Category: XFINITY Series PR

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)
Saturday, November 9, 2019
EVENT: Desert Diamond 200

Ford Finishing Order:
2nd – Cole Custer
6th – Austin Cindric
8th – Chase Briscoe

COLE CUSTER, No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang – WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOU AND THE 7? “I kind of struggled with the brake pedal all day. I was just saving my brakes until like 15 to go and I just let it have it there at the end. I got to close in, but I didn’t quite have enough. Our Haas Automation Mustang, I mean that was probably the best we’ve been at Phoenix so far, but we just kind of struggled trying to get the whole run together.”

THOUGHTS ON GOING TO HOMESTEAD WITH A CHANCE TO WIN THE TITLE? “I think we can go there and win. There’s no reason why we can’t. Last year we led the most laps and this year we’re probably better, so I think we can go there and really compete for a championship.”

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 98 Ford Performance Ford Mustang – “Truthfully, I’m just thinking back to the Kansas deal. I hate to keep bringing it up, but I feel like we shouldn’t have even been in this situation. That’s part of it, obviously. It happened for a reason. I don’t know what that reason is right now, but I feel like God has a plan. I don’t know what it is and don’t understand it right now, but hopefully I can learn something from it. I feel like we definitely deserve to be there, but at the same time Justin was really good too. Going into this final round we knew that Kansas was our best opportunity, Texas was our second-best and Phoenix more than likely was gonna be a struggle just because the 7 was so good here. We didn’t capitalize. We put ourselves in the position to, but just didn’t get the job done there at the end. It didn’t go our way. We needed a caution and it didn’t come and that’s kind of how this round went for us, so that’s part of it. I feel like we have a really good car that can go win Homestead next week. Obviously, it doesn’t do anything for us championship-wise, but at least it will maybe prove a point. I’m just thankful that Ford has believed in me these 32 races. Obviously, I have one race left to prove that I need to be here and deserve to be here next year, so that’s what we’re gonna try to go do.”

THE CONTACT WITH THE 7 WAS THAT FAIR GAME? “Yeah. We were both just racing hard. I didn’t do a very good job when I had the lead of not making mistakes. I was probably watching my mirror too much. I knew it was gonna be an uphill battle trying to hold him off just because he was so good as it was and with us at a tire disadvantage it was gonna be even harder. I was all for it. I don’t think either of us did anything dirty. We were just racing hard. We both knew what was on the line and obviously he did a really good job today.”

WAS THE PLAN TO TRY AND HOLD THEM OFF OR WERE YOU PLAYING FOR A CAUTION AT THE END TO TAKE ON NEW TIRES? “First, I thought that if it went green the whole way, if those guys got mired back in traffic I would be all right because I didn’t feel like 19 laps worse was gonna be that bad, and it wasn’t that bad until the last probably 20-30 laps, and then I just tanked completely. Once I got down to 25-30 to go I was praying for a caution, but it obviously didn’t come out and that’s just part of it.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang – WHAT WAS MISSING TODAY FOR YOU? “The first stage didn’t quite go as planned. We probably started out a little too free and craziness ensued around us, but that’s playoff racing. That’s why everyone shows up here. Thanks to Discount Tire and everybody. Obviously, my biggest fall on the day was speeding on pit road after an awesome pit stop by my guys. That’s the second time I’ve ever done that, so poor timing on my end, but that’s racing and how it goes. We can’t hang our heads too low. We’ve got a lot to be proud of.”

THOUGHTS ON THIS PLAYOFF FORMAT AND HOW ONE MISTAKE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE? “It’s more difficult when you make it difficult on yourself. I think this round was definitely not as strong in the execution department probably between the steering wheel and the head rest than the round before, so definitely stuff to learn, but very, very strong showing for our team.”

COLE CUSTER PRESS CONFERENCE

YOU CLINCHED YOUR CHAMPIONSHIP 4 SPOT AFTER STAGE 2. DID THAT MAKE THE FINAL STAGE ANY LESS STRESSFUL? “I didn’t know that we clinched in the second stage, so I guess not. I knew we just had to kind of have a solid day and that’s kind of what we did. I think that’s the best we’ve run at Phoenix in a long time. I was happy with our day it’s just a matter of we just need a little bit more. I’m looking forward to Homestead. We’ve been really fast there the last two years and it’s just a matter of trying to put the whole race together and I think we know how to do that, it’s just a matter of us executing it.”

HOW HAS IT BEEN TO GO THROUGH A WHOLE YEAR TO GET BACK TO THIS POINT? “That means a lot. As race car drivers we do have a good idea of how to reset and focus on the next week, so I think throughout the season you’re just worrying about what’s going on, but at the same time when it comes down to the playoffs and you get closer and closer to Miami you kind of start to remember what it was like being at the banquet last year finishing second and just watching Tyler drive away from me on the wall there at the end of the race, so I think we want to go back there and win.”

DRIVERS NEVER FORGET, RIGHT. “You’re always gonna remember it, but we have a good idea how to focus on the next weekend. We can forget about it probably whenever we want to, but it’s just a matter of you’re gonna remember it the rest of your life for sure whenever it comes up.”

