 9, 2025) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Brandon Jones was made available to the media on Tuesday as part of NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff Media Day.

BRANDON JONES, No. 20 Menards Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

What’s your attitude towards these Playoffs?

“That’s going to be the balance this year. I’ve done a good job, in my opinion, and it’s getting taken advantage of a little bit. But through the regular season, cutting guys breaks and just trying to make it to the end of some races sometimes, recognizing if I have a good enough car to go for it. If I don’t have a car to win, trying to just take my licks and try to finish races. But now that we’re here and now that I’ve made it again to the Playoffs, that has to change. It has to amp itself up some. And I’m not talking about driving beyond my limits and wrecking race cars and destroying people. That’s not how you win a championship. That’s not how you’re going to get there. But recognizing the days that, ‘okay, this car can win the race, like 100%, we’re going to go compete for it.’ Then those are the days that you can’t cut anybody any breaks. I mean, if you get a run on somebody and they choose to go down and block you, you can’t just hit the brake pedal at that point. They’ve made their bet to, ‘well, we know Brandon’s faster, but you know, I’m going to try to hold him back there,’ and rightfully so. They don’t want to lose a position. You can’t say, ‘oh, you’re right. I’m going to give it to you and not wreck you,’ because that doesn’t go into competitors minds as, ‘oh man, thank you so much for cutting a break.’ That turns into, ‘I can block him and he’s not going to wreck me.’ So, it has to ramp itself up in that aspect a little bit. On the flip side, the days that you think ‘maybe today I’m only fifth that best. I’m really struggling to get to fifth.’ Those are not the days that you go up there to the lead and start running into people and charging through people because those are going to be the times you start making enemies and you don’t want to rub somebody the wrong way. I don’t rub people the wrong way in the sport. If there’s anything, like I said, it’s the opposite, right? So, I must learn how to crank that up just a little bit. I’ve got to own the 10-year veteran mindset in the sport. And we’ve got speed to go win these races. I look at the Playoffs, five out of the seven, let’s just exclude Talladega and the (Charlotte) ROVAL because they’re wild cards. I can be leading those easily and get destroyed, out of spite. So, the ones that I feel like we can go have good days at, the Playoffs line up really well for me, the tracks that are in it.”

Do you need to change your mindset at any point?

“Morally, I have a hard time just running through people. There’s a lot of moves that these guys make that I look at and I’m like, ‘I wouldn’t feel good about it.’ I wouldn’t feel good about myself if I just ran through some people like they do, even (to) our car, right? I feel like you have to understand who you’re racing. That’s where the veterans do a great job. You know, if I get around Justin Allgaier and some of these guys that have been in here even longer than I have, those are not the ones that you that you run hard like that. Justin and I race really hard, but you can tell there’s a there’s a little bit of a respect level there of like, ‘okay, I’m not going to put you in a bad situation here, but I’m going to race you, you know, hard. I’m not just going to lay over and give you the spot.’ On the flip side, you have more rookie-based drivers that put you in really bad spots. They’ll put it on your door very hard in the mile-and-a-half. They’ll pack a ton of air on your left rear and those are the moves that (you say), ‘you realize that these are the moves that can basically end my day?’ Those are the times where I get frustrated a little bit of, ‘I don’t do that to you because I’m not going to put you in that situation. Why are you putting me in that spot as well?’ Like I’m a very give and receive kind of person. I just get frustrated if I give and don’t receive. I’ve got to just understand who I’m racing. I think I know the ones that I can be respectful around, but I also know the ones now going into the Playoffs, I’ve got a group of people that, ‘okay, I’ve seen this time and time again how this plays out. I remember that as we go through it.’ We can have that conversation after the race of, ‘hey, let’s roll the tapes. Let me show you why this happened.’ It’s not about being more, (pause) aggressive maybe is the right word, but it’s about not putting yourself in bad situations because you’re racing out of character. You can’t race out of character. You can’t start doing things that affect you morally or that you wouldn’t do naturally. It has to come naturally. Because if you start going into these weekends of, ‘why keep getting pushed around? And I’m sick of it and I’m going to be the one pushing people around,’ you’re in it for the wrong reasons. Thus, you’re not going to go very far. You’re going to start having bad results at the end of the day. So, I have to continue to do what I’m doing and just have fast cars. I mean, that’s what’s key. Keep maximizing the speed out of the race cars. But if you have a car to go win, own it. Sit up in the seat, put the shoulders back a little bit and be like, ‘I’m the one that’s going to win the race.’ If your crew is not telling you that the No. 20 car’s fast, then that’s on you guys. We’re coming, so you have to know how to manage that a little bit.”

