Category: XFINITY Series PR

Bell Wins at Texas, clinches Championship 4 spot
Christopher Bell wins eighth race of the season at Texas Motor Speedway

FORT WORTH, Texas (November 1, 2019) – Christopher Bell led over half of the 200-lap race, swept the stages and won his eighth race of the season at Texas Motor Speedway

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Texas Motor Speedway
Race 31 of 33 – 300 miles, 200 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, CHRISTOPHER BELL
2nd, Ross Chastain*
3rd, Austin Cindric*
4th, BRANDON JONES
5th, John Hunter Nemecheck*
7th, HARRISON BURTON
15th, CHAD FINCHUM
21st, JOSH BILICKI
26th, JOEY GASE
35th, TIMMY HILL
37th, BOBBY DALE EARNHARDT
*non-Toyota driver

• Christopher Bell earned his series-leading eighth win of the season at Texas Motor Speedway tonight.

• It was Bell’s first Xfinity Series win at Texas Motor Speedway.

• This is Toyota’s series-leading 13th Xfinity Series win of the season.

• Kansas winner Brandon Jones finished in the top-five for the second consecutive race, and the sixth time this season.

TOYOTA QUOTES

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

Finishing Position: 1st

How confident do you feel now walking out of here with a win?

“I like where we are at, that’s for sure. There a couple of places earlier in the year that the car drove really, really nice and we were just weren’t able to compete with some of the other competitiors, but right now, I feel like we can be a little off on balance and still be competitive. So that’s means whenever we hit it we are going to be really good. I feel like the 2 (Tyler Reddick) was really good there with us and obviously he ran into some bad luck there and crashed, but winning is always outstanding.”

How strong was your car throughout the night?

“Well, I was struggling early. I was fast, but I didn’t really feel that great. We had some issues, and the brakes started going away, and whenever the brakes started going away, I really started struggling. So then, we had a couple long reds, or one long red and another really long yellow that really helped the brakes come back and the handle came back.”

How do you feel going into Phoenix?

“Well, this group here loves going to Phoenix, and now we can go to Phoenix with one thing on our mind and that’s trying to win. I’m very thankful about that.”

Is this excitement or relief after what you went through last year in Phoenix?

“Excitement. I can’t wait. I can’t wait to get to Phoenix. I love that race track and now I get to focus on one thing, and that is winning the race. I don’t know if Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) was thinking points tonight, but we are definitely not going to have to think points next week.”

You are now locked in and you don’t have to worry about anything.

“It’s nice. The Homestead car has sitting there. It has been getting touched a little bit, but obviously we still have priorties in line, where now, I believe Homestead becomes the number one focus.”

BRANDON JONES, No. 19 iK9/Musket Powder Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 4th

Talk about your race, another solid day.

“Yeah, it was interesting tonight for sure. We had that red flag and it seemed like the track cooled off a ton and I don’t think anybody anticipated it going as loose as it did when it happened. A lot of people started sliding in the end and it started becoming a race. Pretty crazy all day. I think these guys rebounded really well. I hit something really big off of (turn) two when they had that big wreck. I heard it go and I lost a ton of steer, so we came in and changed tires and had to fight back from that. I think these guys did a great job with that. We’ve got two more left. Phoenix is going to be pretty big for us to learn as much as I can. I’ve got the truck race and I have this race, so a lot of laps for next week. I know that’s going to be on the mind for next year for Phoenix.”

HARRISON BURTON, No. 18 DEX Imaging Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 7th

A seventh-place finish today. Take me through your day. How did it feel out there?

“We had an up-and-down day. Sloppy on pit road on my end. I stalled it once and we had a couple penalties, which put us back a little bit. Once you lose track position here it is hard to get it back up. The beginning of the race was really fun when we were running up there and contenting for top-three and kind of running the leaders down when they were racing. I had a lot of fun early in the race and I had fun late in the race trying to climb our way back in. I had a really good car early and lost a little bit and got too free in the end. Overall, really proud of my guys. We really did overcome a lot of stuff tonight at a place where you are not supposed to be able to pass.”

