Category: XFINITY Series PR

Toyota Racing – Sheldon Creed
NASCAR Xfinity Series Quotes

CHARLOTTE (September 24, 2024) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Sheldon Creed was made available to the media today as part of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff Media Day.

SHELDON CREED, No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Toyota has won nine of the last 12 Xfinity Series races at Kansas. How does that bode for your team this weekend?

“It is, yeah. I didn’t know it was that many. Nine out of 12? That’s a really good rate there. I don’t what we are in the points, minus three right now? Yeah, I mean, obviously our guys are confident. We have a really good notebook, obviously with John Hunter (Nemechek) winning there last year. We honestly based our sim session off the No. 20 from last year and worked around it from there. Yeah, I feel good about the notebook that we have. Obviously, we’ve been pretty consistent lately and unloading pretty good. So, I think all of that is going to be really important this weekend. Having a good practice session. Qualifying is going to be very important as stage points are going to be even more important now as we get into these first couple of rounds. Obviously, if we can’t win the race, we want to point our way in (to the next round). Yeah, I mean for me, I’m going to keep doing what we’ve been doing the last few weeks. Just trying to be consistent and be towards the front and obviously, you want to want to win the stages and win the race, so going to be going for that.”

What are the emotions still looking for your first career win as the Playoffs start?

“Yeah, obviously Daniel (Hemric) and others have proved you can point your way in there (Championship 4) and win the championship. I think Matt Crafton did it in 2019. So, it is possible. You have to be really consistent, really good to do that, which I think we do have the consistency and speed which we’ve shown in the last two-to-three months. I don’t want to back on that, I guess? I want to be consistent the next seven races, but I would really love to win in this first round, win stages so our points are up and would love to go win (Las) Vegas or Homestead and have an ‘off weekend’ in Martinsville.”

How will the lack of Playoff points impact your approach to the Playoffs?

“Yeah, we’ve won like one stage and the 7 car (Justin Allgaier) has won 14? So that’s 14 more points that he’s starting with. Stages pay a lot. I think I finished fifth in the regular season points and some of the cars in front of us just scored way more stage points than we did, and we probably had higher finishes than them. They just pay a lot, maybe too much in some scenarios. Yeah, that’s definitely a main focus – stage wins and top-five stage points to continue to the next round. Like you said, we’re negative three which is three spots in a stage. It’s definitely doable. Everyone’s going to be good. What do we start with, 12? So, two guys won’t be getting points in the stages, so it’s going to be really important in this first round to capitalize on that.”

Has this season provided more confidence for you and your career?

“Yeah, I think it certainly has. I think I came to JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) pretty low on confidence and yeah, I’m not sure I was having fun with it anymore. And yeah, I think that’s all turned around. I think my confidence grows every week. We’ve been leading laps more recently. Don’t want to say we should’ve won Darlington but were in position to win Darlington. So yeah, confidence has been up, and our team has a lot of fun. Running top-five every week is fun, right? It’s better than running sixth, seventh or eighth, or 12th-15th. Yeah, I think everyone’s in a good mood right now and working really hard at it. I’d say the No. 18 team is in a good place.”

How do you view the narrative about your second-place finishes and coming so close to your first win?

“Yeah, I think each situation has been unique. This weekend (at Bristol), we straight up ran second. I slid, same thing that the No. 00 (Cole Custer) did the restart before and then he just out-ran me that whole last run. But I’ll pull up New Hampshire for instance. I got in position to get the lead into (turn) one, and I thought I did a good job in (turn) one and (turn) two, but looking back, watching the replays and race back, there’s just things you can do differently in every situation. So, I try to learn from all of them. In that instance, I thought I diamonded the corner too much and I fed the No. 00 air and I didn’t hold the No. 20 (Christopher Bell) tight enough and the No. 00 was able to get back to me. Yeah, each situation has been different. I don’t think I’ve done the same mistake twice, right? I just try to learn and be better every single week. I mean, for a second there, it was getting annoying. I got annoyed with myself and why do I keep running second, right? But lately, I’ve just haven’t cared and have been having a lot of fun being fast and consistent and in the picture of winning.”

This was around the time last year of your ending with Richard Childress Racing. Have you closed the door fully on that chapter?

“I mean, it was rough there after Martinsville, obviously. I don’t know, Austin (Hill) and I didn’t talk for about four-to-five months. And then, yeah, we’ve hung out a couple times away from the track and we’ve not talked about it at all. Yeah, I think that’s in a much better place now. I was good friends with a lot of people who are at RCR (Richard Childress Racing). All the engine guys and guys in the shop, the guys on the road. All of those relationships stayed the same. I don’t think the No. 21 group was really a huge fan of me for a while. Yeah, it’s been all good all year for what it’s seemed like.”

What do you think the feeling will be when you get your first win? And where do you see your career going after that?

