Category: XFINITY Series PR

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)
Saturday, February 15, 2020
EVENT: NASCAR Racing Experience 300

Ford Finishing Results:
5th – Chase Briscoe
25th – Austin Cindric

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 98 Highpoint.com Ford Mustang – Finished 5th
“That one is going to sting for awhile for sure. I feel like we were making more moves than anybody and I thought I was going to have a really good shot there at the end. I don’t know what was up with the 19, he couldn’t give me any help on the bottom. It was just one of those where you wish you would have picked the top. We went on the bottom because at the time it felt like the right decision. For our first race with Highpoint.com to almost put them in victory lane here at Daytona would have been pretty special. We will go on to Las Vegas next week and I feel like we will have a good car next week. This is a good way to start the season. You can bury yourself in points here, so for us to come out with a fourth place finish and a clean race car to go to Talladega goes a long way.”

WHAT ABOUT THAT INCIDENT BEFORE THE LAST ONE WHERE EVERYONE GOT
STACKED UP BEHIND YOU? “I had just taken the lead and I saw them wrecking in my rearview mirror. I don’t really know what happened. I wish that caution didn’t come out though. I had taken control of the lead and feel like I could have blocked my way to the win. It just wasn’t in the cards today. But we will go to Las Vegas next week where I feel like we are going to be strong and hopefully get this Ford Mustang in victory lane.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 22 MoneyLion Ford Mustang – Finished 25th
“I was just watching the replay there. It looks like it was in a tough spot or he got compressed pretty hard, but it was definitely the push that I gave him that sent him around, but I thought I pushed him in the right spot. It was obviously the time in the race to push, so it’s unfortunate. I wish our MoneyLion Ford Mustang would have been there to see the end of the race. We obviously ran up front all day, but it’s too bad to tear up some cars, but that’s what you get here at Daytona.”

WHAT HAPPENED? “Everyone is trying to make moves happen. It’s Daytona. Everyone is in a pack. Everyone is pushing hard. The 98 jumped up in front of the pack. The 9 car jumped in front of the top lane, so it really compressed us. I thought I gave the 8 the right push at the right spot in the bumper, so I don’t really know why he got loose there. Maybe he was trying to move, but overall it was unfortunate. We had a fast MoneyLion Ford Mustang. We ran up front all day and just could never get me and Chase synced up to where we could help each other. You were usually just fighting teammates, so that’s what was difficult about today, but we’re going to Vegas and start our season.”

WHAT WAS THE PLAN IF THE RACE STAYED GREEN? “The first goal is to
have a Ford win the race. That’s the big deal and obviously we had the two of us and the 19 was probably the wild car, whether he was gonna go with us or the JRM guys, but the game changed pretty quickly there. I wasn’t expecting it to go all green. It never does in these races, so it’s just unfortunate we weren’t able to make the top lane work there and ended our day.”

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)
Friday, February 14, 2020

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 98 Highpoint.com Ford Mustang — WHAT IS YOUR PLAN GOING INTO THIS RACE? “You can’t have a plan going into this race. It just doesn’t work. Even last year when we had Cole over here and having a teammate you try to work together, but at the end of the day it’s so hard, just because you put yourself in a bad spot or you can almost wreck both of you trying to work together, so it’s hard. Obviously, this year in our situation we’ve only got two Fords in the field, so it’s gonna be hard from a manufacturer’s standpoint. The Cup guys, it seems like manufacturers are really loyal, where on the XFINITY side I don’t think it’s as bad, but I’m curious to see how it plays out tomorrow.”