What would winning a championship this year mean to you?

“Oh, man, I mean, insane! I think that’s always been the goal, a championship. But beyond that, it’s just really difficult in general to make it to Phoenix, and the final four. That would be the huge one – making it to Phoenix. Have to get to that final four. It just comes down to the one race. So, if you don’t win it, being in the final four, it’s gut punching, it stinks and it is what it is, right? But at the same time, I think that you did everything almost to a T correct to get to the final four. That would be the first goal, would be a huge one for me to make it there. I’ve been close a couple of times, we’ve all seen that, so I know how to do it. I know we can do it. It’s just a matter of getting these couple rounds having really good speed, building confidence when it matters. It’d be cool to get Menards a championship in Xfinity series.”

How much of an advantage is your experience in these Playoffs?

“Yeah, I think where the experience is going to get me farther than some of the other competitors is knowing how to manage the pressure, the stress and the races. I foresee lots of mistakes being made. I foresee a lot of guys being very fast and trying to get more than they really need to get. It comes down to constantly late race restarts in the Xfinity Series and desperation sets in very fast. I have this weird picture in my mind of a lot of people truthfully taking themselves out of contention. Hopefully, we can use the years that I’ve been in this and all the things I’ve learned to our advantage and try to put one nice push at it as we go through these next couple rounds.”

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Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Playoff Media Day
Tuesday, September 9, 2025

Ford’s three NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff drivers – Harrison Burton, Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer – all answered questions about the upcoming postseason as part of media day. Here are transcripts from each session.

HARRISON BURTON, No. 25 AM Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse – HOW CAN YOUR EXPERIENCE FROM LAST YEAR IN THE CUP PLAYOFFS HELP YOU THIS YEAR? “I think just in general having experience in the Cup Series and in the playoffs in the Cup Series is huge. You kind of understand the level of competitiveness that you have to bring and the level of detail that you have to bring to succeed. Our playoffs last year was frustrating. We had a mechanical failure. We had a tire blown and we got crashed on the last lap, so three things that you don’t really have on your Bingo card to take you out that took us out and you learn from that and grow from that in the best way possible and that is just controlling what you can control and that’s all we can really do.”

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO PUT AM RACING IN THE PLAYOFFS WHEN LAST YEAR THEY WERE ON THE VERGE OF ALMOST MISSING RACES? “It’s big. It’s a really cool accomplishment for our whole group. It’s not just me. There are a lot of people that have put a lot of effort into making this race car go the way it has and that’s been really, really rewarding. I think, obviously, the wins haven’t come yet. I feel like we’re getting closer, but the wins haven’t come yet and that’s kind of the next step we have to take and that’s probably the hardest step, but we’re working really, really hard and it’s been rewarding. I think the funny thing is you’re goals change as you run better. The first few races it was literally we were worried about making the race at Daytona, at COTA. We weren’t locked in because our points weren’t enough from last year, so to build it to being in the playoffs and running well and performing well has been very rewarding.”

DO YOU ANTICIPATE GETTING MORE SUPPORT FROM FORD WITH THE HAAS FACTORY TEAM MOVING? “To be honest with you, I’m not sure. I would say that’s a PR answer, but I really don’t know. We all found out about that thing at the same time you all did. Obviously, Ford has been really important to me at the Wood Brothers and I’ve built a great relationship with them that carried into AM Racing, so I know from their side they’re committed to finishing this year out the right way and whatever the future holds I know that they’ll have our best interests at heart. It’s a good group of people at Ford, so I’m really not sure. I wish I could tell you more other than that, to be honest.”