“Yeah, I feel like it’ll be a huge weight off my shoulders. Obviously, this has been riding on me for three years now. Yeah, I don’t know, I’ll for sure be relieved. And it’s going to happen, one of these days. I thought it was going to happen just a couple weeks ago at Darlington. Yeah, once we win, I have a feeling they’ll come a little easier and hopefully more often. Yeah, I think at this point, where everything is at, you have to win races if you want to go to Cup (Series) and have a paid-for ride and not have to bring money to a Cup team. That’s the goal. Obviously, I think I’m consistent enough to maybe have Cup teams interested, but they want to see winners and I have to do that more often.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 47 million cars and trucks at our 12 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 13th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 29 electrified options.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

Toyota Racing – Chandler Smith
NASCAR Xfinity Series Quotes

CHARLOTTE (September 24, 2024) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Chandler Smith was made available to the media on today as part of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff Media Day.

CHANDLER SMITH, No. 81 QuickTie Products Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

What are the ultimate expectations for your Playoffs?

“I feel like the sky is the limit for our 81 group. As you said, we’ve showed up with speed – week-in and week-out. Some weekends, we miss it, and still have speed – just the balance isn’t quite right, but we still have speed, which is good. It is just how do we fine tune the balance – some weekends, we haven’t been able to hit on the balance right, but some weekends we do, like we did this past weekend at Bristol. We got the pole, still was able to lead a good bit of laps, finished third. Those are all really good positives. We’ve been on a good streak these last few weeks, leading into the Playoffs. Every team goes through somewhat of a drought in their season – it doesn’t matter if it is Kyle Larson, Chandler Smith – everyone goes through somewhat of a drought, and we were going through ours about midway through the summer and it was just, when was it going to stop. It is one of those things that – what is it? What is causing it? Nobody can ever pinpoint, well that is what it is, business as usual, shit just happens. Luckily, slowly ours started turning around, we started picking up good finishes and started bringing better race cars, and what not. I feel like we are in a pretty solid spot heading into the Playoffs.”

What have you learned as you have gone through many Playoffs?

“It is all about understanding your situation. If you are in a situation where you are, when the Playoffs start, and you had a good regular season and had good bonus points – it is what it is – as much as I would like to say that we are going to go out every week and try to win, we say that on Monday, all the way to Friday and then we get in a situation that we might not be good enough to win, and the situation changes and it’s like, well, we have a good buffer, let’s try to maximize our day and get a good finish and get points and stay around till the end, and I feel like – for the most part – this year is very similar to two years ago when I got to the Championship 4 in the Trucks. Came out of the regular season with a bunch of points – we were really good through the Playoffs, don’t get me wrong, we just weren’t as aggressive as we could have been for sure, and it was because of the situation at hand. We knew what the task was at hand, and that was to get to Phoenix. Last year, for instance, with Kaulig Racing was able to make the Playoffs with them in our rookie season – was a little different. Didn’t come out with as many Playoff points as I did this year, but still had a good bit – just had problems in the first race at Kansas and that kind of put us on offense going into Talladega and we had a really good points day where we could go to the ROVAL and just have a solid day and advance to the second round. It is all about understanding your situation, where you exited the regular season, how many points you have from the get-go and where that reset puts you on points, and understanding where you are at.”

What have you learned about Austin Hill as you have spent many years racing him?

“Austin (Hill) will race you with respect, if you have respect for him, and I feel like we have a lot of respect for each other just with the process and the way we grew up racing, and last year, being with Kaulig Racing and being on the RCR (Richard Childress Racing) campus, we were essentially teammates, and grew a tighter knit relationship then, then we did in Trucks and we had a good relationship in Trucks as well. That plays into how we race each other compared to a person I may not have as much respect for just because we’ve raced the crap out of each other every time we race. Austin is one that I feel like – if we go to a Talladega, he is going to push me for a while, but I know that he’s not going to be the guy that will leave me out to dry and he’s not going to be the guy that will try to wreck me halfway through stage two at Kansas. That’s just not him.”

Have you started having talks with Joe Gibbs Racing for next year?

“Honestly, right now, we are just making sure that we show up week-in and week-out with fast Toyota Supras and doing everything we can do to make it to Phoenix, and we will sort the rest out later.”

What has it been like working with your teammates?

“It’s just like any other organization – you are going to have run-ins. We have good race cars, and we are all pretty much running the same speed. Good race car drivers are going to have run-ins, unfortunately, it’s just a matter of how it all gets handled.”

How have you felt about your gains with Joe Gibbs Racing this season?

“It has been great being with Joe Gibbs Racing and all of the personnel. I’m back with Toyota as well. People forget that last year when I went to Kaulig Racing, I jumped ship from Toyota to go to Kaulig Racing, which is a Chevy team. When I was with Toyota for seven plus years, whatever it was, before then. Being back home in the Toyota camp with all of my Toyota family and being in depth at Joe Gibbs Racing and all of the personnel has been great.”

