Spartanburg, SC – Jeremy Clements Racing is extremely excited to continue building the JCR family with two new partners: Absolute Wall & Ceiling Systems and Fire Wall Signs. They will both make their debut into the NASCAR XFINITY Series in the Alsco Uniforms 300 as Co-Primary sponsors at the Charlotte Motor Speedway this coming Saturday, May 29th.

“I’m stoked to have Fire Wall Signs and Absolute Wall & Ceiling coming on board this weekend. They are totally new to NASCAR and we are fortunate to have them as sponsors and can’t wait to put on a good show for them and the Fans this weekend at Charlotte.” Clements said.

Joining as associate sponsors will be: Whitetail Smokeless, Fox Sports Spartanburg, Chalew Performance, ELITE Towing & Recovery LLC, Circle Body Shop, Mechanix Wear, Wix Filters, Carolina Driveline, Cometic and ZMAX

RACE PREVIEW
Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway
Race: Alsco Uniforms 300
Date: May 29th, 2021
Broadcast Information – TV: 1:00 pm EST on FS1

FAST FACTS:
• Best Start 17th – 5/2019
• Best Finish 13th – 5/2019
• 23rd career start at Charlotte

JCR TEAM
Team: No. 51
Crew Chief: Mark Setzer
Manufacturer: Chevrolet
Engine: Clements Racing Engines
Twitter: @JClement51 @JCR_Clements51
Instagram: @jclements51 @jeremyclementsracing
Facebook: Jeremy Clements Racing

ABOUT FIRE WALL SIGNS INC

Fire Wall Signs, Inc. was founded in 2004 by Jimmy and Beverly Moore as a family owned and operated fire-rated sign company out of Wilmington, NC

Since its inception, Fire Wall Signs has continued to create and develop signs used to identify the actual fire-rated integrity of walls, both residential and commercial, in compliance with the International Building Code.

Today, Fire Wall Signs has become one of the largest nationwide suppliers of fire-rated signs to contractors and building owners. In addition to customers having the ability to purchase directly from Fire Wall Signs via its website, it has created more than 200 local distributors throughout the United States to better serve its customers.

Over its 17 years of existence, Fire Wall Signs has become one of the most widely recognized and accepted sign companies for marking and identifying fire-rated walls.

ABOUT ABSOLUTE WALL & CEILING SYSTEMS

Absolute Wall & Ceiling Systems, Inc. out of Wilmington, NC is a family operated commercial subcontractor providing metal stud, drywall and acoustical ceiling services throughout Southeast NC, Northeast SC and surrounding areas since 1999. We specialize in office up-fits, commercial build-outs, multi-family housing, assisted living developments, municipal projects, educational and healthcare facilities. As a certified woman business enterprise and veteran owned contractor, we are positioned to attend to private, state and federal contracting requirements. Our employees are family and have a vested interest in the professional execution of each and every project. Basically, our mission is simple – to provide top quality commercial wall and ceiling systems while working within the partnership and framework of customers, employees and vendors.

Jeb Burton to Drive the No. 10 Rocky Boots Chevrolet at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

LEXINGTON, N.C. (May 24, 2021) – Kaulig Racing is thrilled to welcome Ohio-based boot manufacturer, Rocky Boots, onboard the No. 10 Chevrolet, piloted by Jeb Burton for the B&L Transport 170 at Mid-Ohio at the team’s home track, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Rocky Boots, a world leader in rugged outdoor and occupational footwear whose goal is to provide quality footwear to its customers, will extend its personal relationship with driver, Jeb Burton, to a newfound partnership with Kaulig Racing.

“Rocky is proud to partner with Jeb Burton and the No. 10 Chevrolet, and we look forward to cheering him on June 5th in Rocky’s home state of Ohio,” said Mike Roundhouse VP & Brand GM, for Rocky. “Rocky has a long history in motorsports, and we have a tremendous relationship with the Kaulig Racing family. We are excited to continue to grow this partnership and do our part to help get Jeb into victory lane.”

