Category: XFINITY Series PR

Anthony Alfredo and the iRacing Chevrolet Team Overcome Flat Tire for Strong Finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway

Finish: 11th
Start: 12th
Points: 11th

“Well, race number two of the weekend and we got another 250 miles in the books at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It was way hotter out there today. We got into the fence early because we were a little bit free up there. There’s no shade like there was yesterday, so it was a lot more sensitive and a lot looser up there. There’s such little room for error when you run the fence. The first time I got into it, I think it was enough to upset the balance of our No. 21 iRacing Chevrolet. We got the right rear quarter panel pretty bad, and the car just got really loose from there on. I ended up hitting it a couple more times until we cut a right rear tire down in the final stage. I drove really hard after that, and we were able to get back to the 11th position. Great job by all my Richard Childress Racing guys. Overall it was a solid weekend with fourth and 11th place finishes. Our No. 21 iRacing Chevrolet wasn’t quite as fast as Xfinity internet today, but we will continue to work together as a team to get there.” -Anthony Alfredo

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES
HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY
FORD PERFORMANCE DRIVER – POST RACE QUOTES
SUNDAY, JUNE 14, 2020

FORD FINISHING RESULTS:
1st – Chase Briscoe
10th – Austin Cindric

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 98 — Ford Performance Racing School Ford Mustang — FINISHED 1st

VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW: “That was a team win for sure. Yesterday we were so good and then today, I don’t know if it was the heat or what, but we weren’t very good. We were decent on a long run but the 9 was better. It is a testament to all the guys at Stewart-Haas Racing. We had a pretty good alternate there with Zippy. Boswell and the guys put the tune-up on us. Happy to get Ford Performance Racing School back in victory lane. HighPoint.com all of our partners. Henry Rifle, Production Alliance Group, Fields, Huffy Bicycles and everyone that makes this deal possible. We have a good run going so far and we are looking to win a bunch more.”

POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE:

WHAT WAS THIS WEEKEND LIKE WITH TWO RACES IN TWO DAYS WITH THE HEAT? “Yeah, yesterday I didn’t think it was bad at all. I felt like I could have gone another 250 miles. Today I felt fine until the very end. All those cautions got it so hot in the race car. I was trying to run down Noah and that was everything I had. It is definitely a challenge. The Pocono deal for the Cup guys will be tough. There isn’t as much airflow in those cars. This was probably one of the hardest races because going back-to-back, your body usually takes a couple days to recover from the day before and we didn’t have that opportunity after yesterday. I am sure that was a lot of it. It is definitely tough. Today felt way hotter than yesterday I felt like.”

YOU HAVE MENTIONED THAT THIS YEAR YOU WANT TO PROVE YOURSELF TO BE ABLE TO WIN RACES CONSISTENTLY. YOU HAVE THREE WINS NOW. DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE MADE A STATEMENT? “Yeah, to a certain extent. The sad thing is that I feel like we could have six wins right now. Yesterday I felt we were the best car. I didn’t feel like we were today. Atlanta is another one that we threw away. Bristol and Daytona could have gone either way. I feel like we could have six wins out of 10. To have three is good. We just have to execute. I feel like lately we have been beating ourselves a lot, me included. It is nice to make a statement, not make a statement but back up what I said. I feel like truthfully I can win that amount of races and we are off to a really good start and not even halfway yet. It is a good start. We just have to keep doing what we are doing. We knew at the beginning that these were some of the better race tracks for me and later we will go to some that aren’t so great for me. We will try to figure it out and maybe steal some wins.”

HAVE YOU HAD ANY MORE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT YOUR FUTURE? “I haven’t had any conversations. I am ready to talk about it. I want to have a gameplan of what is going on. The last couple of years my stuff has always been done after the end of the season. It is a tough situation to be in. Ford has continually stuck behind me and believed in me and I am confident that they will continue to do that as long as I keep winning races. That is all I can do. They haven’t told me anything that is going to happen next year. If I can keep winning races hopefully I can prove my worth. That is all you can do. Do the best you can and keep trying to win races.”