Can you compare your run last year and this year?

“Joe Gibbs Racing, from where I was last year, is night and day different in its own different ways and aspects. It is hard to compare the two, because Joe Gibbs Racing has been around before the 2000’s, and Kaulig Racing has been around, I don’t know, since 2018 – whenever it has been, so obviously the notebook and depth is night and day difference. The experience at the shop is night and day difference. The wins – night and day difference. Everything is different – you can’t compare the two. I think I’m more at home at Joe Gibbs Racing, than I was at Kaulig – just because being with Toyota and how many years I was with them and how tight knit Joe Gibbs Racing is with Toyota – it obviously is a really big deal to me and that is pretty much the reason I came to Joe Gibbs Racing was because of the Toyota tie. I think that is the biggest thing – being back with a manufacturer that I’m familiar with, the one that has been behind me for seven plus years and put me in situations where I can go out and win. That’s what they did this year.”

Do you think you will make the Championship 4?

“I think if it is meant to be it will happen. Regardless of, if we are performing well. I think if we are meant to make it to Phoenix, we will find a way to Phoenix, if we are not, we will find a way not to make it to Phoenix.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 47 million cars and trucks at our 12 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 13th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 29 electrified options.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

COLE CUSTER | RILEY HERBST
Kansas NASCAR Xfinity Series Advance
NASCAR Xfinity Series Overview

• Event: Kansas Lottery 300 (Round 27 of 33)
• Date: Saturday, Sept. 28
• Location: Kansas Speedway in Kansas City
• Layout: 1.5-mile oval
• Time/TV/Radio: 4 p.m. EDT on CW/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Cole Custer Notes of Interest

• The reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion is back to defend his title with the support of a few fellow champs in Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. Custer will sport a bright and vibrant orange Ford Mustang Dark Horse for the first time this season spotlighting NXT on CW and several of its championship-winning wrestlers. Launched by WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque, NXT has aired weekly since 2012 and features the brightest young talent in sports entertainment. Nearly 90 percent of the participants in last year’s WrestleMania were developed under the NXT banner. Led by WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, NXT is popular with younger audiences. WWE Superstars, including Roman Reigns, Seth “Freakin” Rollins and Charlotte Flair, have come up through NXT, a series similar to the Xfinity Series where rising stars attempt to find their way into the elite series of their sport. Many NXT Superstars have gone on to WWE’s main roster and performed on the biggest stage. Kansas will be the first of two races for this partnership, with the second coming on Oct. 26 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. This weekend, Custer’s No. 00 Ford Mustang will highlight four of the NXT’s Superstars – on the hood NXT Women’s champion Roxanne Perez and Trick Williams, while the quarter panels will feature NXT Women’s North American champion Kelani Jordan and NXT champion Ethan Page. The No. 00 Stewart-Haas team will also host Jordan and Page at the track for their first NASCAR race this weekend. Custer hopes the NXT Superstars connection this weekend helps him kick off this year’s playoff run with the ultimate result as he seeks to successfully defend his 2023 Xfinity Series title.
• Custer adds a new title to his resume after clinching his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season championship by winning last Friday night at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The driver of the No. 00 Ford Mustang Dark Horse entered the race 43 points behind points-leader Justin Allgaier. Custer was in a virtual must-win situation for the regular-season title after seeing the points lead he held since the June 1 race at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway dwindle away during a tough stretch of races following the series’ return from the Olympic break. He started Friday’s race second but made contact with the wall on lap four that caused a cut right-front tire. His hopes for the regular-season title and valuable extra playoff points appeared to be out of reach, but a determined Custer drove his way back up through the field to earn bonus points with finishes of seventh and second in the opening two stages, respectively. Meanwhile, issues with Allgaier’s No. 7 car opened up a chance for Custer. In the final stage, Custer still faced a must-win situation and also needed Allgaier to finish 26th or worse in order emerge with the regular-season championship and accompanying 10 bonus playoff points. Custer took command in that final stage, leading the final 92 laps en route to his second win of the season and 15th of his Xfinity Series career. He’ll start the playoffs’ Round of 12 second in the standings, just six points behind Allgaier.
• Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 will mark Custer’s sixth career Xfinity Series start at Kansas. His best Kansas finish is 11th, earned in the October 2019 race when he led 85 laps. He has an additional eight starts outside of the Xfinity Series at Kansas – one in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and seven in the NASCAR Cup Series. He finished seventh in his lone Truck Series start there in May 2016, and a posted best Cup Series finish of 18th in September 2021.
• Custer will once again “Honor a Cancer Hero” this weekend in partnership with the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation and the NASCAR Foundation. Earlier this season, the organizations welcomed fans to bid on the chance to have the name of their “cancer hero” on the driver-side nameplate of their favorite driver’s car. Custer will run the name of East Hartford-native Rindi Taylor, who valiantly fought ovarian cancer until her passing in August 2013. She was nominated by her daughter-in-law Meghan Taylor, who hopes to honor Rindi by putting her name on the car of her grandson’s favorite driver.
• The CW is America’s fifth major broadcast network and is available to 100% of U.S. television households. The CW delivers primetime entertainment programming and more than 500 hours of sports programming annually, including LIV Golf, ACC football and basketball, Pac-12 football, “Inside the NFL,” WWE NXT and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The free, ad-supported CW App is widely available on all major platforms. The CW App is home to The CW’s primetime programming, live streaming of LIV Golf tournaments, and a library of entertaining film and television content. The CW is 75% owned by Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXST), a leading diversified media company and the largest CW affiliate group. For more information about The CW, please visit www.cwtv.com.