Burton, who earned his first-ever NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) win earlier this season with Kaulig Racing, is an avid outdoorsman and forged a relationship with the boot company after meeting them at an outdoor trade show convention.

“I’m super excited to have another one of my great partners come on board at Kaulig Racing,” said Burton. “They have a been a loyal partner and great friends of mine the last few years, so I’m optimistic we can put on a good show for them.”

With values based on innovation and quality performance, Rocky Boots, like Kaulig Racing, considers Ohio its home base.

“We are extremely honored to have another one of Jeb’s (Burton) partners join the Kaulig Racing family,” said Chris Rice, president of Kaulig Racing. “Matt Kaulig, our team owner, is from Ohio, so Mid-Ohio is a special place for him and everyone at Kaulig Racing. We are proud to have another Ohio-based company join our team for this big weekend.”

The B&L Transport 170 at Mid-Ohio will take place on Saturday, June 5th at 1:00PM EST, with coverage on FOX Sports 1 (FS1).

About Kaulig Racing™
Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time multi-car NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started and made the Championship 4 round for the first time in 2020. Kaulig Racing fields three full-time entries; the No. 10 Chevrolet driven by Jeb Burton, the No. 11 Chevrolet driven by Justin Haley, and the No. 16 Chevrolet driven by AJ Allmendinger. Kaulig Racing™ earned five wins in 2020 and have come to be one of the top competitors on track each weekend. The team also made its second NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) start in the 2021 Daytona 500 with Kaz Grala, as well as a limited NCS schedule this season. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.

Rocky Boots
Founded in 1932, ROCKY manufactures rugged outdoor, military, duty, work and western footwear, apparel and accessories. The company’s products are available in nearly 3,000 retail and catalog outlets. It is a division of Rocky Brands, a publicly traded company on NASDAQ® under the symbol: RCKY. More information can be found at www.rockyboots.com.

Our Motorsports teammates Brett Moffitt and Andy Lally competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ inaugural visit to Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, scoring 12th and 18th place finishes, respectively. During a soaked qualifying session early Saturday morning, Moffitt qualified 21st in the No. 02 Sokal Chevy. Lally qualified 13th in his No. 23 Chevy sponsored by The A-Team, falling just below the cutoff to advance to Round 2 of qualifying to compete for the pole position.

In the opening laps of the 156-mile contest, Lally settled into 12th while Moffitt was scored 17th on lap seven. During the 1st stage Lally moved up to 11th during a caution on lap 11. Under the yellow flag, Moffitt told his No. 02 crew that he needed front turn and pitted for service in preparation for the restart. Lally, who did not pit, restarted third and Moffitt took the green in 26th for the short sprint to the end of Stage 1. Lally held on to cross the stripe in 4th while teammate Moffitt rallied to a 20th-place finish in the opening segment.

Lally took his first pit stop during the stage break to get fresh tires and fuel. During his appearance on pit road, he was hit with a speeding penalty and had to start at the rear in 32nd. Moffitt restarted in the 15th position. During a lap-19 caution, The A-Team driver Lally reported to his team that his car was “lacking a little more drive off” while Moffitt continued to run steady inside the top-15. The duo returned to the 3.41-mile track’s pit road on lap 27 for four tires and fuel just short of the green-and-white checkered flag for Stage 2, where Moffitt eventually finished 20th and Lally finished 21st. Having just received service, Moffitt and Lally stayed out during the stage break and took the green flag in 10th and 11th for the third and final stage.

With 10 laps to go, Moffitt showed speed in the No. 02, charging up to ninth place on the leaderboard. As the laps clicked away, Moffitt lost a few positions slipping to 12th while Lally held the 18th spot. When the checkered flag flew, Moffitt crossed the finish line in the 12th position with Lally behind him in 18th. During the race the No. 23 gained stage points, which helped gain four spots and up to 23rd in the owner’s points battle. The No. 02 Chevy driven by Moffit is currently 14th for owner points.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to action next weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. The Alsco 300 is set for Saturday, May 29 at 1 p.m. ET on FS1.