SINCE YOU AND AUSTIN CINDRIC ARE THE ONLY TWO FORDS IN THE FIELD, DO YOU CONFER WITH EACH OTHER SINCE IT IS JUST THE TWO OF YOU UNDER THE BLUE OVAL AGAINST THE WORLD? “Yes and no. We are definitely good friends but we drive for two different organizations that are really tough competitors. I feel like we try to help each other when we can. Earlier in the year when we were doing practice we would go after practice our crew chiefs would meet and we would meet and talk about what we thought the track was doing or whatever. There is definitely that Ford camaraderie but as far as on the race track I feel like me and him race each other harder than anybody else on the race track. I am sure next week at Talladega it will be a little different because we have to help each other. We try to help each other but it is hard when you drive for two different organizations.”

WHAT WAS IT LIKE GETTING ZIPPY HIS FIRST XFINITY SERIES WIN? “I didn’t know it was his first one. It is cool for me growing up a diehard Tony Stewart fan. I was a big Zippy fan too. I hate the circumstances it is under but it was truthfully really cool for me to be able to work with Zippy and to win was really special too. I don’t know what the plan is for the next three weeks but we are off to a good start. We need to just continue to do that.”

WAS TODAY ANY DIFFERENT WITH ZIPPY CALLING THE SHOTS? “The voice is obviously different. How Boswell communicates is different. Every crew chief has their own style. I thought Zippy did a really good job asking Boswell questions and Boswell did a good job of relaying the most information he could to Zippy about what I typically like and the changes that normally hit for me. We kept making big big swings at the car today and we still weren’t the greatest by any means on that long run. I was able to run the 9 down on that straightaway and that was everything I had in the tank. The 9 was the better race car today. I felt like yesterday we had one kind of taken away and it was nice to kind of steal one today even though we weren’t the best car. The caution came perfect and I need to give my pit crew a shout out. They have been unbelievable all year long and today was another testament to that.”

WAS THE TEAM EMBARRASSED OR ANGRY ABOUT YESTERDAY? WHAT IS THE FEELING WHEN SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAPPENS? “I think it is all of the above. Mistakes happen. Perfect example was in Atlanta last week. I made a huge mistake that cost us a race that was no different than the mistake made yesterday. We are all a team and believe in each other. The good thing is I feel like we have continually been the fastest race car week in and week out. It is one mistake. It is obviously a huge mistake and there was definitely frustration and embarrassment. We are better than that as a company but we all have to keep our heads up. Today shows we can still get it done even if we are three guys down.”

GREG ZIPADELLI, crew chief, No. 98 Ford Mustang: POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE

WILL YOU BE ON THE BOX THE NEXT THREE RACES? “To be honest we haven’t looked that far ahead. I will do whatever it takes. We will have to go home and kind of regroup and see who we have resource wise and what works best for the Cup side and the Xfinity side. I will be there to help but I am not sure if I will do it all. We just have to wait and see.”

YOU GOT THROWN IN THE DEEP END TODAY, WHAT WAS THAT ADJUSTMENT LIKE? WHAT DID YOU BRING TO THE TEAM? “To me, honestly, I haven’t done it in so long. It was fun. Especially because of the circumstances. I felt good that I could help this young group of guys out and be here to help them today. I love this team and Chase. It is such a good group of talented younger guys that work their guts out. It is just fun to be a small part of it today. I will be honest with you, we had to adjust on it a lot more than I thought we would have to based on as good as it was yesterday. We were really loose compared to what we were yesterday. We had to throw a few things at it.”

WHY IS THIS HAPPENING WITH THE WEIGHTS GETTING LOOSE AND FALLING OUT? IT IS A TRANSPORT ISSUE? IS IT SOMEONE THAT ISN’T CHECKING? “I actually think it is simply that we are out of our routine. People are working double shifts or half shifts I mean and some people starting projects and some people finishing. There is no practice and honestly I think it is that we are out of our routine. We talked about it and they guys remember now that they didn’t go back and secure the bolt. We added the traction and one guy doing a little more than what he would normally do because we are trying to work split shifts at the shop with not as many people and stuff going on. I am sure the same thing probably happened at Gibbs. We have great people and they know the drill. It should never happen. Quite honestly it was embarrassing for myself and SHR. The guys should be better than that. We are proud of everybody for being able to put that behind us and rebounding and having a solid finish yesterday after making up six laps and then coming back with the win today. I think that speaks volumes to the character of Chase and the guys around him”

WHAT KIND OF POTENTIAL DO YOU SEE IN CHASE THAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT HE IS WORTH INVESTING IN FOR THE FUTURE? “He is a good guy and I believe he has really good car control just watching him. He is able to tell you about his car and then he goes out and for the most part he really takes care of his stuff. When you look at the races and how many he has started compared to the guys around him, I think he performs on a very high level at a lot of different race tracks which is exciting.”