Riley Herbst Notes of Interest

• Riley Herbst is ready to race for redemption in Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway as his championship run begins a year after he was heartbreakingly eliminated from making the 2023 playoffs. The Las Vegas native and two-time Xfinity Series winner has his eyes on the prize as he vies for the title of 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion against 11 other fulltime drivers, including his teammate Cole Custer. Herbst finished the regular season eighth in the standings and will start the playoffs in the same position, with a total of 10 playoffs points collected via his stage and race wins. While he starts the Round of 12 on the bubble for advancing to the Round of 8 three races hence, he’s only one point behind seventh-place Sam Mayer and three points behind sixth-place Jesse Love. After a disappointing 13th-place finish last Friday at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, his favorite track, Herbst hopes to turn the focus to his bid for his first championship and making it back-to-back titles for Stewart-Haas Racing.
• This is Herbst’s fourth appearance in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs in five fulltime seasons. The driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang Dark Horse clinched his playoff berth before the Olympic Break by virtue of his July 20 win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In seasons prior, Herbst has pointed his way into the seven-race postseason. Herbst has been on a roll since missing the playoffs in 2023. After last September’s regular-season finale at Kansas, he went on to finish in the top-five in the final five races of the season, including his first career Xfinity Series victory at his hometown Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and scored more points than all the drivers in the Xfinity Series Round of 8 playoff field. The No. 98 team is confident that if it can survive the Round of 12, which features the intermediate oval at Kansas, the behemoth Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, and the unpredictable Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval, it can flourish on its “bread-and-butter” tracks in the Round of 8 in hopes of making the Championship 4 field Nov. 9 at Phoenix Raceway.
• Saturday’s race will mark Herbst’s sixth career start at Kansas. In his five prior starts, Herbst earned a best finish of ninth in his rookie 2020 season after starting eighth. He has finished outside of the top-25 just once in his Xfinity Series career at the 1.5-mile track. The Las Vegas native has an additional six starts outside of the Xfinity Series at Kansas – four in the ARCA Menards Series, all top-10 finishes and two in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He has a best finish of third in his July 2020 ARCA start after starting on the pole. Best of his two Truck Series starts was a ninth-place run in May 2019.
• Like his teammate Custer, Herbst will once again support Martin Truex Jr.’s Honor a Cancer Hero program at Kansas in conjunction with the NASCAR Foundation. The cancer hero whose name will appear on his racecar’s driver-side nameplate is Ali Tupper, a breast cancer survivor who was diagnosed in March 2018 at just 39 years of age. Nominated by Kelsey Tupper, Ali has valiantly fought the tough battle against cancer. She continues her battle with the support of her family and friends.

Cole Custer, Driver of the No. 00 NXT on CW Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Bristol last weekend was nothing less than a fairytale ending. You went into the race 43 points behind regular-season championship leader Justin Allgaier and emerged with a dominating victory and the championship by a three-point margin. How does it feel to win the regular-season title in such a manner just one week before the playoffs begin?

“I honestly went into last weekend thinking that the regular-season championship was just out of our grasp. We needed luck on our side to get it because Justin (Allgaier) had such a lead. When he had issues, we had to take advantage of it and win the race. That’s just what we did. Even after we brushed the wall on lap four, my team never gave up and I was back in the top-10 by the end of the first stage. I’m so proud of the No. 00 team and how we’re able to overcome adversity. I’ve never won the regular-season championship in my career, so to knock down another milestone before I move back up to the NASCAR Cup Series just means that much more. The confidence is high now as we head into the playoffs, and hopefully we can ride it all the way to the championship.”

You’re welcoming a new partner to your car this weekend with NXT on CW, just one week after The CW kicked off its broadcasts of the the final eight Xfinity Series races of the season. How important is it to you that you have the support of this new partner, which is putting so much into the Xfinity Series?