# # #

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)
Saturday, November 2, 2019

FORD FINISHING RESULTS
3rd – Austin Cindric (P)
8th – Cole Custer (P)
22nd – Chase Briscoe (P)

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang – FINISHED 3rd

“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.”

COLE CUSTER, No. 00 Thompson Pipe Group Ford Mustang – FINISHED 8th

“We started out alright. We were pretty solid when we had clean air. Once we got in dirty air it really went away from us. It was hard to find the handling on it from being too loose. We will figure it out. We will look back on it and look at practice and how things have changed. It was tough. When we had the clean air we were pretty decent but still too loose. I thought we would be alright but once we got in dirty air it was just a handful. I think it was tough to guess what we had from practice and know what we would have for the race. It was a good day. I guess it was a good points day, so that is good.”

LOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT WEEKEND, HOW TO YOU APPROACH PHOENIX NOW? “I am happy we aren’t on the cut off line or anything like that. That makes it a lot less stressful. At the same time we aren’t locked in so we have to make sure we do our jobs and not have any big mistakes. I think we can go there and be good, we just have to make it happen.”

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 98 Ford Performance Mustang – FINISHED 22nd

“That was just unfortunate. I don’t think we were the car to win by any means but I think we would have run fifth to eighth area. We just had to stay in that same ballpark where the 7 was. We were in really good contention to do that and then I made a mistake running the top and tried to get too much. We thought all our tires looked good but we had a rub and the tire went flat and put us three laps down. Obviously we have our backs against the wall going into next week but we have really good fast race cars. We will go there and try to win the race.”

Toyota Racing – Brandon Jones
NASCAR Xfinity Series Quotes

FORT WORTH, TEXAS (November 1, 2019) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Brandon Jones was made available to media at Texas Motor Speedway:

BRANDON JONES, No.19 iK9/Musket Powder Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

When you are coming off turn 4 with some fast cars still behind you in contention, what is going through your head?

“I think those last four laps were the longest four laps of my life. I’ve won a lot of different races throughout different stuff. I think the Xfinity level is one of the most competitive series we have in NASCAR. After every lap I would look in the mirror after a corner and see how much more they had gained on us, I could tell that they were catching a little bit – but not as fast as I was thinking they were. It was definitely nerve wracking. I know I mentioned after the race that I wasn’t even sure if I was wide open on the throttle at times. That just goes to show how much nerves were going on through your mind. I was trying to do everything I could at the end. I knew that maybe the top line was maybe the quickest, but for me it was risk versus reward at that point. I didn’t want to get up there and brush the wall or do anything crazy and have that put us out of contention. I was taking the safe route around the track for those last four laps. I knew if we were able to get clean air that was going to be key.”

All I could think about you for those last few laps was how many times I had seen you get this close.

“We have. That’s what my problem was. We’ve had everything go wrong and we’ve been in this position many times. I just wanted to get to the end. That was the biggest thing, and we did. That was great. There has been so many other times this year that I feel like that chance was there and we just came up a little bit short. I’m looking forward to the last three races. We’ve got three good tracks. Texas has always been one of my favorite mile-and-a-half tracks to come to. We’ve been in contention at this track multiple times too. Just had some misfortunes here. I’m looking forward to it. This would be one of my favorite tracks to win at. Obviously with my lifestyle being more on the country side, you get the cowboy hat in victory lane and that would be a fun day.”

Cool temperatures this weekend. You will practice in cool temperatures as well, so maybe not a big swing. How sensitive to the weather do you think Texas is?

“It will be interesting. I think the temperature is going to stay close to the same, but the sun is going to be a little different once we go to nighttime and the race. I’m sure it will change a little bit, and I think that’s where Jeff Meendering (crew chief) does a great job. He knows exactly what the change is going to be; he knows exactly what to adjust for. We’re probably going to talk about it a little bit before we get on track and see where we want to end up at the end of practice. I’m sure it’s not going to be close to being perfect. You want to be on the looser side or the tighter side depending on how he thinks the track swings for a nighttime race. That definitely goes through our mind here.”

How nice is to get next year’s deal done at this point?

“It’s a big weight off of our shoulders. Any driver right now is fighting to get some stuff going, and that was really big for us to be able to come back for 2020.”

Do you have Cup aspirations ultimately?