DOES NEXT WEEK IMPACT YOUR 2020 PLANS WIN OR LOSE? “Not that I know of. I’m not sure what we’re doing yet, so we’ll see. Hopefully, we have something soon. Right now, we have a really big week ahead going to Homestead and trying to win a championship, so we’ll see what happens.”

HAVE YOU TALKED ABOUT THE CONCERN OF YOUR COMPETITION AT HOMESTEAD? “Honestly, you can’t really think about it that way. I think we’ve been extremely fast the last couple years there and I think Tyler probably did run the wall a little bit better than I did at the end of the race and they probably set their car up a little bit better to run the wall, so I think going there this time we’re gonna think a little bit more about that, but at the same time I think we’ve just got to go out there and do what we’ve done the last two years and go there with a full focus and intensity. There’s nobody who is going to be faster than us, it’s just who can execute the better race.”

DO YOU HAVE A NEW CAR? “We have a car, I’m sure, that’s really good. Nowadays they kind of just knock the cars out. They’re not really where one is a lot better than the other. You kind of have a short track car or an intermediate car, but you really don’t. All of our cars are good. I don’t really worry about it.”

SO YOU AND TYLER DON’T HATE EACH OTHER? “We already took a picture facing off with each other with Claire B., so I think it’s all good.”

ANY HELP FROM THE CUP SIDE TO HELP YOU FOR HOMESTEAD? “I think when we look at all our teams it’s hard to compare everything, but you can compare tire data and the air pressures and stuff like that, and there’s philosophies that you kind of have going on, but at the same time there’s a lot of stuff that’s different. I wouldn’t say we really base a ton off our Cup teams. We try and just get a little bit of help here and there.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT JUSTIN ALLGAIER IN THE FINAL? “I think everybody in our series sees Justin as kind of a bulldog. He’s really good on restarts and he’s gonna make the most of his car and be really aggressive. They’ve probably struggled a little bit more for speed than our teams probably have at the mile-and-a-halves, so we’ll see if they can make their cars a little better coming to Homestead, but obviously it’s anybody’s game. You just have to put it together for one race, so we’ll see.”

THOUGHTS ON THE FINAL STAGE? “I didn’t know we were locked in after stage two. I didn’t get that memo. I knew we needed a solid day and that’s what we did. I knew I had to save my brakes anyway that last stage, so I don’t really know if that made a difference.”

TWO STAGE WINS HIGHLIGHT PHOENIX FOR BELL
Christopher Bell will Battle for Championship in Homestead

AVONDALE, Arizona (November 9, 2019) – Christopher Bell led over half of the 200-lap race, swept the stages and will advance to Homestead to battle for the NXS championship next weekend.

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
ISM Raceway
Race 32 of 33 – 200 miles, 200 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Justin Allgaier*
2nd, Cole Custer*
3rd, Tyler Reddick*
4th, John Hunter Nemechek*
5th, Zane Smith*
11th, BRANDON JONES
16th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
17th, TOMMY JOE MARTINS
23rd, JOSH BILICKI
24th, JOEY GASE
28th, BOBBY EARNHARDT
30th, RILEY HERBST
32nd, CHAD FINCHUM
*non-Toyota driver

• Brandon Jones (11th) was the highest finishing Toyota driver in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Arizona’s ISM Raceway.

• Christopher Bell started from the pole position, won both stages and led 92 laps (of 200) before finishing 16th after experiencing a pit road penalty and spin on the track.

• By virtue of his Texas victory, Bell advances to the NXS Championship 4 to be held at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 16.

TOYOTA QUOTES

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 16th

What happened when you spun on the track?

“I think I just lost it. I don’t know. I was kind of running those guys down a little bit, just trying to get underneath them between turns one and two there.”

How was your car after the spin?

“I spun out and it took out the sway bar. I should have spun out every other lap, but saved it. I learned a lot though. I learned the front sway bar does a lot through (turns) one and two, but you can get away without having it in three and four.”

How much confidence do you carry going into Miami trying to get a championship?

“I feel really good about it. We’ll bring a really fast piece there. I can’t wait.”

How do you reset after this race and look forward to competing for a title next week?

“I’m just really excited to go to Homestead with a chance to win a championship. I’m really proud of these guys today. They gave me a really fast race car. I wasn’t really sure what happened with the speeding penalty. I was matching my lights, just like I did all day long and all day yesterday. We’ll have to look into that and see why it was so much closer to speeding today than it was yesterday in practice. Really happy for all my guys to be able to compete for a championship. Just have to go home, use the Xfinity internet service to study up and hopefully be as prepared as we can for Homestead.”

How do you feel heading into Homestead?

“This is what it’s all about. It all comes down to this one next week. I’m ready for it. I feel really good about where we’re at and our car is going to be extremely strong next week. We’ve prepared a ton for this. Ever since we left Homestead last year, we knew that this race was where we needed to improve. Pretty much all year long, we’ve been focused on Homestead.”

What do you have to change to beat Tyler Reddick in Homestead?