WHAT WILL BE SEE IN THE SERIES THIS YEAR? “I think you’re still gonna see kind of the same thing. I think you’re gonna have two, three or four guys seclude themselves from the rest of the field and, hopefully, we’re one of those guys. It’s hard to say until we really get to the mile-and-a-half stuff. Obviously, this place it’s really hard to tell anything, but when we get done with the west coast swing I think we’re gonna have a pretty good idea of who you’re gonna have to beat for the championship, and, like I said, I hope we’re one of those people.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE INDY ROAD COURSE? “For me, being from Indiana, Indianapolis is always special. I think there’s something a little more prestigious about running on the oval from a historic side of things, but the road course is gonna be a first for stock cars and it’s gonna be fun to be a part of that event. I’m excited to see how many fans come out now just for that because that weekend as a race fan you can see a dirt race on Wednesday night, watch a road course race that weekend and an oval race, so it’s gonna be exciting to see. I’m looking forward to it. I think that race is honestly going to probably be the hardest race to win all year just because you’re gonna have so many guys from different disciplines in really good equipment. Obviously, I feel like a lot of the Indy Car guys are probably gonna come over that have a lot of laps around that place, so it’s gonna be fun. The new thing, like the Roval has been good to me, so hopefully it’ll be the same. We’ll see.”

DO YOU THINK TONY STEWART WOULD RUN THAT RACE? “I don’t know. It would be cool to see him do it. Obviously, it would be cool for me to say I was teammates with him, but he’s so busy doing the sprint car stuff that it’s hard to say. He rarely gets to come to even watch our races let alone run in them, so it would be cool to see for sure.”

YOU SAID YOU FEEL LIKE YOU NEED TO WIN 8 TO 10 RACES. WERE YOU BEING SERIOUS? “Yeah, I feel like it’s kind of my make-or-break season. This is the first year I feel like I haven’t had that excuse of I don’t have the experience anymore because I finally have that. Ford has obviously spent a lot of money on me in the past and really trying to develop me and I feel like this is finally my time to show that I’m here to win races. Cole won seven last year and obviously with the big three guys going it opens up a lot more opportunities to win races and I felt like at the end of last season we were battling with them for wins quite a bit, so I feel like if we do our jobs, then there’s no reason why we can’t go win eight to 10 races. Obviously, I’m not gonna say it’s a failure if we win six or whatever, but I feel like we certainly, if we do our job right, we can win eight to 10 races and I’m confident with that statement.”

HOW MUCH DO MANUFACTURERS WORK TOGETHER IN XFINITY? “I don’t think it’s gonna be near as much. I think you might see a couple teams. I think the biggest one is Kaulig, if you look at those three guys, they’re so fast as it is that I think in the race they’re definitely gonna work together if they can. The same with the Junior Motorsports guys and the Gibbs guys. On our side of things with the Fords in general it’s just me and Cindric, so it’s really hard to get anything going if you’re just gonna race manufacturer-wise like the Cup Series has. I don’t think our race is gonna be necessarily as much manufacturer stuff as the Cup stuff, but I do think you’ll see some teams work together as far as like Kaulig and Gibbs and Junior Motorsports, so I’m curious to see how it plays out tomorrow for sure.”

DO YOU FEEL THIS IS A CHANCE TO LAUNCH YOURSELF INTO A CUP RIDE IN 2021? “Yeah, I think so. I was telling somebody else that I feel like this is my make-or-break year. If I go win eight or so races, then I feel like it shows that I’m ready for Sunday, but if I only win one or two race, then I’m probably out the door and not racing anymore.”

REALLY? “Yeah, I feel like at this point I’ve been here, this is my second year now and I should know what to do. I’m finally creeping up on 100 pavement races in my career, so I don’t have that excuse anymore of, ‘well, I don’t have any experience,’ so I feel like we can go win a lot of races and I feel like if I only win one or two it’s definitely a failure. We have the equipment to go run good and we ran good all last year, so there’s no reason we can’t go win a lot of races.”