ARE YOU RUNNING THE CARS TOUR RACE AT SOUTH BOSTON WITH RICK WARE RACING? “It’s a super cool opportunity. Thank you to everyone at Rick Ware Racing. That kind of just came up from out of the blue. I ran the All-Star Race for them and they’re trying to build their late model program up and obviously I had a great deal of success growing up in late models and that’s where I kind of cut my teeth. I haven’t been able to run any late model stuff recently. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a pro late model, but I’m really excited. They’re such a fun car to drive and to do it at South Boston and then after the Xfinity race is huge because I can just focus on the Xfinity car, I can put everything I have into that, and then go and enjoy running a late model. It’s something that came together that wasn’t on my radar and something I’m super thankful for for sure, everyone at Rick Ware that’s helping put it together.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR TEAM IS PLAYING WITH HOUSE MONEY JUST BY MAKING THE PLAYOFFS? “Partially yes, partially no. I really didn’t know what to expect. A new race team, new people. For me completely everything was brand new, changing series, everything, so I didn’t have this big, lofty expectation. I just knew that we had to take it one race at a time and put our energy into the next weekend and then the big things come after that, so as we started running better, as the races went by and we’re like, ‘OK, we can compete. We can do this.’ Then the goal for the next week changes. It’s like, ‘OK, let’s go run better next week and better next week and try to build on this.’ We really have taken it one week at a time until probably three or four weeks ago when things on the playoff line were pretty tight. Then we started really thinking about that side of things, but you just have to perform one weekend at a time and the big goals will come after that.”

DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING DURING YOUR TIME IN CUP ABOUT MENTALLY BEING STRONG AND WILL IT HELP YOU IN THESE PLAYOFFS? “Yeah, for sure I learned a ton. I learned a ton about myself. Obviously, that didn’t go as I wanted it to. I wanted to cement myself, earn a place there for a long term and win races consistently. A lot of those things didn’t happen, but on the bright side of things that race win was such an important lesson to me, not about the win or celebrating or anything like that. It was an important lesson to me in not quitting. I’ve never been a quitter. I’ve never been someone that throws the towel in, but whenever you’re fired you have to go to your race team, tell them you’re fired, have that conversation, have to rebuild ourselves after that and have everyone on that team not really know what was going on next year, and just go to the races and keep swinging and then all of a sudden you find yourself in Victory Lane. It’s such a cool lesson and that can carry to any job, any situation, anything I do for the rest of my life I can carry that mentality and it’ll serve me well.”

HOW GOOD DO YOU THINK THE COMPETITION IS IN XFINITY? “It’s as strong as I ever remember it being in the Xfinity Series. The young guys are very fast, very aggressive. Then you have vets still around like Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, guys like that that have been around for a few years now and are experienced, so you have to deal with those guys. For us, we’re kind of like the awkward in-between. I’m kind of experienced, but also kind of new to the series and then our race team is certainly new to being in these situations, so just trying to set ourselves and find our own path. As we go through this playoff, there’s a real path for us forward and I think we can certainly advance ourselves to the next round and then take it after that. It’s certainly on our mind to make some noise.”

WHAT WAS IT LIKE BATTLING YOUR COUSIN, JEB, FOR THAT FINAL SPOT? “Obvioiusly, if I could have drawn it up it wouldn’t be that way. I would have loved to knock someone else out of the playoffs instead of my cousin Jeb, but it’s something that we managed fairly well, as well as you can. Being competitors, being selfish in nature as race car drivers have to be on the racetrack, but just understanding that that’s the business and going about it in a professional way between us. It didn’t ever come in between us. We’d still text and joke around or whatever, make fun of each other just like normal, but then on the weekends we were racing each other certainly harder than we ever have. It was a really challenging scenario anytime a family is involved with any sort of job, but when it’s a competitive job like that and you have to go and take something from your family member like that, it’s hard. It’s emotionally challenging and trying to balance all of that was something I think we did well.”