“The biggest thing was that we just sucked at Homestead last year. We knew that setup we raced last year, that car we raced last year wasn’t going to work. We’ve been focused really hard on trying to figure out what car we wanted to run at Homestead. We picked out our car, that car has been sitting to the side for a number of weeks now. My teammate got to test down there, Harrison Burton did a test down there back in August. We learned a lot there and we’re really prepared coming into next week’s race.”

Have you raced the Homestead car before?

“I have raced the Homestead car before.”

What happened after the pit road penalty today and was it frustrating?

“It sucks because I feel like I gave up a win. I don’t know, pit road speeds we focus really hard on week to week to make sure we maximize that, but we aren’t too close to the edge to speed. We did test pit road a number of times yesterday and felt like we were really safe, right on our number where we like to be. For whatever reason, we sped and I don’t feel like I missed my lights whenever I sped, so that was really confusing. We’ll have to look at that and make sure it doesn’t happen next week.”

How do you not let a speeding penalty get in your head when you get to Homestead?

“I think we’ll definitely play it a little more conservative next week than we have this week. Over the course of my career, I think that’s the first speeding penalty I’ve had where we just missed on it. I’ve sped before just being dumb following guys, but whenver I’m following my lights, that’s the first time I’ve missed on it. Like I said before, pit road and pit road speeds are something we focus on really, really hard during practice and we make sure that we’re plenty safe. I’m not sure how we got on the other side of it whenever I didn’t feel like I missed my lights that bad. Or at all for that matter. Obviously the spin is what ultimately took us out of the race.”

How challenging was the traffic in the race and did that cause the spin?

“I spun out. I was trying pretty hard to get back through the field and trying to do a crossover move on, I don’t remember who I was behind at that time, and whenever I hit the apron, I just spun out. On accident, not on purpose. After I spun out, I got a flat tire and I had to go all the way around the race track with a flat tire and it just drug the sway bar arm off so I had no sway bar and that’s why I wasn’t competitive after that.”

Why did the team leave the car chief at home this weekend?

“I’ve been told he’s not feeling well this weekend.”

Were you able to work into the traction compound during the race?

“I’ll be honest, I was pretty disappointed in it. I feel like I was pretty aggressive in trying it at different times in the race and it never really was a huge – I could never really make lap time up there. I don’t know if other guys were or not. For me, it didn’t really work as planned.”

What does it mean to be going back to Homestead for redemption for a championship?

“Whenever we left Miami, it was game on to figure out how we missed it that bad. We struggled really bad at Miami last year. We literally started planning for next week the Sunday after we left Homestead. Me and Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) sat down in his office just talking about how we could have been better and why we were so bad. We’ve put a lot of effort into Homestead and we understand where we screwed up last year and we feel really confident about where we’re at now.”

Do you feel more pressure for Homestead this year?

“Obviously, there’s a lot of pressure at Homestead. It’s a one-race, winner-take-all event. We want to do really well, but I’ve come to the fact to just accept that if it doesn’t go my way, then it’s not meant to be. I’m really proud of the season I’ve had so far and win, lose or draw, next week I’ll be content with how my season was. I want to win the championship, but if something out of my hands takes it away, then I’ll be okay with that. We want to go there and compete though. We want to not have the same result as last year.”

Before the Playoffs started, were these the four drivers you expected to be battling for the championship in Homestead?

“If you look back, I think I did some sort of press deal some time ago and when they asked who I thought was going to be the fourth driver, I said the 7 (Justin Allgaier) car. I think it’s pretty much the four correct guys who got into the final four. I’ll be honest, I think Homestead is going to be a hell of a race. The big three seem to each have their moments where we’re both really strong. The 7 car has been a little bit behind us, but he’s been really good at Homestead in the past, so I think we’ll have a good race. I hope it’s a bad race and I lead every lap, but unfortunately I think it’s going to be a really good one.”

What do you plan to do this week to relieve pressure heading to Homestead?

“I have a pretty standard week scheduled ahead of me here. Really, until we get to Homestead on Thursday, we have a little bit of a media day there, but up until that point it’s pretty much just a normal week. Just going to go live everyday life and hopefully everything will work out.”

# # #

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.

Toyota Racing – Christopher Bell
NASCAR Xfinity Series Quotes

AVONDALE, Arizona (November 8, 2019) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to media at ISM Raceway:

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No.20 Rheem Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

How important is this race weekend knowing this will be the season-ending race in 2020?

“That’s a good question. Honestly, I hadn’t even thought about that. It is a huge deal for everybody that’s repeating and for me, being in the Cup Series next year. It doesn’t do anything for me other than track time. But for the teams, knowing this is the championship race next year, just building that notebook and trying to make sure – they come in the spring again so there’s still two more races before the championship race. It’s going to be a very, very important race and just building that notebook.”

What sets you apart from Tyler Reddick and Cole Custer heading into Homestead?

“I think just my racing experience. I’ve ran a lot more races than those guys. Just raced more.”

What do you think about the location of the PJ1 at this track? Should it be lower in the groove?