Team Penske NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Report
Track: Circuit of the Americas
Race: Pit Boss 250
Date: May 22, 2021

No. 22 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang – Austin Cindric

Start: 8th
Stage 1: 9th
Stage 2: 15th
Finish: 5th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 46/46
Laps Led: 2
Driver Point Standings (ahead of second): 1st (+77)

Notes:

• Austin Cindric and the Menards/Richmond racing team scored their eighth top-five finish of the 2021 season with a fifth-place finish Saturday afternoon at Circuit of the Americas. Cindric led two laps at the 20-turn Texas Road Course and showed impressive poise behind the wheel, rallying back from a slow final stop, which dropped him to the 15th position, where he’d fight forward through the closing laps to claim the top-five result. Cindric remains the leader in the series driver standings, stretching his lead to 77 points ahead of Harrison Burton.
• Cindric qualified his Ford Mustang eighth Saturday afternoon during a qualifying session that consisted of heavy rain. At the drop of the green flag the reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion steadily worked his way to fifth before the first caution fell on lap 10. Cindric communicated his Menards/Richmond Mustang was lacking drive. Crew chief Brian Wilson called his driver to pit road for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment. Cindric restarted the one-lap dash to the Stage 1 finish 24th and sliced through traffic to claim a ninth-place finish when the segment concluded on lap 14.
• Cindric restarted the second stage third, claiming the race lead in turn 1. The 54 of Kyle Busch charged hard recapturing the lead from Cindric two laps later. Wilson called his driver to pit road from the third position with four laps remaining in the second stage for four fresh tires, fuel and adjustments and finished the second stage 15th.
• Cindric stayed out during the stage caution, lining up eighth when the race went green on lap 32. During the next run, Cindric said the No. 22 Menards/Richmond Ford was still lacking drive but the Mooresville, N.C. native powered through the conditions and was able to drive his Mustang to the fifth position by the end of the 46-lap event.

Quote: “We just didn’t execute today. We had a really bad pit stop and lost a lot of track position and we weren’t quite good enough to make it up. I didn’t have anything for the 54, but that’s the way it goes.”

Myatt Snider and the Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet Fight to the Finish in the Inaugural Race at Circuit of the Americas

Finish: 21st
Start: 23rd
Points: 10th

“Our Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet not only looked fast with the flames on the sides, but Andy Street and the guys prepared a really fast Camaro. During the first run, we needed more drive out of the car and once Andy made a chassis adjustment, I was able to post consistent lap times. We spent almost the entire second and third stages inside the top-10, which is a testament to our team at a new track. Unfortunately with only four laps to go, I spun around with Riley Herbst which cost a ton of spots and track position at the end. Although our result doesn’t show, our car had top-five speed and that’s encouraging heading into future road course races. It was a great experience coming here to Circuit of the Americas and our Richard Childress Racing team will rebound next weekend in Charlotte.” -Myatt Snider

BUSCH SCORES FIRST XFINITY WIN OF THE SEASON
Kyle Busch closes in on 100 Xfinity Series wins as he drives to victory lane for the 98th time

AUSTIN, Texas (May 22, 2021) – Kyle Busch drove to his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the season at the Pit Boss 250 in the series inaugural visit to Circuit of the Americas on Saturday evening.

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Circuit of the Americas
Race 11 of 33 – 150.040 miles, 44 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, KYLE BUSCH
2nd, AJ Allmendinger*
3rd, Justin Allgaier*
4th, Kevin Harvick*
5th, Austin Cindric*
6th, HARRISON BURTON
17th, BRANDON JONES
24th, RYAN ELLIS
29th, DANIEL HEMRIC
31st, BORIS SAID
32nd, KRIS WRIGHT
33rd, TIMMY HILL
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

KYLE BUSCH, No. 54 Skittles Gummies Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st

98th-career Xfinity Series win. You made history again, you win the first race at Circuit of the Americas in the Xfinity Series. How much time and effort and thought have you put in to racing at this new track?