DO YOU FEEL PLAYOFF TESTED ALREADY WITH THE SCENARIO YOU WERE IN JUST TO GET IN? “We’re obviously at media day so I’ve been getting a lot of questions today and I just said that a few minutes ago. I feel like we’ve been in the playoffs for 10 weeks now. Every race mattered. Every result mattered. Every restart mattered and building ourselves that cushion that we needed at Gateway. We showed up to Gateway and had a pretty rough weekend by our standards now and we were in a spot where we could afford that to happen and not miss the playoffs. That’s because we’ve been treating every week as such an important race. There is some momentum in that. There is some benefit in that for sure just because we’re used to it. We’ve been in that fire for the last 10 weeks and able to come out the other side victorious as far as making the playoffs, and now we have to go and understand that it’s gonna get even harder every single round, so we have to go and be more and more aggressive.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK HELPING TURN THIS TEAM AROUND DO FOR YOUR STOCK AS A DRIVER, AND IS YOUR ULTIMATE GOAL TO GET BACK TO CUP? “I don’t think it hurts it, obviously. I wanted to come to AM Racing for reasons other than that. I just felt like it was a good opportunity for me to build something, make myself a better driver, build a relationship with a team that needed some full-time help. They’ve had great drivers in their car before, but it wasn’t a full-time, consistent week in, week out kind of situation, so I felt like I saw potential in the race team and they saw potential in me. I feel like it’s been a great partnership and trying to both build ourselves back up. For sure, I’ve been up front with AM since the beginning and they want this for me too, is for me to hopefully one day get back to the Cup Series. It wasn’t the run I wanted. I have a sour taste in my mouth from that and I feel like I’m capable. I just didn’t put it together in enough time. I feel like towards the end of my Cup seasons I got running better. I started getting confidence and started figuring things out, and qualifying better is such a big and important thing. We started doing that at the end of my Wood Brothers tenure, so there’s kind of an awkward taste in my mouth to leave after winning and have to watch the Daytona 500 on TV was probably one of the hardest days of my life. I’m definitely hungry to get back, but also focused on the now and understanding that I have an amazing opportunity with an amazing group of people in an amazing series. I love the Xfinity Series. I love the Xfinity cars. It’s so much fun to go to race. It reminds you of why you do it, so I love my time here and would love to continue it as well. I think as any competitor wants to, I definitely want to be in the Cup Series one day.”

SAM MAYER, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford Mustang Dark Horse – THERE’S THE 88 TEAM THE LAST FEW WEEKS AND EVERYBODY ELSE. HOW DO YOU EVALUATE WHERE YOU ARE TO THEM RIGHT NOW AND DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE THE PACE TO RUN WITH THEM AND ADVANCE IN THESE PLAYOFFS? “Yeah, I feel like I’m really proud of everyone at Haas Factory Team right now, for sure. I feel like we’ve definitely had a lot of adversity the last couple of weeks to fight through and we never gave up on each other and we still either stuck solid finishes out of it or we were on the right track to getting a good finish and just didn’t have it go our way. I guess like he said, it’s the 88 and everyone else, which, I mean, that’s what you’re aspiring to do. You want to be the guy that everyone is like, ‘Oh, man. He’s showed up at the racetrack.’ But I feel like we’re making a step in the right direction. With the playoff reset and the way these playoffs are, all of that stuff that you do can not matter in an instant. You just want to be able to peak at the right time. You want to be able to do what you can during these next three races to make it to the next round and then focus on winning a race from there to lock yourself into the Champ 4. Yeah, I feel pretty good about what we have. We definitely aren’t good enough to be dominant like that, but I don’t think we’re too far off from that point.”

HOW DO YOU BALANCE PUTTING NEXT YEAR OUT OF YOUR MIND AND FOCUSING ON WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW? “For the driver side of it, I’m really excited for the future of Haas Factory Team next year. I think our program can get elevated throughout the rest of this year, through the offseason and into next year just by pure age. We’re a brand new team, so we’re kind of just trying to make our way and get better each and every week and go forward. As of right now, I’m just looking forward to continuing the playoffs with Ford and the Blue Oval and everyone at Ford Racing because I feel like we can go out there and win a championship and get Ford another driver and owner championship. It’s gonna be challenging, but I’m looking forward to it. And then obviously with next year I’m really excited about that opportunity as well because it’s something that I’ve been a part of in the past with the Chevrolet program, so I think it can provide success for me as well.”

DO YOU FEEL YOUR TEAM IS PEAKING AS THE PLAYOFFS ARE NOW HERE? “Yeah, I mean we’ve been good all season. We’ve been really consistent. We’re right there in most top fives on the season of everybody in the Xfinity Series. I think we’re tied of second or something like that, so we’ve had a really good season so far, which is a little frustrating because the playoff points don’t really reflect that. We’ve been oh so close to wins and that’s really all that matters, so I think that we’re in a really good spot. We want to be a little bit better and I think we can be better in the coming races because I think there are a couple good tracks for us. I’m looking forward to it for sure, but it’s definitely gonna be pretty challenging with the height of the competition right now.”