“I haven’t exactly seen it, but the higher that it is on the race track means the groove, if it comes in and if the lap time works out, that just means it will widen the race track out that much more. My worry is that it is so high that nobody is going to want to do it. If nobody runs it, it’s useless. I reached out to somebody and said, ‘Man, it would be ideal if they just made a five minute session in practice and say everybody has to be on the race track and running the PJ1. Doesn’t matter if you run 30 second lap times or 20 second lap times, you have to run in the PJ1.’ That way it activates it and guys get acclimated to it. The problem is and I’m going to ideally, if our car is good and we’re not thrashing through practice, I’m definitely going to go up there and run through it and see what it feels like. The biggest problem is that everybody is afraid of it. At Texas and Bristol, everywhere that they apply that PJ1 down, everybody is afraid of it until somebody goes and runs through it and picks up speed and now everyone does it. Someone has to be that guinea pig. If my car is good, because of the situation I’m in, if we get to a spot where I’m comfortable in practice then I’m going to go up there and start running through it and see what I can do with it.”

Is it more difficult for NASCAR to put the PJ1 down with so many series competing here this weekend?

“You want to put it as high as you can, in theory you want to put it as high as you can that way you can spread the racing groove out as much as you can. On the flip side, because it’s so high, if nobody runs it then it’s pointless. If nobody goes up there and tries it, it’s pointless. The problem we run into at Kentucky for example, at Kentucky they put it in the second groove and everybody ran it because it wasn’t way far up the race track, but then again, it made it really difficult to run side-by-side because you were still right on their door like the guy that ran the traditional line. I applaud Phoenix for spreading it out and not putting it in the second groove so if it does come in, we should be able to widen the race track out tremendously. It should be really big and a really fun race if it comes in.”

What kind of a race do you think we’ll see?

“I really hope the PJ1 comes in and that our car is close and we feel comfortable and I’m able to go work it in during practice.”

What are your thoughts on drivers bringing the caution out on purpose?

“It’s happened for decades, at least in the racing I’ve grown up in. I don’t know, I always get yelled at in NASCAR because I’ve thought about causing my own yellow several times and then my spotter is like, ‘Don’t do it, don’t do it.’ I don’t know if there is any penalty for it or backlash or whatever.”

Would you prefer NASCAR to get more involved in those calls or a self-policing garage?

“I hate judgement calls. That’s why I love the Chili Bowl, it’s black and white. There’s really no rules and I think that’s the best kind of racing, the less limited or the less regulated.”

Should NASCAR talk to the drivers in those situations?

“It’s tough to say because it my position, I’ve thought about doing it and been in trouble for thinking about doing it. I don’t know what the penalty is if you do it because I’ve never done it.”

Do you feel confident about Homestead?

“I feel really, really good about Homestead for the simple fact that we’ve got a Homestead car being built for a number of weeks now. Last year our Homestead car got killed at Kansas and then we were on plan B and it got killed at Phoenix and then we had to take plan C to Homestead last year. I think we’re going to have a way faster race car this year.”

Do you like Homestead?

“I love Homestead. Honestly, I think it’s a great place to have the NASCAR finale because it’s basically what NASCAR is built off of, it’s a mile-and-a-half in length, it’s super, super slick so the drivers are very involved in the success of the team and the track is really worn out. You can run from the wall to the white line and everywhere in between. I love Homestead.”

Do you feel better this weekend leading to Homestead than you did a year ago?

“I feel good so far. Yes, I want to win the championship so bad, but ultimately it comes down to the last run. If you have a bad pit stop, we saw Erik Jones win the race off pit road two years ago and had it in his hands and one guy stayed out and picked his lane on the restart and it was over. It’s just such a toss-up that you never know how things are going to play out. I would love to win it, but if not, the goal is to get there and we’ve accomplished that. We’ve won races this year and that’s something I’m proud of. We’ve got an opportunity to win a championship and that’s all you can ask for.”

Do you feel your legacy in the Xfinity Series is secure regardless of next week’s outcome?

“Every time you start a season, your goal is to make that championship four and just have a shot at it and we’ve done that the last two years. Hopefully we can capitalize on that because we definitely didn’t last year.”

# # #

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.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)
Friday, November 8, 2019

EVENT: Desert Diamond 200, ISM Raceway (Media Availability)

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 98 Ford Performance Ford Mustang – IS IT A MUST-WIN WEEKEND? “We don’t have to win, but obviously a win is gonna get way easier. If you look at Denny, he was 20 points to the good and after Texas he was 20 points to the bad, so I don’t think we have to win. It certainly helps if you win, obviously, but, really, your whole mindset changes after the first stage. If we get 8, 9, 10 stage points and something happens to Justin and he only gets one or two, well then that cuts the deficit in half so then you almost race a little bit different. I think the first two stages you’ve just got to go and literally try to score the max stage points you can and then from there is when the points situation starts coming in If you’re still 16, 15 points back, then obviously you’ve got to win the race. But if you can cut that deficit down to three or four points away, then you don’t have to win, then you’re just racing him. It just depends on the situation after the first two stages.”