“Eventually, yeah. That is where I want to be. I mentioned earlier in the year, if I ever get to the point where we are racing Cup and we are doing it full-time, I want to be able to step into the year before and maybe run five races and see what it’s like. See how the competition is. I know it’s gotta be stiff. I know those guys really race hard. We have guys come down from the Cup level and race Xfinity and so you definitely get a taste for it there. It would be interesting. I don’t know how long a race would be on your body either. There is a lot of unknowns there for a driver, but ultimately, that’s where I want to be in Cup.”

You feel like once you get one, the doors will finally open?

“Absolutely. That’s big. I know when I was racing in the ARCA series even, the first win was tough to get and the next week we blew by everybody and it was a piece of cake. I think it’s a mindset thing. You have the mindset of you think you can do it, but every time you get in a car and you’re having tires go flat or you’re have people wreck you and stuff – it kind of gets to your head a little bit, so it’s always good to get back on track, winning races and doing really well. I think that’s really big for team morale and even myself.”

# # #

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.

Justin Haley Notes:
Second start at Texas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Best Start at Texas Motor Speedway: 11th (Spring 2019)
Best Finish at Texas Motor Speedway: 7th (Spring 2019)

Kaulig Racing Notes:
Best Start at Texas Motor Speedway Speedway: 2nd (Spring 2018)
Best Finish at Texas Motor Speedway: 7th (Spring 2019)

Quotes:
“We just had an off-week after a strong run at Kansas Speedway where we had a Top 10. Even though we were battling for the win late, the cards just didn’t really get put our way. We’re headed to Texas Motor Speedway – my favorite mile-and-a-half on the schedule. It’s newly repaved and it’s always super fast. I’m excited to get this No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet back on track and try to finish off the season with a ‘W’.”

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 .

Chastain Ready to Rope the Trophy in Final Xfinity Series Hunt of 2019 at Texas
Ross Chastain Notes:

Nine-Career Starts at Texas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Best NXS Start at Texas Motor Speedway: 15th (Fall 2016, Spring 2018)
Best NXS Finish at Texas Motor Speedway: 11th (Fall 2018)

Kaulig Racing Notes:

Best Start at Texas Motor Speedway: 2nd (Spring 2018)
Best Finish at Texas Motor Speedway: 7th (Spring 2019)

Quote:
“What’s up, Kaulig Nation. We’re headed to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. My final race of the year in the (No.) 10 car. It’s going to be cold – I’m going to bring my Carhartt. We’re going to bring the Nutrien Ag Solutions car that we ran at Kansas. We got all of the bugs worked out of it – we’re going to go for the win. It’s going to be awesome. I’m excited to get out there and go kick some butt.”

About Kaulig Racing™
Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Serie  s (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: Texas Motor Speedway
RACE: O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 (200 laps / 300 miles)
DATE: Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019

Michael Annett
No. 1 Pilot Flying J Thank You Veterans Chevrolet
• Michael Annett enters this weekend in Texas sixth in points, just 12 markers behind fourth with two races remaining in the Round of 8.
• In eight starts on 1.5-mile tracks in 2019, Annett’s average finish is 6.6, with four top fives and six top 10s.
• With his fourth-place run at Kansas, Annett tied his careerbest mark for top-five finishes in a season with six, set in 2012. The finish additionally gave Annett a career-best mark (18) for top-10 results in a season, also set in 2012.
• The new Pilot Flying J paint scheme Annett will campaign for the final three races pays tribute to veterans. Pilot Flying J was founded by veterans of the Korean War.

Justin Allgaier
No. 7 Suave Men Chevrolet
• With his fifth-place finish at Kansas, Justin Allgaier earned enough points to advance to fourth in the NXS Playoffs with two races left before the cutoff for the Championship 4.
• In 18 NXS starts at Texas, Allgaier has one top-five and eight top-10 finishes. In this race last season, the Illinois native led 37 laps on his way to a fifth-place finish.
• Over the past 10 races, Allgaier has the best average finish among all NXS regulars at 5.4 and is the only driver to finish inside the top 10 in each race during that span.
• In eight NXS races on 1.5-mile speedways this season, the JRM driver has four top fives and five top 10s.