HAS THERE BEEN ANY INDICATION OF FORD HOLDING BACK INFORMATION AFTER THE ANNOUNCEMENT LAST WEEK? “I can only speak for the Xfinity Series side and what I’ve experienced so far. For us, it’s wide-open. We are a go and we are gonna go win the championship with Ford. That’s what they want. That’s what we want and everyone at Haas Factory Team is behind us as well with that. I actually just got out of the sim yesterday afternoon for Bristol and had a really good day with it. I think we’re in a really good spot for that, and I think that’s gonna continue throughout the rest of the season because it’s in all of our interests to go out there and have a really good, strong finish to the rest of the season for all of us. For us, we’re wide-open. We’re gonna get after it and we’re gonna go chase a championship.”

WHERE HAVE YOU SEEN THE GREATEST LEVEL OF YOUR MATURATION THIS SEASON? “I definitely had to elevate myself a lot going into this season because there was so much change. The biggest part of it is a brand new team. Haas Factory Team hit the reset button and everything is brand new for us this year, so definitely have to elevate myself to put the team in a good spot to be able to learn and develop throughout the year and I think we’ve done just that. We haven’t won as many races as I felt like we should have or deserved, but we’re at least in a good spot to where we can continue to grow as a team and an organization together. I definitely had to grow and be better myself than the last couple of years, which I always tried my best, but I think I found a new ceiling this year to be even better and to continue that and hopefully do even better next year.”

HOW DOES IT BUILD CONFIDENCE KNOWING YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS, PARTICULARLY GOING INTO THE PLAYOFFS? “This time of the season is where all of the contracts are getting figured out and all that kind of stuff and the noise is at its loudest, but for me this year I’m not in a contract year. I’m signed up for next year and we’re wide-open. We’re really looking forward to seeing what’s to come with Haas Factory Team, but a lot of my deals in the past were always one-year deals. We were always kind of figuring it out on the fly, but I think that was mostly because we didn’t know what was in store, so knowing what my future is for the next couple of years. I’m just looking forward to seeing what we can do the rest of this season, go win a championship and try to run it back next year with the same team.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL YOUR PLAYOFFS ARE A VIEW FOR PEOPLE LOOKING AT YOU DOWN THE ROAD? “Having this year and next year to figure that out and elevate myself even more, that’s the biggest thing. Just elevating yourself and getting better every single time you hit the racetrack. As far as a contract goes, I’ve expressed how much I want to go Cup racing in the future, and I have to wait another year in order to do that, but I’m gonna use that opportunity to get even better at my craft and do everything I can to collect more trophies and hang more banners in the race shop. Everything I do positive helps, so we’re gonna just do everything I can to be positive.”

DO YOU EXPECT GUYS TO RATCHET UP THE INTENSITY IN THE PLAYOFFS? “I’m definitely aggressive when it comes to putting it on people’s doors and packing air and making people uncomfortable and putting people in bad spots, but I like to think I usually don’t wreck people intentionally or put them in bad spots to where their day is gonna be over. Granted, I’ve made mistakes in the past for sure, but it’s not egregious by any means. I don’t want to elevate my intensity to where it comes to that point, but I certainly see that happening with a lot of other drivers and you always have to watch your back in the playoffs. You never know what’s gonna come at you next, but all you can do is focus on yourself and try to go out there and lead every lap and win every race and then it should be pretty easy, at least that’s what they say.”

HOW MANY OTHER DRIVERS? “Eleven of them. You never know what you’re gonna get. Someone could be full of surprises and then there are other people that you know what to expect. For us, it’s you have to know who you’re racing around and you just have to expect the intensity level to be up anyway.”