“Man, I’m so excited to have NXT on CW on our car this weekend. The CW itself is investing so much in the NASCAR Xfinity Series right now, so to have their support just means that much more. They’re covering the entire playoffs to prepare for 2025, so it’s exciting for them to support me in the first race of the playoffs and later on at Homestead. I’ve always been a big fan of the WWE and the NXT Series is just like the Xfinity Series, they’re all trying to get to the top level. I’m hoping to get them a strong run at Kansas and hopefully in victory lane for back-to-back No. 00 car wins.”

Riley Herbst, Driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang Dark Horse

After missing the playoffs last season, you’re back for redemption as you start your championship run at a track that brought you heartbreak last year. Talk about what you’ve learned since the Kansas race last year.

“Last year was a heartbreak. We went into Kansas fighting for a place in the playoffs and left just short of the final spot. I was so frustrated and disappointed in myself. Still, we had seven races until the end of the season and I had to pick myself up to finish the year strong. I won’t lie – it was hard. We should’ve made the playoffs, but a string of bad races ruined that for us. Once I pushed all of that doubt aside, though, it changed everything. I won my first Xfinity Series race, scored the most points of any driver in the Round of 8, and scored five straight top-fives to close out the season. Experiencing all of this helped me grow as a driver. My journey in the Xfinity Series has been on a slower progression than others, but I’m proud of it. I’m a better driver because of it.”

Kansas has been a solid track for you in the past – especially in the Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series. What do you like about the track?

“I love this track. Kansas is probably one of my favorite intermediate tracks just because I have some solid history there in Trucks and ARCA. Even in the Xfinity Series, we’ve been decent there. There’s a lot that can transfer over from those starts to the Xfinity Series, but ultimately seat time helps you learn the track. We’ve had fast Ford Mustangs each and every week this year, so now it’s just about leaving any bad luck behind us and making no mistakes as we start the playoffs. I want to be able to park the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang in victory lane so we can automatically advance to the Round of 8. It would make the unpredictability of Talladega and the Roval a lot easier to handle in the two weeks after.”

AJ Allmendinger to Drive the No. 16 Morris-Shea Chevrolet in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Events at Kansas and Talladega

 Lexington, N.C. (September 23, 2024) – Kaulig Racing and Morris-Shea announce a continuation of their partnership for the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) season. Morris-Shea will serve as the primary partner on the No. 16 Chevrolet driven by AJ Allmendinger.

Allmendinger will drive the No. 16 Morris-Shea Chevrolet in the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway and the United Rentals 250 at Talladega Superspeedway.

“We’re excited to partner with Kaulig Racing again this year at both Kansas and our home track in Talladega,” said CEO, Morris-Shea. “The Talladega race weekend is a great employee appreciation event for the Morris-Shea team. We’re all looking forward to cheering on AJ [Allmendinger] in the No. 16 Morris-Shea Chevy Camaro.”

Morris-Shea was first featured as a primary partner on Kaulig Racing’s No. 31 Camaro ZL1 for the 2023 Yellawood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

“I can’t wait to see the No. 16 Morris-Shea Chevy on the high banks at Talladega,” said team president Chris Rice. “Representing their family-owned company means a lot to us at Kaulig Racing and we can’t wait to do it again.”

Tune in to The CW on September 28th and October 5th to catch all the action of the No. 16 Morris-Shea Chevy on track.
 
About Kaulig Racing

Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time, multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has earned 23 NXS wins, made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started, and won two regular-season championships. In 2021, the team competed in select NCS events, before expanding to a two-car, full-time NCS team in 2022 and adding a third, part-time entry during the 2023 season. Since its first NCS start in 2021, the team has earned two wins. Kaulig Racing is currently fielding two full-time entries in the NCS and continues to field three full-time NXS entries, with a part-time fourth entry at select events. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.

About Morris-Shea:

Morris-Shea, a leading deep foundation contractor, installs deep foundation systems for critical commercial and infrastructure projects throughout the United States, the Caribbean and South America. Our team of experienced geotechnical professionals has constructed deep foundations under many of the world’s largest energy, manufacturing and industrial projects. Our family-owned company is well-established as a leader for deep foundation installation in heavy civil, commercial, industrial and marine construction markets.

BRISTOL, TN – September 23, 2024 – Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer won Friday’s Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway, claiming the regular season championship. This weekend’s win marked Custer’s first win at Bristol, second of the season, and 15th of his NASCAR Xfinity Series career.

“Congratulations to Tony, Gene, Jonathan, Cole, and everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing on the race win and regular season championship,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “Winning the regular season championship is a testament to all of the hard work, dedication, and teamwork of Ford Performance, Stewart-Haas Racing, and Roush Yates Engines.”