FROM A MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE, CAN YOU BALANCE THE PRACTICE VERSUS NO PRACTICE AS FAR AS THE ECONOMICS OF IT AND WHAT YOU GET OUT OF IT IN THE RACE? “Absolutely. It is a tough balance. You can’t sit here and talk out of both sides of our mouths because of the circumstances we are in. Everybody and every team had the same amount of time to prepare for it. Some did a better job than others with the new tire with the way things went at Martinsville. I am sure you will see more of that in the future if we don’t get practice. I think everybody at NASCAR has done a great job at getting us to the racetrack. Getting us in and out. Getting our events done and putting great races on. Right now, if that is all we can do then it is surely better than what we were doing a month and a half ago sitting home hoping we were going to get back. I applaud them for where we are at. If it takes another month or two to get back to a little more normal where we have practice and qualifying then so be it.”

THE CUP SERIES WILL HAVE TWO RACES IN TWO DAYS AT POCONO, WHAT WERE THE THINGS YOU LEARNED FROM THIS WEEKEND’S EXPERIENCE AND LEADING UP TO IT THAT CAN PREPARE THINGS BETTER FOR YOUR CUP ORGANIZATION IN A COUPLE WEEKS AT POCONO? “The biggest thing is running the first race and keeping your car clean. It gives you a shot at learning and adjusting for the second race. I think just the preparation and having all the stuff you are going to change after the first race ready and prepared and having the right people here, extra people, moving people around on our roster that will be able to help and get things executed that we may need. In the Xfinity it is a little easier because you can just unbolt panels and bolt them up. Ours are a lot more work. Just having panels, parts and pieces like that done and prepared. Crush panels for all the teams in case we need them. We have to spend a little extra time preparing that stuff in that fashion.”

BURTON DRIVES TOYOTA TO THE WIN AT HOMESTEAD
Nineteen-year-old rookie scores second career win in just his 18th career start

HOMESTEAD, Florida (June 13, 2020) – Harrison Burton drove his Toyota Supra to victory at the Hooters 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) event at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday afternoon. It is Burton’s second win of the season (Auto Club Speedway – February) and fourth win for Toyota this year in the NXS. Burton has now scored 10 consecutive top 10 finishes, a streak that began at Homestead-Miami Speedway last November.

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Race 9 of 33 – 250.5 miles, 167 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, HARRISON BURTON
2nd, Austin Cindric*
3rd, Noah Gragson*
4th, Anthony Alfredo*
5th, Dale Earnhardt Jr.*
8th, BRANDON JONES
10th, RILEY HERBST
21st, COLIN GARRETT
22nd, STEFAN PARSONS
23rd, TIMMY HILL
30th, CHAD FINCHUM
36th, STEPHEN LEICHT
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

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

Finishing Position: 1st

How exciting was that finish to get the victory?

“I’m so excited. That’s so awesome. I gave away the lead on the first restart in the same position and I didn’t really want to do that again. I knew the 9 (Noah Gragson) was going to drive in real deep and slide up so felt good about that. Proud of my guys, they worked on this thing so hard every run – made it better and better. What a day to get this Xfinity Supra to victory lane. They can keep on doubting this thing and we’re going to keep coming back.”

What do you think your Mom was doing on that last lap knowing how animated she can be?

“I don’t know, I don’t know what I was doing honestly. What a race. This track is so much fun. Really puts it in the driver’s hands, especially at the end there. I’m just ready to go again tomorrow to be honest with you, I want to get two.”

What happened the first three-quarters of the race and where did you come from at the end?

“We were really tight the first little bit of the race there. We got better and better as the race went and I felt really pretty good about our car at the end. Made some adjustments for the short run there and my crew chief, Ben Beshore and my whole team, the No, 20 team just nailed it. What an awesome, awesome race for us to come back from losing all those spots early and hitting the splitter early to winning now. I would have done a big smoky burnout, but we have to race this car tomorrow and I’m excited for that. It means we will hopefully be just as good.”

Take us through the last two laps.

“So much fun, for me especially. I gave him (Noah Gragson) the lead on the outside early and I think he chose the inside because of that. I knew I couldn’t give it to him again. This is such a tight series and everyone is so, so competitive that you kind of have to claw and dig every chance you get. This was one of those times where he kind of got loose and got under him and it was a good race, that’s for sure.”

What was the difference between you and Austin Cindric on the final lap?