DOES THIS ROUND HAVE A LOT OF REGRETS FOR YOU? “Yeah, I was telling people the other day after Kansas I was obviously frustrated and upset, but I felt like we were still gonna be fine. I felt like with our speed we were gonna be fine getting to Homestead still. We can still go run top five the next two races, if not win one, and after Texas then everything that went down at Texas makes Kansas sting a lot worse and makes me even more mad. There’s a lot looking back on what could have been different, and even at Texas last week in hindsight we probably should have just pitted whenever we got in the wall. It was just a thing where at the time we felt like we made the right decision. Me and my crew chief were talking and we’re pretty sure the splitter is what ended up flattening the tire. If we would have come down, we didn’t even think the splitter was an issue, so we probably would have had the same issue regardless. I don’t know. There’s a lot of things we could have done different. Obviously, the lapped car situation could have went way different and we probably wouldn’t be in the situation we are right now, but those are the cards we were dealt and we’ve got to deal with those.”

SO IF YOU PITTED YOU WOULDN’T HAVE KNOWN TO LOOK AT THE SPITTER? “Yeah, we were looking for tire rubs and the splitter was far enough off the ground that we didn’t think it was gonna be an issue, but as soon as we went we think what happened is when I hit the wall it broke the splitter bar, so then when we started going it just flattened the tire. In pictures at caution speed the splitter looked like it was gonna be plenty good, but as soon as we started going fast it obviously wasn’t good enough to hold it. You never know in that situation if we would have got it right or not, but we talked about it this week and we probably wouldn’t have even looked at that, so we probably would have had the same issue regardless. That’s just part of it.”

SHOULD NASCAR DO ANYTHING ABOUT INTENTIONAL CAUTIONS? “It depends if you’re the guy that brings out the intentional caution you hope they don’t do anything about it, but it’s so hard. Anything judgment call in racing I feel like is so hard, whether it was with that intention or not, not only the intentional caution thing, but the yellow line rule. It’s such a judgment call that it’s really hard to say what goes into it. I don’t know. It’s hard to say it’s 100 percent an intentional caution, well then it’s still a judgment call. Who knows what really happened? It’s really hard to judge those. I feel like I saw what happened with the Bubba situation, but you really don’t know. It’s hard to say.”

IS IT HARD TO MAKE THOSE DECISIONS OR WILL THEY HANDLE IT BEHIND CLOSED DOORS? “I don’t think it’s gonna come out in public. I think it’s a thing where there’s a certain etiquette you could say. Even going back to last week at Texas when I had that flat right-front tire, looking back on it I should have drove it straight into the wall and the caution would have probably came out, but instead I kept it off the wall. I feel like that’s a little bit different than spinning out, but I think NASCAR is gonna handle it behind closed doors. That’s how I would handle it if I was in that situation. It’s hard to say. They might not, but I feel like it obviously changed how Larson’s race went. It changed a playoff guy’s situation. I think I saw somewhere where Kyle said it would be different if it were in the regular season or something like that and not in the playoffs, where it could affect his whole season. It’s hard to say what’s gonna happen, but that’s how I feel about it anyways.”

DOES LOSING PRACTICE TIME HURT? “Absolutely. I feel like this is one of my two worst race tracks, so I don’t have a lot of laps here in general. That’s why I feel like I don’t really get around here very good in general. I feel like of all places to lose practice time this is probably the worst one to do it and the timing of it doesn’t help our situation either. I think practice time hurts more here than anywhere else all year long. It’s tough. Fifty minutes in general isn’t a lot of time to go make runs and come in and make changes, and especially I still don’t necessarily know the direction we need to turn our car to, so our practice plan is we’re gonna go run two 10-lap runs and I better tell them the right way to go for second practice because once you’re committed to that you don’t really change after the second practice. I’m gonna go and run our first practice and try to get as many laps as we can and then in between I’m gonna go and stand on Harvick’s trailer and get a radio and try to just learn as much as I can from them guys, so I can try to help our team.”

DO YOU FEEL THE PJ1 WILL AFFECT PEOPLE AND LEAD TO MISTAKES? “The PJ1 stuff, I feel like once it gets hot you can’t even spin out in it, but when it’s not hot it’s obviously really slick I haven’t even seen it on the race track yet. I’ve seen pictures, but I haven’t seen it visually once I’m driving around it. I know in pictures it looked like it was pretty high, but until you get out there. For example, in the pictures I don’t even think in turns three and four we’re gonna run that high. I feel like in one and two there’s a chance you might in the dead center of the corner, so I don’t know how much it’s really gonna affect us. I think the Cup race has more of a factor than our races because the Cup race has such long green flag runs that it establishes that kind of heat, whereas in our races we don’t really have that long of a green flag run. The other thing me and Logano were talking about last night is this place has so much dust compared to everywhere else we go and what happens when that dust gets on top of it? We don’t have it anywhere else, so there are a lot of factors. I feel like for the most part it’s not gonna be that big of an issue.”

WHERE WERE YOU AND JOEY? “We flew back from SEMA last night together. It was me, him and Blaney and Cole, so after we got off the plane I asked Joey if there were any tips he had about this place because I kind of struggle here and we just got to talking about the PJ1 and how they placed it down. He brought up the dust issue and I didn’t even think of that. I don’t know if the dust is gonna be an issue, but this place is one of the few places we go to where if it’s dry for just 20 minutes without anything on the track the first car out is blowing all kinds of dust, so what happens when that stuff sticks on top of the PJ1? I don’t think it will make that big of a difference, but you never know.”