“Man, it’s just unbelievable. It’s a testament to these guys. It’s been a really hard month, but everyone at the shop really kept their heads in it. I can’t thank HighPoint.com and Ford Performance enough. It’s awesome to get them both a win. All the guys did such a great job. It was an unbelievable car all night. I’m ready to get to the playoffs. It’s huge to get this momentum because our confidence was going down there this last month, so to get this win really means a lot. What a car. What a race. I mean, these guys did such a great job with this thing. I can’t thank HighPoint enough. Every race we’ve wanted to do better with them and this was finally a race we put it all together. It was just an unbelievable car. I could really drive through the field and do everything I needed. It’s a real testament to what this team can bring to the playoffs,” commented Custer.

Cole Custer started Friday night’s race from the outside of the front row in P2. On the second lap, Custer scraped the wall, as his flat right front tire brought out the first caution of the race. Custer pitted and quickly rebounded to finish Stage 1 in P7. After the stage break, RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg restarted Stage 2 in the lead. Custer continued to surge through the field, finishing Stage 2 in 2nd. On lap 209, Custer took the lead from Sheldon Creed on a restart and never looked back, leading a race-high 104 laps. Custer crossed the finish line 0.896 seconds ahead of Sheldon Creed, winning the race, Xfinity Series regular season championship, and now moves onto the Xfinity playoffs. Stewart-Haas teammate Riley Herbst also advanced to the playoffs Round of 12, following his win at Indianapolis earlier in the season.

RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg finished Friday’s race in P8 and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst finished in P13.

The NASCAR Cup Series also raced at Bristol on Saturday. Three Ford Performance drivers finished in the top-10: Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney in P6 and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Ryan Preece and Chase Briscoe in P8 and P9. Four Ford Performance drivers advanced to the Round of 12: Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney in P5, Joey Logano in P8, Austin Cindric in P9, and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe in P12.

The NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series both compete this weekend at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. The Round of 12 for both series consists of Kansas Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway and the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL.

About Roush Yates Engines
Roush Yates Engines is a leading-edge engine development company based in Mooresville, NC consisting of two state-of-the-art facilities – Roush Yates Engines and Roush Yates Manufacturing Solutions, a world class AS9100 Rev D/ISO 13485 certified CNC manufacturing facility. The company’s core business includes designing, building and testing purpose-built race engines.

Ford Performance in partnership with Roush Yates Engines is the exclusive engine builder of the NASCAR FR9 Ford V8 engine.

With an unparalleled culture of winning and steeped in rich racing history, Roush Yates Engines continues to follow the company’s vision to lead performance engine innovation and staying true to the company’s mission, provide race winning engines through demonstrated power and performance.

Jesse Love and the No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Team Enter Playoffs with Momentum after Strong Run at Bristol Motor Speedway

Finish: 4th
Start: 10th
Points: 6th

“We had a fast No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet tonight at Bristol Motor Speedway. Our car fired off well and we were able to drive up to second by the end of Stage 1. Danny Stockman (crew chief) made good changes to the car each stop and our pit crew was solid all night. Mid-race our car started to get tight in the center of the corner and I was losing time into Turn 1. On our next pit stop at the end of Stage 2, we put the changes back into the car that we started the race with, and our Chevrolet came to life. I could run the bottom all night where our car was the strongest. We gained stage points tonight and I feel confident going into the Playoffs. I’m very proud of the effort from our Richard Childress Racing team and look forward to Kansas Speedway next weekend.” -Jesse Love

Austin Hill and the No. 21 Bennett Transportation & Logistics Chevrolet Team Grind for Top-15 Finish at Bristol Motor Speedway

Finish: 14th
Start: 17th
Points: 3rd

“The NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season is done and from this point forward, every lap and every race counts. Our No. 21 team has to put our best foot forward each and every week in order to compete for the championship in November. I’m confident in our employees at Richard Childress Racing and ECR Engines, but our Bennett Transportation & Logistics Chevrolet wasn’t very good tonight at Bristol Motor Speedway. We started the race loose on entry and once we got the entry fixed, the middle became too tight. Just couldn’t move the car around like we needed to race for the win. It’s nice to have bonus points entering the Playoffs, but we learned last year to never be too satisfied with how many Playoff points we have. We missed the Championship 4 by so few points even with winning the regular season championship. We will be prepared for Kansas Speedway next weekend and hopefully start the Playoffs on the right foot.” -Austin Hill

STEWART-HAAS RACING
Food City 300
Date: Sept. 20, 2024
Event: Food City 300 (Round 26 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (.533-mile, concrete oval)
Format: 300 laps, broken into three stages (85 laps/85 laps/130 laps)

Race Winner: Cole Custer of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner: Chandler Smith of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Jeremy Clements of Jeremy Clements Racing (Chevrolet)

SHR Race Finish:

● Cole Custer (Started 2nd / Finished 1st, Running, completed 300 of 300 laps)
● Riley Herbst (Started 15th / Finished 13th, Running, completed 300 of 300 laps)

SHR Regular Season Points:

● Cole Custer (1st with 911 points)
● Riley Herbst (8th with 752 points, 159 out of first)

SHR Playoffs:

● Cole Custer qualified for the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs by virtue of his two victories this season – July 13 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway and tonight.
● This is Custer’s fifth playoff appearance.
● Custer is the reigning 2023 Xfinity Series Championship and chasing his second title.
● Riley Herbst qualified for the playoffs by virtue of his July 20 win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
● This is Herbst’s fourth playoff appearance.