YOUR WIN AT IOWA WAS THE FIRST FOR HFT. WHAT DID THAT MEAN FOR THE REST OF THIS SEASON AND NEXT? “For myself, it’s a really cool opportunity to go out there and win any Xfinity Series race. The intensity level like we just talked about is always elevated, but the playoffs elevate it even more. Iowa was one of those weird places where everyone was just super aggressive and you had to keep that track position and you had to be aggressive. I think that was our first taste of what the playoffs could really look like, and then Gateway was another one of those places, but to be able to win Iowa at a really intense racetrack, one that the fans love for sure, is really cool and then getting the first win for Haas Factory Team is obviously really special as well. There’s just a lot to be proud of, getting a win for the Blue Oval and Ford and Ford Racing is an awesome experience. Everyone treated me really well over there and still is, honestly, so it’s really cool to be able to get a win in a Ford. This whole season has been a lot of fun. We want to win more races for sure. That’s the biggest thing, but the big one is the championship at the end of the year.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT FORD. DOES IT HAVE A FUTURE IN THE XFINITY SERIES? “I can only speak for the Haas Factory Team. I’m not sure like our alliance partners with Ryan Sieg Racing deal with the 39 and AM with the 25, I can’t speak for that because I’m not too sure. I’m only in the know, so I only get told what I need to know, but, for us, going over to Chevrolet is a really good opportunity for us because I feel like we can elevate our performance even better with all of the tools we can get, but on the flip side what we have now is fantastic. Ford has treated us so well, so we still want to go win a championship for them this year, but as far as next year, I’m not sure what the future holds for Ford. I know that Haas Factory Team is really looking forward to the swap next next year and provides a really good opportunity for us. I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens.”

SHELDON CREED, No. 00 Haas Factory Team Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WILL THE NEXT SEVEN RACES BE DIFFICULT WITH THIS MANUFACTURER CHANGE? “No, I don’t think so at all. I think our relationship with Ford is as good as it’s been all year. Sim time, I think we’re getting more of it, and the goal is still the same for Haas Factory Team and Ford. We have three cars in the final 12 playoffs, so the goal is to get at least one of them to the final four, if not all three, so, yeah, I don’t think anything changes.”

IS YOUR GOAL THE CHAMPIONSHIP OR JUST GETTING A WIN IN THESE NEXT SEVEN RACES? “Yeah, both. I think first is to get that win finally. It’s been a challenging three-and-a-half years. We’ve been close numerous times, but haven’t been as close lately. I think I’d be lying to myself if I said we were right on the edge lately, but I think the first goal is to win. The second goal is just to be able to score as many points as possible and get ourselves to the Round of 8, and then refocus from there on where we think our strengths are, whether that be in Vegas, Talladega or Martinsville, and if we can win there, then focus goes to Phoenix on how are we gonna win there.”

HOW ARE YOU FEELING GOING INTO THE PLAYOFFS? “I don’t know. I’m not nervous. It’s the third time in the Xfinity Series being in the playoffs. I think we have a lot to prove. I think we have a lot of speed at times and we just need to put it all together and try to put a really strong run together. I’m excited. It’s kind of a reset on the regular season and the points are really close. I think I’m nine points out of third, so there is tons of room for opportunity.”

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED MAKING THE PLAYOFFS WITH ALL THREE MANUFACTURERS? “All of them are different in just the way they operate. I think all three manufacturers I’ve been at different teams, so the cars driver different and they make speed different ways. Fortunately, I’ve been able to make speed in all three and it’s been nice this year to be able to go into ‘26 with the same team and just kind of keep building on our notebook and what we’ve learned over the year. They all are different in their own way.”

HOW DOES THE NOTEBOOK CHANGE WHEN YOU KEEP THE SAME TEAM BUT CHANGE MANUFACTURER? “It certainly helps racing all of my Truck years there and then my first two years in Xfinity, getting a lay of the land and knowing a lot of the people and resources that they have to offer. I’ve never run the Hendrick motor, so that will be new for me, but I’m excited to keep building on a notebook. I think that’s pretty big because we’re going off of Cole’s and things they struggled with last year and trying to build on that, and then now having a notebook at all the tracks with myself in the car and what I needed to be better, where this year we’re going to all these tracks for the first kind of relying on sim that they posted last year and Cole’s notes. It can only get better.”

WHAT ABOUT THIS LATE PART OF THE YEAR GETS YOU WHERE YOU NEED TO BE? “I don’t know exactly. I get excited for playoff season. I think everyone in the shop gets more motivated and there’s definitely a lot more time. I’m not saying there’s not a lot of time spent in preparation before the playoffs, but it just gets that much more serious. I’ve been fortunate to perform well through the playoffs and hopefully we can do that again this year.”