HOW WAS YOUR HOMESTEAD TEST? “We were unbelievable, we felt like. A lot of guys go and test and you’re like, ‘Oh, man. We’re so good,’ and then you go back. I know Jeff Burton was at the test and I heard on the TV broadcast I heard him talk about how good he thought we were. Typically there fall off is around a certain time over a 40-lap run and we were two-tenths better than that, so I felt like if we can get to Homestead, we have a legitimate shot to win the championship. Phoenix is one of my worst race tracks, whereas Homestead I feel is one of my top two best race tracks, so I want to take advantage of when the championship races at Homestead because I know that it’s my best opportunity to win the championship. I really want to get to Homestead and it’s gonna be sickening if we don’t make it and then I go there and win the race because that would be twice – once in the Truck Series it happened to me and then once in XFINITY.”

Haley Looks for Success in Penultimate Race of 2019 Season
Justin Haley Notes:

Second start at ISM Raceway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Best Start at ISM Raceway: 10th (Spring 2019)
Best Finish at ISM Raceway: 12th (Spring 2019)

Kaulig Racing Notes:

Best Start at ISM Raceway: 4th (Fall 2016, Spring 2017)
Best Finish at ISM Raceway: 6th (Fall 2017)

Quotes:
“We just came from Texas where the No. 11 car did not have the best of luck, but the No. 10 car finished in second place, which is super awesome for our team. We’re going to Phoenix, a short track, this weekend. We had some success at Richmond, which was our latest short track, so I am really excited to get to Phoenix. We only have two races left this year with our LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, so I’m excited that the whole Kaulig Racing team is pumped up. We are going to go finish this season off with a big win.”

About Kaulig Racing™
Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by CEO and owner of LeafFilter Gutter Protection®, Kaulig Capital and Kaulig Media, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016 Kaulig Racing™ has made the NXS Playoffs consecutively, finishing seventh (2016), 11th (2017) and 12th (2018). Maintaining their technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing, Kaulig Racing™ has come to be one of the top-competitors on track each weekend. To learn more about the team, visit  kauligracing.com.

JR MOTORSPORTS TEAM PREVIEW:
TRACK: ISM Raceway
RACE: Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 200 (200 laps / 200 miles)
DATE: Saturday, Nov. 9, 2019

Michael Annett
No. 1 Pilot Flying J Thank You Veterans Chevrolet
• Michael Annett is currently sixth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff standings, 28 points out of the Championship 4 prior to this weekend’s race.
• Annett’s best finish at ISM Raceway is seventh, in this race back in 2012. He was eighth in the first race on the 1-mile oval earlier this season.
• On 1-mile tracks so far this season, Annett’s average finish is 8.8, with three top-10 finishes in four starts. His best finish on such tracks this year is sixth at Dover in the fall.
• The Pilot Flying J paint scheme Annett will campaign this weekend pays tribute to veterans. Pilot Flying J was founded by veterans of the Korean War.

Justin Allgaier
No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet
• Heading into Phoenix this weekend, Justin Allgaier sits in the fourth position for the NXS Playoffs, 18 points above to cutoff line for the Championship 4.
• Allgaier set a new career high of 15 consecutive top-10 finishes (dating back to Kentucky in July) following his sixth-place finish at Texas last weekend.
• In 18 NXS starts at ISM Raceway, the 33-year-old driver has one win (March 2017), six top fives and 11 top 10s. He also earned the pole for the 2018 spring race.
• Allgaier has led 249 laps at the 1-mile track, including 69 laps in the penultimate event last year.

Zane Smith
No. 8 La Paz Cocktail Mix Chevrolet
• Zane Smith returns to the No. 8 for the 10th time this season this weekend in Phoenix.
• Smith has earned one top five and six top 10s in nine starts in 2019, with a best finish of fifth coming at Iowa Speedway in June.
• La Paz Cocktail Mix, out of Brea, Calif., is on board the No. 8 Chevrolet this weekend with Smith. This is La Paz’s second race as a primary with the No. 8 team.
• Through the first 31 races of 2019, the No. 8 Chevrolet has recorded six top fives and 21 top 10s among nine drivers with a best finish of second coming at Phoenix in March.

Noah Gragson
No. 9 Lockheed Martin Chevrolet
• Noah Gragson enters the final race in the Round of 8 eighth in the NXS Playoff standings.
• The Las Vegas native will also be making his second NXS start at Phoenix this Saturday.
• In 15 NXS starts on tracks between one and two-miles in length, Gragson has scored two top fives, 10 top 10s and an average finish of 10.1.
• In three previous starts in the Truck Series at Phoenix, Gragson has recorded a best finish of second in 2018. Among those starts, the rookie-of-the-year contender has led 98 total laps.