“That’s a funny question. It’s an inside joke at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing). I have to give a huge shoutout to all the machine guys, the CNC guys, as well as the carbon guys. They helped me be able to get comfortable in the car for this weekend and be able to come out here and run on the road course again. A little bit of 2015 started to flare up this past week, so be able to keep that under control and get out here today and have such an amazing car to drive. Thanks to all these guys, everyone at the Xfinity Series shop, all of Joe Gibbs Racing, Joe (Gibbs), Coy (Gibbs), JD (Gibbs), everybody that has made this possible over the years. It’s really, really cool to come here for the first race at a new track and win, I’m kicking myself right now because I never won at Montreal, but I won at every other road course I’ve raced at, so it’s kind of a bummer, but overall real proud of the effort. This Skittles Gummies Supra was super. It was just awesome. I did a burnout in front of our friends over there at the Skittles Bus. Appreciate all those guys being here too.”

What a long day. You started the day with Cup practice in the downpour rain, then you qualified in the rain and had a dry race here. All of that, how can it help you tomorrow in Cup?

“I think the biggest thing is all the resources and stuff we have and being able to get laps on the track today, feel the tire and everything like that. To be able to get back out there tomorrow and do everything all over again tomorrow with the Cup car, so thanks to Toyota and TRD, we have some really cool tools that we’ve been able to use, and I feel like that was a good plus for us here today and hopefully it’s a good plus for us tomorrow. There were another couple of fast guys out there that will be a force to be reckoned with tomorrow, but overall excited about today. Cool to win and let’s see what tomorrow brings.”

How good did today feel out there dominating this race?

“It felt really good. We obviously had a great piece and this Toyota Supra was awesome. Thanks to Skittles, Skittles Gummies, and Toyota, TRD and everybody at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing), the machine shop, the carbon shop. They helped me to be comfortable in the car for this weekend so that was really good. Thanks to Chris Gayle (crew chief). It’s fun working with that guy. I love that guy and we have a lot of fun together. We have had a lot of success together so it’s nice to have that back. Proud of little Ty (Gibbs) keeping the seat warm for me this year.”

HARRISON BURTON, No. 20 DEX Imaging Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 6th

Top-10 run here today at your first run at the Circuit of the Americas. How was your race overall?

“It was interesting because it felt like every time, we went on the track it was different conditions. The first 15 laps or so, it was part dry, part wet and we were hanging on. It was fun; it was a lot of fun. We had a fast DEX Imaging Supra once we worked on it a little bit. We got it better and better, and we ended up having a pretty good run. We still need a little more speed, but we know where to get it. I’m excited to come back here with the knowledge I got today and move on.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands plus our 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota has created a tremendous value chain and directly employs more than 47,000 in North America. The company has contributed world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 40 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama that begins production in 2021.

Through its Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR XFINITY Series — Pit Boss 250
Circuit of the Americas | Saturday, May 22, 2021

Ford Finishing Results:
4th — Kevin Harvick
5th — Austin Cindric
7th — Cole Custer
16th — Riley Herbst
25th — Ryan Sieg

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 5 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang — HOW WAS YOUR DAY TODAY? “The racetrack was fun. I didn’t do a good job. I got bounced around on that last restart, so I had to bounce my way back up through there and just got too far behind, so I took a second-place car and finished fourth with it, but these guys put in a lot of extra work on our Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang to come and get all those laps and it’ll pay off. Whether it’s wet or dry I feel way more comfortable than when we started.”

WHAT DID YOU LEARN TODAY? “A lot of passing zones and how the track changes from fall off and how you race and where you pass, a lot of wet. That’s the first time I’ve ever driven down a straightaway in a cloud of water this morning, so it was very interesting. I learned a lot of different things today.”