WILL YOU RUN ONLY ONE FULL-TIME CAR ALL YEAR AND IS THAT A GOOD THING? “Yeah. Truthfully, me and Cole we were so different setup-wise and what we looked for in the race car that a lot of the stuff we did didn’t really correlate over to what he liked and what I liked. From that side of things, sharing information I’m not too worried about it. I think, if anything, it makes it where there are definitely a lot more parts for us now. Essentially, we have enough parts to run two cars full-time, so that’s nice just because you can focus on building new stuff knowing that you’ve got stuff sitting there. I don’t know. It’s hard to say. I don’t think the dynamic really changes. Me and Cole tried to help each other out as much as we could, but it’s hard on the race track to obviously help each other out, and, like I said, our setups were so different that it’s hard to really say.”

YOU DO HAVE GUYS IN THE ORGANIZATION YOU CAN LEAN ON FROM THE CUP SIDE, RIGHT? “Yeah, for sure. Harvick is somebody I talk to quite a bit and even Tony, and Cole as well. Cole, I’d always go to for driving stuff just because he’d been there and done it, and now he’s the most recent guy that’s run that stuff, so I’m sure we’re gonna still rely on Cole when we go places just as far as asking him what he looked for in the race car for the race because I felt like that was the one thing last year I struggled with is knowing what I needed to race good. It took me a little bit to figure out, so I’m sure we’ll still use that.”

ARE YOU ONE OF THIS YEAR’S BIG THREE? “Hopefully, I mean if there is a big three. Hopefully, there’s just one and it’s us. But, yeah, if there is a big three I’d love to be a part of it. Obviously, I feel like last year we were close to being in that conversation. If you look at just the last half of the season, we didn’t necessarily have the wins, but we were competing week in and week out and just in the playoffs alone I felt like we could have won four or five races, but weird stuff would happen. I definitely hope we’re a part of that conversation if there is a big three and hopefully we’re winning races and competing for wins. If you can do that, eventually you’re gonna win races.”

Toyota Racing – Brandon Jones
NASCAR Xfinity Series Quotes

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 14, 2020) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Brandon Jones was made available to media at Daytona International Speedway:

BRANDON JONES, No.19 Interstate Batteries Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

How was practice?

“It was good, man. Fun to get back. Kind of in the draft a little bit, practicing some. (Justin) Allgaier side drafted me pretty big and I went back up to try to pull that off a little bit and for the one’s watching on TV and saw it, it looked like I got into him. I went over there after practice and hugged him and I was like ‘man, that was close.’ He almost said that he didn’t even think I touched him. It was almost like the air – a bubble of air just kind of tacked on his car and that’s what kind of cause a little bit of that. Wind was pretty strong today. That was a little bit of a factor that played into it. I think Jeff Meendering (crew chief) had things he just wanted to try physically on the car. Things that really – doesn’t really affect myself. He was just kind of looking for some speed here and there in the car. That was more than we’ve done in the past. We’re definitely taking the superspeedway program pretty serious now.”

You were drafting and not just doing single-car runs and things like that?

“Absolutely. This year especially, I put a lot of time into kind of going back and studying that some. Watching some fast races and you see (Tyler) Reddick doing it so well and I always thought in the past in practice that – I’m like Reddick is going to wreck the field doing this, but what you saw was him putting himself in race position moves and he was really aggressive on those side drafts and at the end of the race he knew what he needed to do to win the thing. That was some stuff that I picked up on and I was trying get in practice today. Also things like keeping your car poked out to see how the runs were getting – things like that. I played around with that a bunch and I think I’ve got a decent idea now of what we need to do.”

Do you feel like you need to be more aggressive out there when you’re racing?

“For sure. There’s a lot of times you hear guys, especially rookies coming into these races saying they just want to paint that bottom line – they just want to stay on that bottom and I just don’t think that’s how you win the race. That’s how you be a consistent finisher and maybe get a top five, top 10 out of the deal, but if you want to win the thing, you’ve got to try to make those last minute moves and pull out and try to suck those guys back side-drafting. It’s tough now because we have so many good cars out there racing that almost no one wants to go with you anymore. You have to figure out how to do it yourself. You have to figure out how to leap-frog those cars and start working side draft really aggressive.”