Victory Notes:

● Custer’s victory at Bristol marked SHR’s 28th Xfinity Series victory, its third of the season, and its second at Bristol.
● This was SHR’s 105th overall victory (70 points-paying NASCAR Cup Series wins, six non-points-paying NASCAR Cup Series wins, 28 Xfinity Series wins and one ARCA Menards Series West win)
● This was Custer’s 15th career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory and his 14th with SHR.

SHR Notes:

● Custer earned his second victory of the season and his first victory in eight career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Bristol.
● Custer has only finished outside the top-10 twice in eight starts at Bristol.
● This was Custer’s second straight top-five at Bristol. He finished fourth last September.
● Custer’s win bettered his previous best finish at Bristol – third, earn in April 2019.
● Custer finished seventh in Stage 1 to earn four bonus points and second in Stage 2 to earn nine more bonus points.
● Custer led three times for 104 laps increasing his laps led total at Bristol to 244.
● Herbst earned his 16th top-15 finish of the season and his fifth top-15 finish in six career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Bristol.
● Herbst has only finished outside the top-15 once at Bristol. He hasn’t finished outside the top-15 at Bristol since joining SHR in 2021.
● This was Herbst’s second straight top-15. He finished 13th last Saturday at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.
● Herbst finished seventh in Stage 2 to earn four bonus points.

Race Notes:

● Cole Custer won the Food City 300 to score his 15th career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory, his second of the season and his first at Bristol. His margin over second-place Sheldon Creed was .896 of a second.
● There were seven caution periods for a total of 57 laps.
● Seventeen of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Custer is the NASCAR Xfinity Series Regular Season Champion by a three-point advantage over Justin Allgaier.

Playoff Standings:

1. Justin Allgaier (2,034 points)
2. Cole Custer (2,028 points, -6)
3. Austin Hill (2,025 points, -9)
4. Chandler Smith (2,024 points, -10)
5. Shane Van Gisbergen (2,017 points, -17)
6. Jesse Love (2,013 points, -21)
7. Sam Mayer (2,011 points, -23)
8. Riley Herbst (2,010 points, -24)
9. Sheldon Creed (2,007 points, -27)
10. AJ Allmendinger (2,006 points, -28)
11. Sammy Smith (2,001 points, -33)
12. Parker Kligerman (1,998 points, -36)

Sound Bites:

“Man, it’s just unbelievable. It’s a testament to these guys. It’s been a really hard month, but everyone at the shop really kept their heads in it. I can’t thank HighPoint.com and Ford Performance enough. It’s awesome to get them both a win. All the guys did such a great job. It was an unbelievable car all night. I’m ready to get to the playoffs. It’s huge to get this momentum because our confidence was going down there this last month, so to get this win really means a lot. What a car. What a race. I mean, these guys did such a great job with this thing. I can’t thank HighPoint enough. Every race we’ve wanted to do better with them and this was finally a race we put it all together. It was just an unbelievable car. I could really drive through the field and do everything I needed. It’s a real testament to what this team can bring to the playoffs.​” –Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse

“I guess it’s good for Stewart-Haas Racing with Cole being in Victory Lane. That was cool to see. It’s good for us, but we just missed it tonight. I don’t know. We weren’t good in practice and didn’t qualify well, and then we didn’t have much pace in the race, either. I feel like when we execute, we’re one of the fastest teams for sure, but tonight wasn’t one of those nights. We’ll have to figure out why and what I need better, but we’ll go to work. I think we’ll be really competitive in the playoffs. I’m excited for it, and hopefully, we can step up to the plate​.​” –Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Kansas Lottery 300 on Saturday, Sept. 28 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. This is the first race of the playoffs and the first of the Round of 12. The race begins at 4 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by CW and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Food City 300 | Bristol Motor Speedway
Friday, September 20, 2024

COLE CUSTER POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCE

COLE CUSTER, No. 00 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse – HOW REALISTIC DID YOU THINK IT WAS TO WIN THE REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP GOING INTO THIS RACE? “Not very realistic. I knew we needed some help. That’s a good team with that 7 team and it would have been a really good race if they didn’t have whatever problems they had. I’ve always liked racing Justin. It’s just bad luck for them, I guess, but it’s a testament to our team, what we bring to the racetrack every single weekend. Any given weekend we can win. It’s been a tough month-and-a-half, but I know when we get our stuff right we’re gonna be up there fighting for wins and fighting for a championship.”