DID YOU GET OUT OF TODAY WHAT YOU WANTED? “Oh, yeah. I got more than I wanted this morning with practice and qualifying — wet and dry and kind of wet, passing, restarts — just a lot of different situations. The first time I step foot in it was yesterday on the racetrack, so just have to thank everybody from Stewart-Haas and all of B.J. McLeod’s guys for helping us put all this together so that I could go out and be a 45-year-old rookie.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE VIBE HERE AND AROUND THE CITY? “Anytime we have something new it’s great for our sport, and I think coming to a place like this that is high-end, top-notch just puts us on a pedestal to show what we want to be and who we are.”

IF THE RACE IS WET TOMORROW WILL THIS STILL HAVE BEEN WORTH IT? “It doesn’t matter now. I practiced in the wet, qualified in the wet, so we’ll just go out there and sling it.”

HOW MUCH CHANGE BETWEEN THE TWO CONDITIONS? “Well, I can’t see well anyway, so when it’s trying to figure out where you’re going by two tire tracks in the ground on the straightaway, that’s new for me.”

ARE YOU READY FOR TOMORROW? “I’m not top-end ready compared to some of those good guys, but I can survive and not make a fool of myself now.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF THE TRACK? “I think probably the most difficult part for me is turn two and carrying enough speed turn two to three three, knowing how fast you can go into turn three and not screw up four, five, six and seven.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 22 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang — “We just didn’t execute today. We had a really bad pit stop and lost a lot of track position and we weren’t quite good enough to make it up. I didn’t have anything for the 54, but that’s the way it goes.”

WAS THIS A GOOD DAY IN THE SENSE OF EXPERIENCE ALL POTENTIAL CONDITIONS FOR TOMORROW? “I’m as prepared as I can be for tomorrow.”

Toyota Racing – Daniel Hemric
NASCAR Xfinity Series Quotes

AUSTIN, Texas (May 21, 2021) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Daniel Hemric was made available to media via videoconference prior to the Circuit of the Americas race earlier today:

DANIEL HEMRIC, No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

What happened with the power steering issue and was it fixed by the end of the session?

“It was fixed fairly immediately once they realized what had happened. Honestly, Dave Rogers (crew chief) and I haven’t even discussed it. They handled it, fixed it and it was good to go for my next turn out of the garage. I’m sure when they get back to the shop we’ll figure out what happened. Quick fix on their part to at least maximize our time after that.”

Is there any concern with the turns and the bumps that things can get knocked out more here than other road courses?

“I wouldn’t say any more here than other road courses. The turtles and what not have been the same height at the other race tracks where we’ve seen them. We all know the damage they can do and I guess the positioning of where you need to put your car to cross them correctly. Just like any kind of road course racing or short track racing, it’s tough on equipment. It’s a battle of attrition, car placement and managing your stuff from your tires to equipment to curb placement. I don’t think it’s any more of an issue here than anywhere else, but something for sure that we all have to keep an eye on.”

What have you done to improve your road racing skills?

“Short of just running Legends cars and what not during the Winter Heat Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway, there is not a whole lot of road course background for me. From the time I ran a truck for the first time on a road course in 2015, I think we were able to put together many years in the top-five when I had a chance to run road course stuff and that transferred immediately to the Xfinity Series. For whatever reason, this always felt good and comfortable. I think road course racing kind of brings out the short track racer in all of us. You’re chasing mechanical grip, you’re chasing all the things that you have to do to make speed and make longevity and it makes you really be precise. I’ve just always enjoyed the grind and the challenge of road course racing. As far as prepping for these places, it’s just really utilizing the tools we have within TRD and what the Toyota Racing family provides us. Everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing has so many tools to utilize and as us drivers know, being in the simulator as much as we are, every event but we really circle the road courses because there’s a lot we can work on ourselves as the driver. Just been trying to put that to use the best we can and happy with how far I was able to come from just running sim laps here to see the gains and now come here and see how close our stuff was is pretty rewarding.”