Jeb Burton
No. 8 State Water Heaters Chevrolet
• Jeb Burton previously finished fifth at Texas earlier this season behind the wheel of the No. 8 for JRM.
• In five starts for the organization in 2019, Burton has scored two top fives and four top 10s.
• Burton has earned a total of one top five and four top 10s in 12 career starts on 1.5-mile tracks in the NXS.
• Through the first 30 races of 2019, the No. 8 Chevrolet has recorded six top fives and 20 top 10s among nine drivers.
• The team’s best finish of second came at ISM Raceway in March.

Noah Gragson
No. 9 Cessna / Southern Tire Mart Chevrolet
• Noah Gragson heads into the second race in the Round of 8 seventh in points. He stands 17 points behind the fourth and final cutoff position.
• Gragson will make his second NXS start at Texas this Saturday.
• In eight NXS starts on 1.5-mile tracks, Gragson has claimed a best finish of third, earned earlier this season in March at Las Vegas. Overall, Gragson has tallied two top fives and six top 10s.
• In four previous starts in the Truck Series at Texas, Gragson has earned four top 10s, with a best finish of seventh and pole award coming in June 2017.

Driver Quotes

“We did our job at Kansas with a fourth-place finish. We had great strategy to be in position late in the race and had a chance to do even better, but we got stalled out behind another car on the last restart. We’ve been great on 1.5- mile tracks this year, and Texas is the last one we’ll see before Homestead. We have to be in contention again late in the race, score as many stage points as we can to have a chance at racing for a championship. That’s what we’re going to do this weekend at Texas. I am proud as well to be running our ‘Thank You Veterans’ Pilot Flying J paint scheme these final three races.” – Michael Annett

“We had a great run at Kansas that helped us get above the cutoff line for the Championship 4 and now our goal is to stay there over the next two weeks so we can head to Homestead and battle for the Xfinity Series title. Jason Burdett (crew chief) and this entire No. 7 team has done a great job at preparing fast Camaros for us during these playoffs. Execution is definitely going to be key as we head to Texas with our Suave Men Camaro. We need to have a strong race and maximize stage points and contend for the win, so we’re in a good position when we go to Phoenix.” – Justin Allgaier

“I’m really excited to get to Texas once again with State Water Heaters on our No. 8 Chevrolet. We had a really strong run our last time out, finishing in the top five at Indy and I can’t wait to see what we can do this weekend. Taylor (Moyer, crew chief) and I have been working great together and I feel really confident that we can get to the track with the same speed that we had here in the spring. I’m just ready to get back going.” – Jeb Burton

“We know what we need to do heading into this weekend at Texas. This No. 9 team fights hard and we know how the points are looking. We just need to go out and execute to the best of our ability and make sure that we are there at the end with a chance to win. We had a really good Chevrolet here in the spring and I feel extremely confident that we will unload with that same speed for practice on Friday. I’m ready to give it everything I have to fight our way into the Championship 4.” – Noah Gragson

JTM Team Updates

JRM at Texas: In 69 NXS starts at Texas Motor Speedway, JR Motorsports has one win, 18 top fives and 42 top 10s, along with one pole award (2014). The organization’s lone victory came in 2014 with Chase Elliott. JRM also has an average finish of 10.6 at the 1.5-mile speedway, ranking third best among all tracks in the NXS, trailing only Michigan International Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway.
• 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 17 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 Team Chevy Appearance: JRM driver Michael Annett will be stopping by the Team Chevy Display at 2:15 p.m. CST on Friday, Nov. 1.

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

Texas Xfinity Stats
2 starts, 1 top-five & 2 top-10’s
Best Finish: 4th (2018)

Toyota’s Brandon Jones claims first win
Brandon Jones drives to his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Kansas Speedway

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (October 19, 2019) – Brandon Jones took the lead with 10 laps to go and survived the final restart to win his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series event.

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Kansas Speedway
Race 30 of 33 – 300 miles, 200 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, BRANDON JONES
2nd, Tyler Reddick*
3rd, Chase Briscoe*
4th, Michael Annett*
5th, Justin Allgaier*
12th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
26th, CHAD FINCHUM
29th, JOSH BILICKI
31st, BOBBY DALE EARNHARDT
32nd, JOEY GASE
34th, HARRISON BURTON
*non-Toyota driver

• Brandon Jones earned his first win of his NASCAR Xfinity Series career in his 134th career start.