JUSTIN WAS IN VICTORY LANE. WHAT DID HE SAY? “He just said congratulations. It’s been a tough couple weeks for us. We got together at Atlanta and then we got together last week at Watkins Glen. He spun me out, so we’re gonna have to talk about things this week about how we’re gonna go forward, but he’s always been a great one to work with. He’s aggressive and races hard, but clean. It’s always great to have him in this series. He’s great competition and quality competition to race with.”

HAS IT BEEN EASIER TO PUSH THROUGH THESE TOUGH TIMES HAVING WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP? WHAT AREN’T WE SEEING BEHIND THE SCENES? “Overall, we just wrecked a lot of stuff. I mean, at Michigan we wrecked. At Daytona we wrecked. At Atlanta we wrecked. At Watkins Glen we kind of wrecked and finished horrible. It’s nothing that we’re really done wrong, just a lot of dumb stuff has happened. That kind of gets your confidence beat down a little bit, that you haven’t really put a race together in a while, so it definitely meant a lot to put this race together and be able to bring a really fast car to the track and know that we can go really put it to them in the playoffs.”

THAT’S 10 PLAYOFF POINTS – FIVE FOR THE WIN AND FIVE FOR THE REGULAR SEASON TITLE. HOW BIG OF A DIFFERENCE IS THAT? “I hope it makes me feel a lot better at Talladega and Martinsville because Talladega is gonna be wild and Martinsville you never know. Last year, everybody wrecked each other. You want any point that you can get to make yourself feel more comfortable, so any point we can get is huge. We just have to keep piling them up through the playoffs and keep it rolling.”

WHAT DID THAT DO FOR YOU CONFIDENCE WHEN YOU HAD TO PIT ON LAP THREE BUT WORK YOUR WAY THROUGH THE FIELD? “I knew that we just had a really fast car. I kind of knew it from lap one that we had something, so I knew going through the field it was gonna be tough, but we had our car set up pretty good to be able to pass and work the bottom, so it worked out good. We had a really fast car to be able to make passes. It was tough. We had to use the bumper a little bit to try to make passes, but we had a good enough car to be able to sustain a run on the bottom and be able to complete some passes.”

HOW LONG DID THOSE LAST 30 LAPS FEEL KNOWING YOU DIDN’T HAVE ANOTHER SET OF TIRES AND NEEDED TO WIN TO TAKE THE REGULAR SEASON TITLE? “I wanted it to go green as much as I could, but it’s tough with lap traffic. You just never know here. You catch one lapper that’s just really hard to pass and it can derail your whole race, so I was trying to be as aggressive as I could to get through lap traffic and move on, but it was tough. You kind of had to use the bumper a little bit to get by guys, but it’s just a testament to our car of how good we could work the bottom because not a lot of guys could.”

IS THAT A PLAYOFF MUSTACHE? “That’s the plan. We had some bad luck, so my wife thought we should try it. I just grew it out and I guess I’ve got to keep it now, but that’s another thing, too. We had our kid, Cal, about a month-and-a-half ago and it’s awesome to finally get our first win with him born. We’re gonna bring a trophy home to him, so that’s a really cool one, especially from Bristol. It’s one I’ve wanted for a long time.”

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO COME BACK AFTER A SEASON LIKE LAST YEAR TO AT LEAST REACH THIS POINT GOING INTO THE PLAYOFFS? “It’s huge. I mean, I think it just shows what this team can do and just the program that we’ve built. Every single weekend I feel like if we hit it right, we can go win races. It’s a great group of people that just wants to go out there and believe in one another and be able to fix problems and not point fingers at one another. We really just hone in on what we need to fix and I feel like if you do that enough and fix enough problems, you usually end up in a good spot. We’ve done a great job of that and just slowly but surely are getting our cars better and better. We’ll bring it to them in the playoffs.”

THIS WAS A YEAR OF UPHEAVAL FOR YOUR GROUP. HOW HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN ABLE TO KEEP THINGS TOGETHER OR DOES IT HELP THAT THE XFINITY PROGRAM IS STAYING AROUND? “It’s just a testament to the people. I think everybody on our group does a great job of blocking that stuff out because everybody at SHR had every excuse to not have a good year. It’s the toughest situation you’ll ever be a part of. I’ll tell you that right now. Everybody has what they’re focused on for next year. Everybody has to find what they’re gonna do, so you have to be understanding of that, but you also have to be understanding of we have to go out and try to win races. To keep everybody together is really tough and I feel like it’s just a testament to everybody in that building who has really stuck together. It’s a testament to see that 14 car in the playoffs and how much speed they have. I think just a great group of people that can go out there and still finish strong when this is probably the toughest year a lot of those guys will ever have on a race team – to be able to stay together as a team through this.”