NASCAR IS GOING TO SAN DIEGO NEXT YEAR. WHAT IS YOUR EXCITEMENT LEVEL FOR THAT AND IS YOUR GOAL TO TRY AND BE IN MORE THAN ONE RACE? “Yeah, I’m extremely excited. My whole family still lives right there 25 minutes east of downtown and in East County, so I’m excited to come race at home in front of all my friends and family and just to be in my hometown racing. I never would have dreamed or thought that NASCAR would go to San Diego, so I’m really excited for that and to answer the second part of your question, yes, definitely gonna try. I’m waiting to hear what NASCAR’s rules are going to be. The first year we went to Chicago they didn’t allow other drivers to run Xfinity or Cup or swap back and forth, so I’m waiting on the ruling from that, but, yes, the goal is to try to run all three.”

DO YOU FEEL YOUR PACE IS WHERE YOU NEED TO BE TO CONTEND WITH THE 88 OR IS THERE ANOTHER LEVEL YOU HAVE TO GO TO IN ORDER TO WIN? “I think it’s gonna be tough, and I think we have a lot of work ahead of us. I think we’ve showed that we do have speed that we unload with or it takes us all weekend to the third stage, kind of like Gateway was for us, just worked really hard on it all week and then finally got ourselves towards the front and then ended up having a mechanical in the transmission. I think we’re capable. I think Cole and Riley showed that last year with the team and the guys in the shop are really good at their job, so I think we know what we need to work on and I think Sam and I fight a lot of the same things, but I certainly think we can make a strong run in the playoffs.”

DO YOU FEEL TO GET TO PHOENIX IT’S GOING TO REQUIRE A WIN WITH WHERE YOU ARE? “I do. I would love to go win Vegas. I think that’s the goal everyone who makes the Round of 8 is to win Vegas and not have to worry about the next two weeks. I think it’s gonna take a win, unless some guys that are ahead of us in points have bad days, say at Vegas or Talladega and we can just have solid points days those first two to get ourselves in a good position points-wise going into Martinsville. If guys outside the playoffs can win Vegas or Talladega, then that provides more opportunity to point in, but looking at it right now, you’re certainly going to have to win in order to make it to the final four.”

HOW DO YOU BALANCE THE HERE AND NOW VERSUS WHAT’S AHEAD IN 2026, AND DOES NEXT YEAR FEEL LIKE A REUNION? “Yeah, kind of. I mean, right now we’re just focused on going as far as we can in these playoffs and trying to make the final four and have a shot at a championship with Ford. That’s goal number one, but I’m excited for what’s on the horizon. We’re already working on things for next year and just trying to improve the whole program.”

IS THIS A PLACE WHERE YOU CAN FIND WHAT YOU HAD IN TRUCKS? “Yeah, I do. Obviously, Xfinity has been tough for myself for whatever reason. It helped in trucks when I was at GMS that our trucks were really fast and I gelled really well with my crew chief, Jeff Stankiewicz. We just clicked really well, but I don’t know. Our trucks were just fast and it was easy to do what I wanted, and that was really comfortable. I could be aggressive and I could just be really creative in the truck, where Xfinity it’s harder. The drivers are better. There’s more better drivers. The field is just thicker. Everything matters a little bit more like pit stops and pit road and everything has to go well. The car falls off through a run one to two seconds more than a truck, so I’ve obviously had good Xfinity cars over the years and had opportunities to win and feel comfortable with where I’m at. I’m blessed to have a second year here at Haas Factory and we’re just gonna keep building on our notebook. I would love to have a season like Connor’s had.”

HOW BIG OF A JUMP IS IT FROM ONE LEVEL TO ANOTHER? “I think Trucks to Xfinity is a pretty big jump and then Xfinity to Cup is even bigger. I think there’s probably 17 Xfinity guys that I think are pretty good, really good. Everyone is good, but then in Cup there’s 34 or 35 that are really good, so you’re going from racing 16-17 guys every week that are good to you’re doubling it to 35. The car seems to be closer, which makes it even harder, so there are definitely big gaps between the series.”