• This was Jones’ fifth top-five finish of the season, which is a career-high.

• This is Toyota’s 12th Xfinity Series win of the season.

• Christopher Bell earned his fifth pole of the season, and won the first stage. However, Bell was invovled in a late-race accident while racing for the lead and finished 12th.

TOYOTA QUOTES

BRANDON JONES, No. 19 Flow Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st

How much redemption do you feel after this win?

“This is incredible. I knew this was going to happen – that we were going to come here and have an amazing run like we did today. It’s only because of those guys here. They have fought with me for a long time, and this feels way better because it has been tough to get to this point. Everyone that has been a part of my career to this point – Flow was on today, a new sponsor with us, we have had Menards in the past, iK9, Toyota, for all they do. I don’t think I could have done this without the manufacturer. I wish my parents were here. They have been through a bunch of wins with me. All-in-all, I cannot wait to celebrate with these guys.”

I can hear the emotion in your voice. You have come close so many times before. What was going through your mind those last couple of laps?

“I’m not going to lie about this. My foot was literally shaking on the accelerator on that last lap. I’m not even sure if I was wide open at the time, when I was doing it. There was a lot of nerves. A lot of emotion going through my mind, but I saw it coming and got pretty pumped.”

Brandon, first career win. What’s going through your mind right now?

“I’ve been a winner in a lot of different series, even outside of NASCAR, through NASCAR – this is the biggest one I have ever had. This is huge. I think it makes it even better that we have struggled so much to get to this point. We have had a lot of just junk luck, really, that has put us out of a lot of these races. But I believe in this team since the start of this. I always did, and it paid off today. This is big. We are going to enjoy this for a long time, and I know the first one is the toughest, so hopefully that means there is going to be more to come.”

When you look back on this race 50 years from now, what are you going to remember most?

“The thing that was going through my mind today – I think it was last year – the same thing happened. We had a bunch of good cars at the start of the race get taken out, and that went through my head. I was like ‘man, all the good cars are gone, we are going to try to win this race.’ Then going down the backstretch, you try to side draft and you get loose and we destroy our car too. I knew that was lingering in the back of my head. I just have to finish this thing out today. Really, the pit crew did an amazing job today. Crew chief did an amazing job and everything just kept lying up. When we kind of got that penalty on pit road, we were a little bit worried, but we drove back through the field pretty good. Those couple of cautions, we had a set of tires laying, it all just fell into play pretty well for us.”

Lot of chaos the last 20 laps. Can you talk to us about that last restart?

“Yeah, I was watching (Christopher) Bell the most before a lot of stuff happened to them. Just about every restart, he would run that bottom for five or so laps and you could really tell that was going away and guys were having to start to move up. Having the little amount of laps we did at the end, I think Chris Lambert, our spotter – he spots for (Denny) Hamlin on Sundays – did an amazing job there keeping me calm and make sure that I was just running the bottom line and not get too crazy on the top and knock the wall down like some guys did today too. I think that was the key to today. The last corner I kind of looked up in the mirror and saw the lead that we had and so I didn’t push the car there. Like I said, it cleaned up at the end for us. It all came into play and that’s what you have to do at one of these.”

You had a lot of confidence before this race and said that if you won this race you would wear that suit for the rest of the season.

“If they keep sponsoring, I’ll keep wearing it. I wasn’t sure if we were a race winning car kind of early on in the race. We didn’t have a ton of take off speed at the start of the race. We kind of fell back to eighth or so, and was able to work our way back up to sixth. A couple of times I was able to run top three lap times throughout that event so I knew that we were decent once we got going. But I think as we continued to get cautions, our tires continued to get better as we got cycles on them and I think that’s probably what paid off the best and kind of helped our balance go the right way there at the end.”

Brandon, this is your fourth full-time season in Xfinity, and your first career win. How does it feel to finally break through?