“I don’t know. I was pretty excited once I got clear. I knew I just needed to slide through three and four and hope I could keep him (Austin Cindric) from getting a big run on him. It worked out really good. I’m out of breath, I did a lot of screaming and yelling and on top of that, it’s hot out today. What a race, I hope the fans at home enjoyed it. We miss you out here.”

Were you more aggressive on the final restart?

“It was crazy. Noah (Gragson) kind of beat me early in the race. We got on the splitter a little bit and he beat me on that first start and I wasn’t going to let him do it again. I kind of knew what our strength would be versus his weakness. It worked out. It was such a great race, I hope for the fans at home, it felt like a great race inside the race car for us. We battled and we were struggling early really bad, really tight. Then my crew chief, Ben Beshore made an amazing adjustment and got us to where we were really, really fast at the end on the short run. Just still need to go to work some. Noah was really, really fast on the long run and had that caution not come out, he probably would have come out of there with a win. We have some work to do tonight, but that’s what makes this team so good is we were nowhere to be found in the first stage so now that we have a whole night to go to work and kind of figure out where we need to be, should be a good thing for us hopefully.”

Do you feel like you’re starting to follow in your Dad’s winning footsteps?

“I hope so. He’s my biggest hero. I look up to my Dad so much, he’s just a great person first off and even if there were hard days in racing and I know how hard racing can get sometimes and I’ve had hard times in racing, he was always a great Dad for us. Always had our backs and put us first. We returned the favor by cheering him on during race weekends and that was so cool to kind of have that relationship where I wanted to be not necessarily just like my Dad just because he was my Dad, but I was so proud of him and every time he would come home and he would win and if I wasn’t there because I was in school or whatever it may be, I just remember that feeling of our whole family had succeeded and I hope that’s how they feel now. I miss my family. My Mom isn’t out here and she’s always here. My Dad’s not here and he’s always here. My sister was at my win earlier this year in Fontana. Sad that they’re not here for sure, but I know that they’re having a good time at home celebrating and hopefully I can go and see them soon and hopefully have another win too that we can celebrate.”

Is your Supra in good shape for tomorrow’s race?

“I believe so. There was a little contact there late in the race. Just going as hard as everyone could. I think we’re all set and ready to go. There’s obviously always kind of stuff that’s hiding below the body panels and things like that, but I feel like our team did a good job of giving me a car where I could be fast and not necessarily hit the wall getting loose or anything like that. I was happy with keeping it clean the whole race and then had to get a little aggressive at the end and had some contact, but I believe we should be good to go for tomorrow.”

What point are you trying to prove to the ‘doubters’ you keep mentioning?

“I had a tough year last year and struggled and myself included thought I should have won races and came up short. Because of that, I had a lot of people that doubted me coming to Joe Gibbs Racing and doubted that I would win races or run well or anything like that. That was fuel for me this off-season to work really hard. Fuel for my team – I keyed up over the radio, I said, ‘That’s not bad for a bunch of people that’s not supposed to win a race.’ That rings true to this day. Even though we’re winning, we’re still hungry, we’re still wanting to be the best team. There’s guys out there that are fast every weekend and we have to get a little quicker, but it’s definitely fun to go out there and steal a win like that. Makes you feel good going into the next race, that’s for sure.”

What does this say for the entire No. 20 team and momentum for tomorrow?

“Should be up there. We weren’t fast enough, don’t get me wrong. We were not good enough on the long run there to run with the 9 (Noah Gragson) or the 8 (Dale Earnhardt Jr.), but I felt like even the 19 (Brandon Jones) was better than us late there. We are working hard and I know that my team is hungry to do this again, but instead of having to steal a win, we’re going to want to go and dominate tomorrow. The 9 is fast and the 22 (Austin Cindric) and the 19 and the 8 were all fast today and hopefully we can be another leg up on them and ride this confidence into tomorrow.”

Did you expect to be as strong as you were on the final restart?

“We had a decent launch and I was kind of bummed because I spun my tires a little bit late and had to short-shift to third to try to stop that wheel spin and lost a little bit of ground. It ended up working out perfect. I was able to be close enough to Noah (Gragson) to where I could drive in on him and kind of make him slip up and apply that pressure to where he felt like he had to drive in really deep. That worked out really good for us. Such a slick race track. The line of over-slipping those front tires is so, so small. That last restart was crazy. I can’t really remember everything that happened, everything is so reactionary. Really thankful for my spotter Rick Carelli, he was all over it and helped me get clear. It was craziness. I hope the fans at hope enjoyed it as much as I did.”