HAVE YOU BEEN CUT OUT OF ANY FORD MEETINGS OR ARE YOU STILL PART OF THE FORD FAMILY? “I think we’re certainly high up in the Ford family right now. I think not just for us at Haas Factory, but for them as well. They support four competitive Xfinity cars, so the goal is the same and it’s to try and win as many races as we can the next seven weeks and try to get at least one car to the final four.”

SO YOU ARE STILL GETTING THE DATA AND SIM OPPORTUNITIES? “Yeah. We’re getting more sim opportunity as we’re getting to the playoffs.”

ARE YOU GOING TO BE THE SAME GUY WE’VE SEEN IN THIS PLAYOFFS OR WILL THAT CHANGE WITH THE INTENSITY GOING UP? “I think you try to be aggressive in the right situations. Obviously, I’ve been able to learn the last few playoff appearances on what it takes to make the next rounds, but, yeah, intensity is up for sure. Aggression is up and we’re just trying to make smart decisions in certain situations and we’re gonna do our best to move forward.”

ONE DRIVER SAID NO MORE MR. NICE GUY. AUSTIN HILL SAID HE’S NOT GOING TO CHANGE. IS THERE ANYTHING DIFFERENT ABOUT THE PLAYOFFS? “Yeah, I would say everyone’s aggression is up a little bit, but I’m definitely not gonna take getting knocked out of way now. I think I’ve been good at taking it throughout the year on the chin, but I think you kind of have to put your foot down now in the playoffs and if they want to knock you out of the way, then they need to know they’re gonna get it back.”

DO YOU DO THAT RIGHT AT THE START TO SET THE TONE? “Yeah, you’re certainly not gonna go and be the first to knock someone out of the way because then you’re just asking for problems, but I’m for sure not gonna let myself get pushed around.”

DOES SEEING SOMEBODY NEW LIKE ZILISCH COME INTO THE SERIES AND WIN AS MUCH AS HE HAS FRUSTRATE YOU AND CAN YOU USE THAT TO BETTER YOURSELF AS A DRIVER? “Obviously, Connor has done exceptionally well. He’s a great race car driver. I don’t know if I expected him to do as good as he has, and obviously, we knew he was gonna be fast on road courses, but he’s really figured out the ovals the last two months. He’s just been really strong since Pocono. Obviously, we’re all kind of chasing JRM cars right now, probably the whole field feels that way. The car is really good, but that’s our job to make our cars faster than theirs and be able to do that with our team, so I don’t think it frustrates me. I like Connor, so you’re obviously happy for them, but you’re also not jealous, but you want to have that success and win all of those races and have that Cup opportunity and move forward. So, yeah, certain parts are frustrating I think just in general that I haven’t won, and kind of how our season has gone is irritating, so I think we have a lot to prove in the playoffs.”

Toyota GAZOO Racing – Taylor Gray
NASCAR Xfinity Series Quotes

CHARLOTTE (September 9, 2025) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Taylor Gray was made available to the media on Tuesday as part of NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff Media Day.

TAYLOR GRAY, No. 54 Operation 300 Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

How much do you feel like the experience running through the Truck Series Playoffs help you?

“I think knowing how the process works and just staying with that level feel and keeping your head straight throughout the Playoffs is super important. There is a lot of ups-and-downs, and things that happen. Last year’s Playoffs, we had a really good opportunity to go to the Final 4 at Martinsville, and it didn’t happen.”

Do you feel like you have enough speed and performance to win races or do you feel like there is a next step that you and Joe Gibbs Racing needs to take to get there?

“In terms of speed, we’ve had enough speed to win quite a few races this year. For the 54 group, it is about execution and finishing these races out, whether it is on pit road or things like that. Cleaning everything up, getting ready to go to Bristol. Being as sharp as we can and making minimal mistakes.”

What do you think is the most difficult track in the Round of 12?

“I would just say the ROVAL, just because I’ve never raced there before. I’ve raced at Bristol and Kansas quite a bit. ROVAL is one that I haven’t been too. This year we’ve had some decent success on road courses, and some good top-five runs. I feel like I’m a decent road course racer. Obviously, not as good as some, but I feel like I’m okay at it, and decent at. Not super worried about it, but in terms of going to a new place, it would be the ROVAL for the Round of 12.”

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