Driver Quotes
“We know what we have to do to make it to Homestead for the Championship 4. We have to go Phoenix and win the race to make sure, but running in the top three, top five all day can get us there too depending on what happens with the five drivers in front of us. Our Pilot Flying J “Thank You Veterans” team has done such a great job giving me fast race cars and Travis (Mack, crew chief) has done a fantastic job on strategy to get us to this point, and it is up to us to get to Miami with a chance to race for the championship. We’re going to give it everything we have.” – Michael Annett

“There is a lot on the line this weekend at Phoenix. Right now we’re in a good position sitting fourth in points, but I know there are a lot of guys behind us that are battling for that same spot. Phoenix is a good track for us though and everyone on this BRANDT Professional Agriculture team is prepared and focused on what we need to do. Hopefully at the end of it all, we’ll be one of the four heading to Homestead battling for the championship.” – Justin Allgaier

“I can’t wait to get to Phoenix this weekend with our La Paz Chevrolet. Taylor (Moyer, crew chief) and I have worked really well together all season long and I’m pumped to be able to get back behind the wheel of this No. 8 this weekend. Hopefully we can have a smooth day and bring home another solid result for everyone on this team.” – Zane Smith

“I’m really looking forward to this weekend in Phoenix. It means a ton to me to have a group like Lockheed Martin come on board our No. 9 Chevrolet, especially with it being Veteran’s Day weekend and hopefully we can give them all a great show. We all know what is at stake this weekend and know what we need to do. This group never gives up and we will keep fighting until the end. We just need to go out there and give it everything we’ve got.” – Noah Gragson

JRM Team Updates
• JRM in the Valley of the Sun: JR Motorsports has collected two victories, 15 top fives and 34 top 10s in 64 NXS starts at ISM Raceway. The organization’s two wins came in 2017 when JRM swept both events at the desert track with drivers Justin Allgaier and William Byron.
• JRM in the Round of 8: Since the elimination format began for the NASCAR playoffs in 2016, JR Motorsports has claimed one win, 12 top fives and 19 top 10s in the Round of 8. In 2017, William Byron and the No. 9 team earned the victory at ISM Raceway after starting from second and leading 17 laps en route to the checkered flag.
• Annett, Allgaier Media Availability: JRM drivers Michael Annett and Justin Allgaier will be stopping by the media center at ISM raceway for media availability on Friday, Nov. 8 at 11:45 a.m. MST.

John Hunter Nemechek, No. 23 Fire Alarm Services Chevrolet Camaro
Phoenix Xfinity Stats
2 starts, 2 top-10’s, 1 pole
Best Finish: 9th (2018 & 2019)

2019 Season Stats
31 starts, 5 top-five’s and 17 top-10’s

Notes:

– John Hunter Nemechek and GMS Racing will utilize chassis no. 216 this weekend at ISM Raceway. This chassis has been ran six times this season by Nemechek at ISM Raceway (start: 13th/finish: 9th), Spring- Richmond Raceway (start: 11th/finish: 7th), Fall- Richmond Raceway (start: 38th/finish: 15th), Spring – Iowa Speedway (start: 6th/finish: 8th), Fall – Iowa Speedway (start: 14th/finish: 3rd), and at Bristol Motor Speedway (start: 9th/finish: 3rd).

– Nemechek will run in all three NASCAR Series this weekend at ISM Raceway. In the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series in the No. 8 entry for NEMCO Motorsports, NASCAR Xfinity Series in the No. 23 Chevrolet with GMS Racing and in the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series with Front Row Motorsports in the No. 36 Ford Mustang.

– Last year, Nemechek collected his first Xfinity Series pole award at ISM Raceway in the Fall with Chip Ganassi Racing.

– Nemechek has six NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series starts at the ISM Raceway. In those six starts, he has two top-five’s, four top 10’s and has led 31 laps.

Quotes:

“It’s going to be a busy weekend for me at Phoenix and I couldn’t be more excited. I couldn’t think of a better track to run triple-duty at. Since they moved the start-finish line to the old Turn 2, right before the tracks dog-leg, the restarts and finishes are insane. ISM Raceway always puts on a great show for the fans and I can’t wait to be apart of all three events this weekend.”

ABOUT GMS RACING

GMS Racing competes full-time in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series with drivers Brett Moffitt and Sheldon Creed, and in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with John Hunter Nemechek. The team also expanded their competition to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, as well as in the ARCA Racing Series with Sam Mayer and super late models with Toni Breidinger. Since the team began in 2014, GMS Racing won the 2016 NGOTS Championship and has grown to occupy several buildings located in Statesville, N.C. The campus also includes operations for GMS Fabrication. More information can be found at https://gmsracing.net/

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Team Penske NASCAR Xfinity Race Report
Track: Texas Motor Speedway
Race: O’Reilly Auto Parts 300
Date: November 2, 2019

No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang – Austin Cindric
Start: 14th
Stage 1: 8th
Stage 2: 7th
Finish: 3rd
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 200/200
Laps Led: 38
Driver Point Standings (behind first): 7th (-96)

Notes:

Austin Cindric and the No. 22 Discount Tire team led 38 laps and scored a solid third-place finish in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway. Cindric moved up to seventh in the driver point standings, 96 points behind the series leader Christopher Bell, with one race remaining in the Round of Eight in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs.