What is the biggest thing you need to work on for tomorrow’s race?

“I think the biggest thing is our speed about a quarter of the way through the corner. Other guys would be able to drive in and use less brake and they would be able to wrap the top better, get to the gas a little sooner. We need to find a way to rotate better, but not lose rear grip. That last change before the last restart, I would kind of overstep that line to where we were a little too loose. Our last change I thought was really good for the short run. It will be interesting to see where we fire-off for tomorrow and how well we can run on a long run there and hopefully we can dominate.”

BRANDON JONES, No. 19 Menards/Fisher Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 8th

You were in the top 10 all race. Talk about your run here today at Homestead.

“I think these guys brought something that was really strong to the track today. The ender – the heartbreaker was the speeding at the end when you didn’t need to. It’s so hard to tell yourself to not push it, because that is your job. You want to optimize everything, but there probably wasn’t much to gain there at the end doing it. We learned a bunch. I think we learned a lot about running the top line. You saw the big three last year were really good at that, and they kind of pulled away from the field. We got better at it for this race for sure. It’s cool to see a Toyota get into victory lane. He was pretty strong all day, and I think, at times, we were as good if not better than the 20 (Harrison Burton). So that was pretty encouraging to see after the race.”

You get to do this again tomorrow. Talk about how excited you are to get back behind a car that you know what it will do.

“We wanted to take this car again tomorrow. It makes it so much easier when your trying to make the car better. There’s no learning curve with that. So that’s going to help out a bunch. I 100% know what to expect going into it tomorrow. I’m going to sit down tonight and go back and look at the race and try to pick out a few things that they were saying on the radio at times and see if I can’t better that for tomorrow. Same conditions; it will be about the same temperature. More rubber, probably. We are going to have the truck race on it tonight. If it doesn’t rain, we will see about that.”

RILEY HERBST, No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 10th

Very solid race today for you Riley. Talk about your top 10 run.

“It was okay. It was difficult being our first time here – never having any laps on this racetrack. I think we were the only person in the field to never have run a lap around this place, so that was difficult. It took me a few stages to get used to it. The third stage I finally got up to it and we just didn’t have the track position. Tomorrow will be better.”

Now that you have 250 miles in, how excited are you to get back in the seat tomorrow?

“Well it’s kind of – we are on level playing field now. Everybody else has been here, and now I’ve been here, so it’s kind of cool in that aspect.”

# # #

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 40 million cars and trucks in North America, where we have 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama (10 in the U.S.), and directly employ more than 47,000 people (over 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold nearly 2.8 million cars and trucks (nearly 2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2019.

Through the 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.

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES
HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY
FORD PERFORMANCE DRIVER – POST RACE QUOTES
SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 2020

JR MOTORSPORTS TEAM PREVIEW:
TRACK: Homestead-Miami Speedway
RACE 1: Hooters 250 (167 laps / 250 miles)
RACE 2: NASCAR Xfinity Series 250 (167 laps / 250 miles)
DATE 1: Saturday, June 13, 2020
DATE 2: Sunday, June 14, 2020

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Race One: No. 8 Hellmann’s Chevrolet
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. returns to NXS competition at Homestead
for the first event at the 1.5-mile oval on Saturday.
• This marks the first time Earnhardt Jr. is back behind the
wheel since a fifth-place finish at Darlington Raceway in 2019.
• In five previous NXS starts at Homestead, Earnhardt Jr.
recorded a best finish of second coming in the 1999 event.
• Earnhardt Jr. also made 17 starts in the Cup Series at
Homestead, scoring a best finish of third in 2013.
• Additionally, Homestead is the site of Earnhardt Jr.’s 631st and
final Cup Series start in 2017.

Justin Allgaier
Race One: No. 7 Thank You Team BRANDT Chevrolet
Race Two: No. 7 BRANDT “Thank You Farmers” Chevrolet
• Justin Allgaier has 10 NXS starts at Homestead with a best
finish of sixth coming in the season finale in 2016.
• The Illinois native has one top five and three top 10s in three
starts on 1.5-mile tracks this season, leading a total of 64 laps.
• Through eight events completed in 2020, Allgaier leads the
series in stage wins (four) and laps led (306).
• This weekend, Allgaier will run a special decal honoring the
life of BRANDT co-founder Glen Brandt who passed away on
June 7 at the age of 94. His name will also be above the door
of the No. 7 Chevrolet.