As far as the season goes, do you feel like this might be your year?

“It is. I’ve put my goals together already this year and I’ll go ahead and say them. I think five wins is pretty reasonable and looking at 15 top fives and try to – 25 top 10s. Obviously things are going to happen. You’re going to have some DNFs here and there. You can’t control some of the stuff that happens, but looking at the tracks and the schedule, I don’t think there’s one that we run out of the top 10 on all year long. I know those are pretty high compared to what we’ve seen in the past, but looking at the way we ran last year, looking at our speed, I see it being very reasonable.”

Do you see the championship field as fairly wide open given that everybody that’s graduated from the class of last year?

“I’ll be interested to see, by the way, how our Big Four do up in the next series. That’s going to kind of be something eye-opening for me too. That’s my goal. We all want to try to get to the Cup Series. If they do really well here and they do really well when they move up, that’s obviously something to keep in mind. I’ll be curious. I think that this year we’ll be in the Big Four. We’re going to be one of the guys that are going to be in the next group and we’re going to collect some wins and turn some heads.”

Who are the other three?

“I’ll have to see how the year plays out this year. We’ve got some veterans still. We can’t keep those guys out of the loop. (Daniel) Hemric, obviously coming back after some Cup experience, that’ll be pretty big. (Justin) Allgaier, our other two (Joe) Gibbs (Racing) guys are going to be strong too I feel like. I watched Riley (Herbst) and Harrison (Burton) run a bunch and they’re going to have some good knowledge and good cars to compete.”

What do you expect in the Xfinity race in general?

“Based off what I saw in practice, guys were kind of making some moves. We saw two lanes forming a little bit. A lot of guys leaving the bottom. Nobody really could kind of break that air bubble. I saw a couple guys extremely aggressive on the side draft. Hopefully we’re not collecting anything. I know that there’s a risk of coming here. You always – you try to miss that big one. That’s where the luck, per say, comes in, but it’s no luck to run good at these tracks. I can go and look at stats with everyone and show you who runs good at these tracks and it’s the same people. All the same time.”

Is there a sense of relief when you get past this weekend and head to Las Vegas?

“It is. You get to Vegas and now, you know now we’ll work on the car, now we’re getting the thing right. This track, there’s still a bunch of skill, but it’s all on the driver. There’s a lot of stuff that you just have to come up and figure out. The crew chief can help you a little bit with some strategy, but there’s not a bunch that he can do.”

How does it feel being the senior driver at Joe Gibbs Racing?

“It’s kind of a weird role. I’m all of a sudden getting asked some questions about some guys, which is cool. I’m always looking for the next challenge. The biggest thing is making sure everyone kind of knows what they’ve got to do and making sure that my other two teammates, especially, can come and talk to me about life situations or race situations or whatever. I’m going to give them an easy, honest answer.”

How do you feel going back to Indianapolis this year with it being a road course? A bit of a surprise, right?

“It was. I just got that track figured out too. We had a lot of speed there last year. Go figure, right? I thought I had the car to win the race if we were to put it all together, but we’ve been doing a lot of road course prep. This is turning into a lot of road course races here and we’re doing things – traveling overseas and going to different schools and doing stuff abroad too. There’s a bunch going into prepping for this stuff now.”

# # #

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 38 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 2.8 million cars and trucks (2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2018.

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 ToyotaNewsroom.com.

SS GreenLight Racing | NASCAR Xfinity Series

Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway | NASCAR Racing Experience 300

Fast Facts
No. 07 SS GreenLight Racing Team:

Driver: Ray Black Jr. (@RayBlackJr.)

Primary Partner(s): CDA High Risk Training

Crew Chief: Jason Miller

Chassis No: SSGLR Chassis No: 707; competed in all three superspeedway NASCAR Xfinity Series races in 2019 with Ray Black Jr. behind the wheel.