Do you feel like this is a driver’s road course?

“For me, I just feel like I’m still learning every corner. I don’t really know how to evaluate that question yet. I think like all road courses, there’s times where aggression is rewarded and there’s times that it hurts you. I think it’s trying to figure out where those spots are around here at COTA. I think I overstepped both sides of them, I was too conservative on a couple corners, too aggressive a couple corners and vice versa. I think you will see guys who typically run good on old, worn out surfaces whether it be mile-and-a-halves or short tracks, you’re going to see those guys probably prevail here just from a mechanical grip standpoint. I think Dave Rogers (crew chief) and my guys have brought a really good Poppy Bank Toyota Supra. We’ll see. To be seen.”

What was expected or unexpected when you got on the track for practice?

“A lot of what we’ve seen inside the TRD sim is very spot on from tire grip, that’s just something you’re making and you think this feels right and you’re trying to model that so you’re getting good data. If you put bad data in then you get bad data out so I’m very proud of the development we all did. I think we all had a hand as drivers in steering the ship in the right direction in that process. As far as getting here, there are some spots where we’re putting the race cars that we didn’t think we would. I also need to go back and watch practice back, but I don’t want to give away exactly the spots I’m talking about, but for sure not utilizing some of the race track like I thought we would. I think that’s just a matter of stock cars versus ground clearance and what we have and don’t have. Just trying to maximize those things. I’m sure everyone will be studying tonight and studying the data we were able to achieve there in that short amount of time. Pretty cool to see how close it all was.”

Can you describe one turn that surprised you?

“For me, I’ve been fortunate to do this for a while now and you don’t get a ton of sense of speed except at a few select tracks and there was something about when we put our second set of tires on here today and figured out where that max braking zone was into turn one, I think it’s 100 or 150 feet of elevation uphill. A little bit like Sonoma, turn one as far as the elevation or how much you can use that hill to slow you down. Driving to the point of a little bit of flutter in your belly of, ‘Oh, this is my spot,’ and then you hit the brakes. That’s something you don’t experience every week. That’s a cool visual getting into turn one and then all of the sudden the race track crowns away and the track goes left and you feel like you missed it every time. A lot going on and for sure going to be an exciting spot-on restarts.”

What were your first impressions of COTA?

“For me, I was fortunate enough to come out here and do the press release with Toyota and here at COTA to announce them as the official pace car and the official sponsor of the weekend. So I had a chance to at least cruise around the track and see some things, but a lot of the markers and braking zones and signage have all changed since I was here that day a couple weeks ago. When I first rolled on, it was taking notice of that. Instead of having 350, 300, 250 braking marks, now they’re six, five, four, three, two, one. That was different. Claire (B. Lang) asked earlier about the sim and that’s something that we didn’t have in sim, it was different. It’s good, it brings everybody back to a level playing field, but you for sure found yourself guessing, but the initial thoughts were definitely just checking all those markers out and refamiliarize yourself with a new place and then just trying to go out and make speed.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands plus our 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota has created a tremendous value chain and directly employs more than 47,000 in North America. The company has contributed world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 40 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama that begins production in 2021.

Through its Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.

AUSTIN, Texas (May 21, 2021) – Austin Cindric, the Xfinity Series points leader, and Zane Smith, last season’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rookie of the year, were the fastest drivers in their respective series Friday during the opening day of NASCAR racing at Circuit of The Americas.

Cindric, the defending NASCAR Xfinity series champion, drove his Team Penske No. 22 Ford to an average speed of 89.100 mph while Smith covered the 3.41-mile, 20-turn COTA layout in 89.348 mph in his No. 21 Chevrolet to pace the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Teams in both series were able to hit the track for 50 minutes each in their only scheduled practice session of the weekend for Saturday’s races, the Xfinity Series Pit Boss 250 and Camping World Truck Series Toyota Tundra 225.