Noah Gragson
Race One & Two: No. 9 PUBG Mobile Chevrolet
• Noah Gragson has one NXS start at Homestead. He started
10th and finished fourth after leading 10 laps last season.
• After eight races in the 2020 season, Gragson leads the way
for JRM with two wins, five top fives and six top 10s.
• The PUBG Mobile colors will adorn the No. 9 Camaro for both
races this weekend as it celebrates its two-year anniversary.
• Gragson will compete for the $100,000 prize in Xfinity’s
Dash4Cash on Sunday afternoon. The Las Vegas native took
home the cash last weekend at Atlanta.

Michael Annett
Race One: No. 1 Allstate Parts and Service Chevrolet
Race Two: No. 1 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet
• Michael Annett will seek his third and fourth top-10 finishes
of the season this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
• Annett is on a roll at the 1.5-mile speedway, having averaged
a finish of 9.6 over his last three events there.
• Allstate Parts and Service will make its 2020 debut on
Annett’s Chevrolet Camaro for Saturday’s race, with Pilot
Flying J returning for Sunday’s event.
• Annett’s average finish in three starts on 1.5-mile ovals this
season is 8.3, with seventh-place runs at both Las Vegas and
Charlotte and an 11th last week at Atlanta.

Daniel Hemric
Race Two: No. 8 Poppy Bank Chevrolet
• Daniel Hemric will be piloting the No. 8 Poppy Bank Chevrolet
for the second of two NXS events at Homestead on Sunday.
• In two previous NXS starts at Homestead, Hemric has scored a
best finish of fourth, coming in 2018.
• Hemric has made a combined six starts at the 1.5-mile oval
between the NASCAR Cup Series, NXS and the NASCAR Gander
Outdoors & RV Truck Series, recording a combined two top
fives and three top 10s.
• The Kannapolis, N.C. native will be one of four drivers
competing for the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash on Sunday.

Driver Quotes

“Glad to have Allstate Parts and Service on the car this weekend, as well as Pilot Flying J. Our No. 1 team has been solid so far this season and has had good speed everywhere we’ve gone. We’re doing what we need to do, which is earn points and compete for top 10s and top fives. We have run well on the 1.5-mile tracks this season and we’re looking at maintaining that performance this weekend.” – Michael Annett

“We’re racing with heavy hearts this weekend with the passing of Glen “GB” Brandt. He was the visionary behind BRANDT and someone I really looked up to. He had a true passion for the agriculture industry, so it’s fitting that we’re running special hoods this weekend that show appreciation for the farmers and for all of BRANDT’s employees who are passionate about their jobs and have continued working day in and day out even during the pandemic. They often don’t get the credit they deserve for what they do. GB’s name will be above my door this weekend, so I know he’ll be riding with me and we’re going to do everything we can to get a win for him and the Brandt family.” Justin Allgaier

“I’m really looking forward to getting back behind the wheel. It’s definitely going to be interesting having not been in a car in almost a year to jump back in and go race without having any practice. I’m excited to get back and to get to work with Taylor (Moyer, crew chief) and all of the guys on this team. We’ve been working toward this race with Hellmann’s for a while now and I’m happy it’s finally here.” – Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“Sunday should be a lot of fun at Homestead. It’s such an awesome track to race on and I can’t wait to get on-track and battle for that $100,000 in Xfinity’s Dash 4 Cash program. Hopefully Dale (Earnhardt Jr.) can have a great run on Saturday and we can find some things that we can translate to our Poppy Bank Chevrolet on Sunday. We’ve had a lot of momentum going for us here lately and I’m confident that we can continue that on Sunday afternoon. I’m ready to go.” – Daniel Hemric

“Homestead is a track that I have circled on the schedule every year and the fact that we get to run a doubleheader here this year makes me even more excited. I love being able to run up on the wall and this is the epitome of that. Early in the run you’ll see guys utilizing the bottom but once those tires start to go, we will be moving right up and only a few guyscan do this well. Thanks to Xfinity, we will be running for the $100k again on Sunday after winning it last weekend, so that gives us extra incentive to go out there and win the race. ”– Noah Gragson