Engine: Earnhardt-Childress Racing Engines (ECR)

Follow on Social Media: For more on Ray Black Jr. visit RayBlackJr.com, like him on Facebook (Ray Black Jr.), follow him on Twitter (@RayBlackJr) and Instagram (@RayBlackJr).

Ray Black Jr. Pre-Race Quote:

“This weekend will be my first superspeedway race with an ECR engine and I’m looking forward to that. Excited to have CDA High Risk Training and to be back in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2020 with SS GreenLight Racing.

“Ready to have a good afternoon of racing at Daytona and carry some momentum to the west coast swing!”
No. 08 SS GreenLight Racing Team:

Driver: Joe Graf Jr. (@JoeGrafJr)

Primary Partner(s): Core Development Group | EAT SLEEP RACE

Crew Chief: Patrick Donahue

Chassis No: SSGLR Chassis No: 702; competed in all three superspeedway NASCAR Xfinity Series races in 2019 with Gray Gaulding behind the wheel, including the team’s season-best finish of second at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in April 2019.

Engine: Earnhardt-Childress Racing Engines (ECR)

Follow on Social Media: For more on Joe Graf Jr. visit JoeGrafJr.com, like him on Facebook (Joe Graf Jr.), follow him on Twitter (@JoeGrafJr) and Instagram (@joegrafjr).

Joe Graf Jr. Pre-Race Quote:

“I’m very blessed to be apart of this SS GreenLight Racing team and look forward to making another start at Daytona International Speedway!

“Thrilled to have our new partner Core Development Group make their Xfinity Series debut this weekend as a marketing partner and hope we can have a strong race to get our season off on the right foot.”

Race Information:

The NASCAR Racing Experience 300 (120 laps | 300 miles) is the first of 33 NASCAR Xfinity Series races on the 2020 schedule. Practice begins on Fri., Feb 14 from 2:05 p.m. – 2:55 p.m. A final practice session is set for 4:32 p.m. – 4:57 p.m. Qualifying is set for race day, Sat., Feb. 15 beginning at 11:00 a.m. The 36-car field will take the green flag shortly after 2:30 p.m. with live coverage on FOX Sports 1, the Motor Racing Network (Radio) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Satellite Radio, Channel 90).

About SS Green Light Racing:

As one of the most tenured teams in all of NASCAR, SS GreenLight Racing has been a developmental hub for drivers looking to climb the ranks. Led by owner and former driver Bobby Dotter, the team has fielded entries in either the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series or the Xfinity Series competition since 2001.

Coming off a successful 2019 Xfinity campaign, SS GreenLight Racing looks to build further momentum with their two-car program in 2020 with rookie driver Joe Graf Jr. and series’ veteran Ray Black Jr.

MOORESVILLE, N.C.: Core Development Group, a leading renewable energy developer, will partner with NASCAR Xfinity Series team SS GreenLight Racing and driver Joe Graf Jr. throughout the 2020 season beginning with the NASCAR Racing Experience 300 at Daytona (Florida) International Speedway on Saturday, February 15, 2020.

Core Development Group is a provider of full turnkey EPC services for commercial, government and utility-scale solar installations throughout the United States.

Core Development Group’s expert team serves clients in site development, Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), site due diligence and planning, system engineering design, procurement, project management, construction management, commissioning, operations, and maintenance.

“For me, it’s really exciting to bring a new sponsor to NASCAR,” said driver Joe Graf Jr., who will contend for Rookie of the Year honors this season. “I’m proud to represent Core Development Group and support their initiatives in the solar and clean energy solutions arena.

“Their focus on clean and renewable energy is something that I personally love. Even NASCAR’s own research shows NASCAR fans support climate change. More than four out of five fans (88%) believe the Earth is going through a period of climate change, and three out of four fans (76%) feel a personal responsibility to combat it. I am proud to bring in a sponsor that is focused shares that view.