Cindric finished second in the only other Xfinity Series road course event of the season, at Daytona in February. He has posted three victories in the season’s first 10 races. He said the COTA course reminds of a European-style F1 road course.

“We have a lot to go over tonight, a short amount of data,” Cindric told FS1 after the session. “I did a lot of outs and ins. We made a lot of changes. Tires fall off a lot, so I wasn’t happy with any of them. I’ll try to go through the data and come up with the best game plan for tomorrow.”

Daniel Hemric was second fastest in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a speed of 89.057 mph and was followed by Tyler Reddick, who is driving the No. 31 Chevy and posted a speed of 88.980 mph. Reddick was fastest among the five Cup drivers entered in the Pit Boss 250. Xfinity road course ace A.J. Allmendinger, who is driving the flagship Pit Boss Grills Chevy, was fifth with a speed of 88.565 mph.

Smith, last year’s most popular driver in the Camping World Truck Series, led practice and was followed by defending series champ Sheldon Creed, who posted a speed of 89.128 mph in his No. 2 Chevy. He was followed by veteran driver Grant Enfinger, who was third with a lap of 88.653 mph in his No. 9 Chevy. The tour’s most recent road course winner, Ben Rhodes, was fourth overall in the No. 99 Toyota with a speed of 88.464 mph.

Following the practice session, Smith feels good about his chances for Saturday’s Toyota Tundra 225.

“In a situation like this you’re never going to have enough practice,” Smith said. “I feel like we had a pretty smooth practice, we had the adjustments that we wanted to try. Some worked, some didn’t, but luckily we had a pretty clean track for most of the session. We unloaded with a fast truck and it really says a lot about the whole 21 team and GMS racing in general.”

Smith says he is ready for what he expects to be a thrilling race in Saturday’s Toyota Tundra 225.

“In a situation like this you’re never going to have enough practice,” Smith said. “I feel like we had a pretty smooth practice, we had the adjustments that we wanted to try. Some worked, some didn’t, but luckily we had a pretty clean track for most of the session. We unloaded with a fast truck and it really says a lot about the whole 21 team and GMS racing in general.”

Parker Chase, an IMSA regular who is driving the No. 51 truck for Kyle Busch Motorsports, was fastest among the road racing specialists in the Truck race at 11th overall with a lap of 87.725 mph in his Toyota Tundra.

Should rain fall on COTA this weekend, all races will go on as scheduled as Goodyear will provide wet weather tires to the teams if necessary. NASCAR’s road course rain rule does not allow competition during thunderstorms with lighting in the area or during really heavy downpours.

Prestige Performance was quickest in the IMSA Lamborghini Super Trofeo Series’ first practice session with a lap time of 2:09.005. O’Gara Motorsports led the second practice session with the best time of the day at 2:08.731. IMSA teams will have two qualifying sessions Saturday morning and the first of two 50-minute timed races for the weekend will be tomorrow evening at 6:50 p.m. CT The final IMSA race is scheduled to start at noon on Sunday.

NASCAR race weekend action continues Saturday with qualifying for both Xfinity and Truck teams to set the starting lineups for their races later that day. The Toyota Tundra 225 Camping World Truck Series race starts at noon CT (FS1, MRN Radio) and will be followed by the Pit Boss 250, which takes the green flag at 3 p.m. (FS1, PRN Radio). On Sunday, the NASCAR Cup Series teams will have two sessions of group qualifying starting at 10 a.m. to set the field for the EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix, which takes the green flag at 1:30 p.m. (FS1, PRN Radio).

To obtain more information about the NASCAR weekend, download facility and parking maps and check out a list of FAQ’s about the event, please click here.

Tickets are still available for the NASCAR at COTA weekend and can be purchased by visiting www.NASCARatCOTA.com.