JRM Team Updates

JRM in South Beach: JR Motorsports has scored two victories, six top fives and 18 top 10s in 38 NXS starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Regan Smith brought home the organization’s first victory in 2012 with Tyler Reddick following suit in 2018. Reddick’s victory also led to JRM’s third organizational championship in NXS competition.
• Dash 4 Cash Prowess: JRM drivers have claimed the Dash 4 Cash honors on 13 different occasions with more than half of those victories coming since the 2017 season. Noah Gragson most recently took Dash 4 Cash honors last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
• BRANDT Honoring Its Employees and Farmers: The hood of Justin Allgaier’s BRANDT Camaro will display a special message on each day of the Homestead doubleheader this weekend. On Saturday, the hood of the No. 7 Camaro will carry a message to BRANDT employees, thanking them for continuing to serve the farmers in the midst of the pandemic. In Sunday’s race, the hood will carry a thank-you to the farmers, for feeding the world. Get the full story here.
• Unilever Relief: Unilever, Hellmann’s parent company, is donating millions of products to frontline organizations such as Feeding America and Direct Relief to help those in need during these uncertain times. Visit weareunitedforamerica.com today to see how you can get involved.

Team Penske NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Report
Track: Atlanta Motor Speedway
Race: EchoPark 250
Date: June 6, 2020

____________________________________

No. 22 Menards/Tuscany Faucets Ford Mustang – Austin Cindric
Start: 8th
Stage 1: 1st (1st Stage win of 2020)
Stage 2: 1st (2nd Stage win of 2020)
Finish: 16th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 163/163
Laps Led: 68
Point Standings (behind first): 6th (-55)

Notes:

• Austin Cindric dominated two stages and led 68 laps Saturday afternoon, but a series of unfortunate circumstances resulted in a 16th place finish in the EchoPark 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The driver of the No. 22 Menards/Tuscany Faucets Ford Mustang remains sixth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver standings, 55 markers behind leader Chase Briscoe.
• Cindric started the 163-lap, 251-mile race in the eighth position after the lineup was set per random draw. The 21-year-old showed good speed early, powering to lead on lap seven. During the first caution on lap 18, Cindric pitted for four tires, fuel and adjustments on the No. 22 Ford. Cindric took the race restart in 21st place on lap 21 as the rest of the leaders elected to stay on track, but he recaptured the lead on lap 26 en route to his first stage win of the 2020 season.
• The Mooresville, N.C. native lead all 40 laps in stage two and was credited with his second stage victory of the season on lap 80.
• Cindric restarted the final stage from the second position and ran inside the top five early on. Looking for a long run to pave the way to victory, an unfortunate caution flag fell for Cindric on lap 124. He pitted from the second position for scuffed tires, but was hit with a speeding penalty while leaving pit lane. After serving the penalty, Cindric restarted from the 27th position on lap 128. Fighting dirty air in the closing laps, Cindric was able to fight to a 16th-place finish.
• The NASCAR Xfinity Series is back in action with the Homestead-Miami Speedway doubleheader next weekend. The first race will take place on Saturday, June 13 at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio followed by race two on Sunday, June 14 at 12:00 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Quote: “We’ve got a lot to be proud of on the 22 team. Our bed was made on the competition caution, when no one else came down pit road, and we were down a set of tires. I think we capitalized on both of our stage wins, but unfortunately couldn’t convert that race winning speed into a win. It stings a bit, but I’m proud of our work on preparation and unload, as I know that’s been key for our momentum since the break.”

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
FORD PERFORMANCE DRIVER – POST RACE QUOTES
SATURDAY, JUNE 6, 2020

FORD FINISHING RESULTS:
9th — Chase Briscoe
16th — Austin Cindric

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 98 — HighPoint.com Ford Mustang — “At the beginning of the race we were a little off and we kept making our car better and better. My pit crew was awesome all day long and helping my situation on the race track by getting us cleaner air. We got the lead there and we were really the best car by quite a bit. That last pit stop apparently I sped. It was 50.07 I guess which was barely enough to get busted. I was trying to get all I could get and it was a stupid mistake with how good our car was and how good our pit crew would. It was a stupid mistake. I gotta learn and get better. Overall though it was another really good week for our High Point Ford. These things aren’t easy to win. You have to do everything perfect. Making a mistake that late in the race makes it really hard to recover.”

ALL THREE LEADERS GOT SPEEDING PENALTIES ON THAT PIT STOP, DID THAT SURPRISE YOU? “Yeah, you know, I felt like I did the same thing as I had done on every other pit stop. I am assuming I got really close on those as well. They came over the radio and said the 98, 22 and 7 all got busted speeding in the exact same section. I don’t know if that section was just fast for whatever reason or what. I know at the beginning of the race, before we started, in the pit road practice I sped in that exact same section as well. We will keep that in the notebook for when we come back. Overall, big picture wise we had really good speed and we are eventually going to get to where we can put these things all the way together. Finding speed is half the battle, we just have to execute now.”