“Our No. 08 Core Development Group Chevrolet Camaro looks spectacular and I can’t wait to get it on the track this weekend at Daytona International Speedway and have a good race to kick off our season,” added Graf Jr.

In addition to Daytona, Core Development Group will serve as the primary marketing partner for the upcoming NASCAR Xfinity Series races at Las Vegas (Nevada) Motor Speedway, Auto Club (California) Speedway and Phoenix (Arizona) Raceway respectively.

“We couldn’t be more excited to be sponsoring Joe Graf Jr., one of NASCAR’s newest drivers in the Xfinity Series, and partnering with SS Greenlight Racing,” said Henry Cortes, CEO and Founder of Core Development Group.

“We are honored to know that Joe Graf Jr. recognized our renewable energy solutions and NASCAR’s Green Initiatives were a perfect match. In addition, the NASCAR Xfinity platform overlaps nicely with our national client base. As we explored the partnership with Joe Graf Jr., we were so impressed with the media reach of NASCAR and its impassioned fan base. We are really excited about being part of this great sport,” added Cortes.

After two full-time seasons in the ARCA Menards Series in 2018 and 2019, Graf Jr. will compete in the full 33-race Xfinity Series schedule this year for Bobby Dotter’s SS GreenLight Racing with industry veteran Patrick Donahue serving as crew chief.

The 21-year-old Graf also competed in a limited NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule for Richard Childress Racing last year, earning a career-best 14th place finish in his most recent race at Richmond (Va.) Raceway last September.

About Joe Graf Jr.:

For more on Joe Graf Jr visit JoeGrafJr.com, like him on Facebook (Joe Graf Jr.), follow him on Twitter (@JoeGrafJr) and Instagram (@joegrafjr).

About Core Development Group:

Core Development Group is a leading renewable energy developer and provider of full turnkey EPC services for commercial, government, and utility-scale solar installations.

With more than 30 professionals serving clients in site development, Power Purchase Agreements, site due diligence and planning, system engineering design, procurement, project management, construction management, commissioning, operations, and maintenance, Core Development Group provides leading organizations with sustainable energy solutions.

JR MOTORSPORTS TEAM PREVIEW:
TRACK: Daytona International Speedway
RACE: NASCAR Racing Experience 300 (120 laps / 300 miles)
DATE: Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020
Broadcast Information – TV: 2:30 p.m. ET on FS1 / Radio: 2 p.m. ET on MRN and Sirius XM Ch. 90

Michael Annett
No. 1 Pilot Flying J / American Heart Association Chevrolet
• Michael Annett returns to Daytona International Speedway as the defending race champion, having led the final 45 laps a year ago to earn his first career NXS victory.
• Annett heads into the 2020 season fresh off a strong 2019 campaign that saw the JRM driver earn one win, tie a career-high in top fives (six) and set a career-high in top 10s (19). Annett also qualified for the NXS Playoffs.
• On superspeedways last season, Annett was a force. Not only did he win at Daytona, but he also earned the pole at Talladega for his first in the series and was battling for the lead before getting collected in a multi-car incident.

Jeb Burton
No. 8 LS Tractor Chevrolet
• Jeb Burton returns behind the wheel of the No. 8 Chevrolet for JRM to kick off the 2020 NXS season this weekend in Daytona.
• In seven starts for JRM in 2019, Burton scored two top fives and six top 10s with a best finish of fourth coming at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
• In five combined starts at “The World Center of Racing” across NASCAR’s three major touring series, Burton has earned two top fives and three top 10s.
• This will be the first primary race of 2020 for LS Tractor, one of the fastest growing tractor companies in North America.