The driver of the Discount Tire Ford Mustang started 14th and worked his way to 11th early in the 200-lap, 300-mile race. Under the first caution, Cindric communicated as the run progressed, his Discount Tire Mustang began to tighten up. Cindric was credited with an eighth-place Stage 1 finish, when crew chief Brian Wilson called for four new Goodyear tires, fuel and a slight adjustment to help free-up the Mustang. Fast service by the Discount Tire pit crew gained Cindric two positions, allowing him to restart fifth when the race went green on lap 52.

Cindric slipped to the eighth position during the second stage, still fighting a tight Mustang. The caution was displayed on lap 79 and Wilson made the call to bring Cindric down pit road for four tires, fuel and more adjustments. He would restart 14th with six-laps remaining in Stage 2. Cindric would drive his Mustang back inside the top-10 and was credited with a seventh-place finish to conclude Stage 2.

Previously pitting allowed the No. 22 Discount Tire Mustang to remain on track during the stage break, giving the 21-year-old the lead for the restart. Cindric held off a hard charging Cole Custer to remain in the top position for the next 38 laps. When the pace was slowed for the sixth time on lap 128, Cindric led the field down pit road for service and would restart from the third position on lap 134.

On the restart, Cindric avoided near disaster while the field was jockeying for position. The car in-front of Cindric got loose, almost collecting the Discount Tire Ford. Cindric backed off the throttle, missing the sideways car, but fell back to seventh once the mayhem was over. The Mooresville N.C., native raced his way to fifth before the seventh caution was displayed on lap 141. Able to make the race distance there, Wilson called the driver of the Discount Tire Ford down pit road for fuel only. Cindric would restart eighth with 56 laps remaining.

Over the course of the remaining final laps, Cindric was able to race his way to the third position by the conclusion of the 300-mile race.

Quote: “We had a fast-enough Discount Tire Ford Mustang to win the race, no doubt. Given the right track position we could have done it. We had great execution all day. Wish we hadn’t gotten unlucky on some of those restarts and maybe been on the front row for a couple of those final restarts. I knew my job was to be the best pusher and clear the 20 and I did that, but I wasn’t able to clear the 10. We will move on and go try to win Phoenix. I haven’t seen the points yet but if you win, you are in.”

John Hunter Nemechek, No. 23 ROMCO Equipment Co., Chevrolet Camaro

START: 11th
FINISH: 5th
POINTS: 9th

Notes & Quotes:—

– Nemechek started the race from the 11th-position and battled his way into the top-five to finish Stage One in the fourth-position. During the Stage One caution, Nemechek came to pit road for four tires, fuel and adjustments to help tighten his ROMCO Equipment Chevrolet after reporting back to the team that he was loose. Nemechek restarted from the seventh-position. After dropping back to the ninth-position, a caution occurred on lap 80 and the GMS Racing team elected not to pit, lining Nemechek up to restart from the fifth-position. Nemechek ended Stage Two in the fourth-position. Nemechek came to pit road under the Stage Two caution for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment placing him to restart in the 13th-position for the Final Stage. With five laps to go, Nemechek battled into the fifth-position and remained there until the end of the race.

– With the fifth-place finish at Texas, Nemechek scored the teams fifth top-five of the 2019 season. Nemechek was also the highest finishing rookie after his fifth-place result.

“We had a really strong No. 23 ROMCO Equipment Chevrolet all weekend. We made gains during practice, qualified decent and had a solid top-five finish. The GMS Racing team worked on the balance all race and got it where it needed to be. Our goal is to finish this season out with solid finishes and this weekend was a good start. Looking forward to the last two with this team.”

ABOUT GMS RACING

GMS Racing competes full-time in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series with drivers Brett Moffitt and Sheldon Creed, and in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with John Hunter Nemechek. The team also expanded their competition to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, as well as in the ARCA Racing Series with Sam Mayer and super late models with Toni Breidinger. Since the team began in 2014, GMS Racing won the 2016 NGOTS Championship and has grown to occupy several buildings located in Statesville, N.C. The campus also includes operations for GMS Fabrication. More information can be found at https://gmsracing.net.
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To keep up-to-date with the latest news, information and exclusive content, follow GMS Racing on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Tyler Reddick and the No. 2 Alsco Chevrolet Team Show Speed and Prowess at Texas Motor Speedway Before Late-Race Incident

Finish: 29th
Start: 1st
Points: 3rd

“It felt good to earn my fourth pole award of 2019 and lead the field to the green flag in Richard Childress Racing’s No. 2 Alsco Chevrolet. We had to relinquish our lead early in the race to remove debris from the grille of our car. If there was a piece of debris out on the track tonight, we definitely found it. It happened four separate times. Luckily, we were able to maintain temperatures and recover each time. In Stage 2 we were battling for the lead and I got a little greedy and ended up making contact with the outside wall. I was trying to find my limit and I think I found it there. There was no damage, but I know it gave my crew chief, Randall Burnett, a scare. Later in the race, I just got a little bit too aggressive and ended up ruining our night. I was trying to go for it and it didn’t work out. To have this fast of a car and not be able to win is a big miss on my part. Clearly we would like to have more of a buffer than 36 points going into Phoenix but we still have a solid shot at advancing to Homestead-Miami Speedway.”-Tyler Reddick