THE TWO MUSTANGS LED THE WAY FOR THE MAJORITY OF THE RACE, MINUS THE SPEEDING PENALTIES YOU GUYS WERE POISED TO RACE EACH OTHER FOR THE WIN WEREN’T YOU? “Yeah, absolutely. The new body this year for the Mustangs and there are only two of us so we are down as far as having help out on the race track but for us to be as dominant as we both have been really the whole season, to do that they will eventually turn into wins. It would be pretty neat if the two Fords could lead the manufacturers for most wins.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 22 — Menards/Tuscany Faucets Ford Mustang– “We’ve got a lot to be proud of on the 22 team. Our bed was made on the competition caution, when no one else came down pit road, and we were down a set of tires. I think we capitalized on both of our stage wins, but unfortunately couldn’t convert that race winning speed into a win. It stings a bit, but I’m proud of our work on preparation and unload, as I know that’s been key for our momentum since the break.”

BURTON EARNS TOP FIVE FINISH AT ATLANTA

Burton starts rookie NASCAR Xfinity Series season with eight consecutive top 10 finishes

ATLANTA (June 6, 2020) – Harrison Burton (fifth) led Toyota at the NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday evening.

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Race 8 of 33 – 251 miles, 163 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, AJ Allmendinger*
2nd, Noah Gragson*
3rd, Justin Haley*
4th, Daniel Hemric*
5th, HARRISON BURTON
8th, BRANDON JONES
17th, RILEY HERBST
23rd, MASON MASSEY
33rd, TIMMY HILL
34th, CHAD FINCHUM
36th, STEPHEN LEICHT
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

HARRISON BURTON, No. 20 DEX/Hunt Brother’s Pizza Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 5th

Up-and-down day but finished with your best run and scored a top five.

“It’s always a good thing when you can eventually get it together – put what you’ve learned together and make the car a lot better a lot better at the end. I felt like we struggled really bad loose early, and then I don’t know how, but my crew chief Ben Beshore always makes it a lot better at the end of these races. That was a big, big gain at the end, so we got some notes for the future on that, for the next few mile-and-a-halves. We go to Homestead next, which is similar with the fall off and no grip and hanging on. It should be really, really fun to go there and have a chance at it. I think the biggest thing for us is just firing off better and seeing what we can do if we have a little better track position to start the last stage.”

You have raced a Supra at Homestead. How does that help you prepare for two races next weekend?

“It helps me a lot. It’s a super big advantage for me, compared to normal. It’s hard to go to these places and drive into turn one not really knowing what to expect at all. I have a test under my belt from years past, and I have raced there as well, so I’m feeling pretty confident about going somewhere that I’ve been to before and running the top again which is super fun. It’s going to be hot and slick, and we are going to be sliding around so it should be a good show.”

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

Finishing Position: 8th

Top 10 finish today. Just talk about the run overall.

“It was not what I expected to get going. I thought actually that we were going to be really fast. We kind of came back with the same setup we had last year with some tweaks and changes that we thought were going to be a lot better. From the drop of the green flag, I was really loose – out of control, and just kind of struggled from the start of the race to the end, but I think we continued to make decent changes at it, but just kind of inconsistent, all over the place. I think at the end of the day – top 10, you can’t beat that. We always want to finish the races. You want to be in the top 10, top five, when you do so. We were decent. I think, borderline, running top four lap times at the end of the race. That was a little bit of a positive. Just needed a little bit more at the initial start of the run, so we didn’t get passed so much.”

Looking to next week, you have two races in one weekend. What are you looking forward to most about racing twice in one weekend?

“The biggest positive out of that is Homestead is one of those tracks that I circled that I wanted to work on it, pay extra attention to it, and make sure that we are really looking at all of the tools that we have. I think having back-to-back races, I can run one race, after that go back and kind of study that SMT data, go back and watch the race and really dissect while its fresh in your mind what you could have done better. I think that’s where it’s going to pay off running back-to-back like that.”

# # #

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 40 million cars and trucks in North America, where we have 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama (10 in the U.S.), and directly employ more than 47,000 people (over 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold nearly 2.8 million cars and trucks (nearly 2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2019.

Through the 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.