Noah Gragson
No. 9 Bass Pro Shops / TrueTimber / Black Rifle Coffee Chevrolet
• Noah Gragson enters 2020 looking to improve upon a career year that saw nine top fives and 22 top 10s in his first full-time season in the NXS.
• Bass Pro Shops, TrueTimber and Black Rifle Coffee Company are on board the No. 9 for Gragson this weekend in the first of three races.
• In two NXS starts at Daytona, Gragson has completed 99.5 percent of the laps (219 of 220) and has an average finish of 13.
• Dave Elenz, crew chief of the No. 9 Camaro for JRM, has led his teams to three wins, four top fives, seven top 10s and an average finish of 9.2 at Daytona.

Justin Allgaier
No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet
• Justin Allgaier kicks off his fifth season with JRM this weekend at Daytona. In his first four years with the organization, the Illinois native accumulated eight wins, the most of any driver in JRM history.
• In 18 NXS starts at Daytona, Allgaier has four top fives and eight top 10s. Last year, the 33-year-old driver finished second in the season opener behind teammate Michael Annett. It was his second runner-up finish at the historic track.
• On traditional restrictor-plate tracks, the veteran driver has 27 NXS starts, with seven top-five and 14 top-10 finishes.

Driver Quotes
“We set a lot of goals for ourselves (in 2019) and we met a lot of them, but we’re competitors, and when you don’t reach all of those goals, there’s still a lot to strive toward. That is kind of our mindset going into this season. Our goal was to be in the Championship 4 and we didn’t quite get there. We’re even more confident this year, we have our heads on straight and we’re going to obtain those goals. (Winning at Daytona) is definitely special and something I’ll never forget, being my first win and at such an iconic race track. We are going to have a Hendrick engine under the hood and all kinds of confidence.” – Michael Annett

“After how strong this No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture team finished the season last year, I know all of us are ready to get back to the track. JR Motorsports as a whole has been so good at Daytona and last year I was able to help push my teammate to a victory. If we can avoid the chaos, work with our teammates and be up front at the end of the day on Saturday, I think we’ve got a great shot at getting JRM another win.” – Justin Allgaier

“I can’t wait to get to Daytona with this No. 8 team and JR Motorsports. We had a ton of really strong runs last season and I am extremely confident that Taylor (Moyer, crew chief) and myself can grow on that heading into this season. I also can’t thank LS Tractor for coming back and supporting everything that we do. Hopefully we will give them a good show on Saturday and come away with the win. I can’t wait.” – Jeb Burton

“My confidence is high as we head into Daytona because all of my guys from the 2019 season are returning for 2020. I had a career year and I owe it all to these guys at JR Motorsports, so I am glad we get to get another go at it this season. With a couple restrictor-plate races under my belt in the Xfinity Series, I know what to keep an eye on as the race gets going and hopefully that experience rewards us at the end of the race and we keep JRM as the defending season-opening race winner.” – Noah Gragson

JRM Team Updates
• JRM at Daytona: In 76 NXS starts at Daytona International Speedway, JR Motorsports has scored six wins, 23 top fives and 35 top 10s. The organization is not only the defending race winner with Michael Annett taking the checkered flag in last year’s season opener, but JRM has also driven into Victory Lane at Daytona once every season for the last four years.
• Suave Men Display Appearance: JRM Partner Suave Men will have a display featuring a pit stop simulator and product samples at Daytona International Speedway in the midway outside of the track. Suave men driver Justin Allgaier will make an appearance on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 10 a.m. EST.
• Gragson Souvenir Autograph Session: JRM driver Noah Gragson will be signing autographs at the JR Motorsports / Hendrick Motorsports souvenir trailer at Daytona on Thursday, Feb. 13 from 5:15 – 5:45 p.m. EST as well as on Sunday, Feb. 16 from 11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EST.
• Celebrating American Heart Month: The No. 1 Chevrolet is running a special paint scheme this week and at both Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Auto Club Speedway in honor of American Heart Month. Pilot Flying J is proud to unite with its guests across the country to support the American Heart Association “Life is Why We Give™” campaign in their mission to be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives by raising awareness and inspiring heart healthy lifestyles for our team members, guests and their loved ones.