“If we didn’t have any confidence now, I think that it’s up now pretty high. I don’t know man. The biggest thing is it’s been such a long hard battle to get to this point. We’ve got a few poles – that’s checked off my list, and now we got a win. I can check that off. A championship is next to check off at some point in my life. This is big. Like I mentioned before, the lows are tough in this sport, and it’s easy to get yourself down when things are not going your way. This is what brings you back up and what keeps you fighting to do this.”

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 12th

Can you talk about what happened with the late-race accident?

“Yeah, we had a really, really fast car. We were pretty competitive. It seemed like we just that much off at moments to get where I needed to be to lead the race. Even when I was leading the first stage, I was this much off. I can’t really comment on what happened. I haven’t seen it yet.”

Talk about your day today, Christopher.

“It was a lot of fun out there. Me, 00 (Cole Custer) , the 2 (Tyler Reddick), the 98 (Chase Briscoe) were all racing really hard and for Brandon (Jones) to get a win is very cool. It’s great for Joe Gibbs Racing, and great for Brandon too. He has deserved that one. We were close, and ultimately it was a lot of fun racing.”

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 Quote
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Kansas Lottery 300 | NXS RACE RESULTS/QUOTES

FORD FINISHING RESULTS
3rd – Chase Briscoe (P)
11th – Cole Custer (P)
25th – Austin Cindric (P)

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 98 Ford Performance Mustang (Finished 3rd)

WHAT HAPPENED WITH THAT LAP CAR IN FRONT OF YOU? “I still haven’t seen a replay. It is frustrating even without that lap car, just in general. I totally understand lap cars are obviously off the pace and that makes it tough for them. At this place, the fast guys are running the top and there were a lot of guys that would run the top in front of you. I feel like the regular season is still a bit deal but not as big a deal. We are literally racing for our lives trying to lock into a championship. I haven’t seen the replay so it is hard to say. I know I got tagged in the left rear by Bell but at the same time it felt like the 0 car was going to put me in the fence regardless. These last three races I feel like we have been the car to beat and all three slipped away due to stuff out of our control. It is encouraging that we finished third but we should be locked into Homestead and instead we are two points back.”

SMITHLEY SAID HIS SPOTTER DIDN’T TELL HIM YOU GUYS WERE THERE: “That makes it a little bit worse I guess. I feel like he should have general awareness of what is going on. I totally get where he is coming from. It is tough in those situations. I don’t know. I don’t want to comment on it because I have not been in his position, so I am sure it is tough but it is frustrating to say the least on my end. We go from 15 to go thinking we are going to win the race and lock into Homestead and then you are two points back. It is frustrating. I am sure he will reach out and I appreciate that, but it doesn’t much help the fact.”

COLE CUSTER, No. 00 Production Alliance Group Ford (Finished 11th)

“We were really fast. I wish we could have had an easier day. We had a really fast car and could have competed for a win but a lot of things went wrong.”

WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THE RACE? “We went through one and two there and Reddick couldn’t hold his car on the bottom and washed us up into the fence. I just wasn’t very happy with it and was just going to tell him that and he went berserk on me. I guess that is part of it. I just wasn’t very happy with it. He just said, ‘Don’t touch me,’ then he started grabbing on me.”

YOU HAVEN’T HAD ISSUES WITH HIM BEFORE HAVE YOU? “No, I haven’t had any issuez with Tyler before but we haven’t had to race each other like that I guess before.”

WILL YOU TRY TO TALK TO HIM AGAIN? “I don’t really know. You don’t really know right now.”

YOU FELT COMFORTABLE GOING UP TO HIM AND TALKING TO HIM OBVIOUSLY: “Yeah, I thought I could just go up and talk to him but he went berserk when I put a hand on him. I wasn’t trying to rough him up. I just put a hand on him.”

DID HE GET ANY HITS ON YOU? “No, everybody just kind of grabbed onto each other as hard as they could.”

THERE WAS A LOT OF CRAZY STUFF ON THE TRACK TOO. WHAT DID YOU MAKE OF ALL OF THAT STUFF? “Everybody wants to make it to Homestead so everyone is going hard for a win, so you are going to have that. I think we had a really fast car, so I am happy about that.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 22 MoneyLion Ford Mustang (Finished 25th)

“We had a loose wheel to start and that definitely didn’t help things. I probably didn’t help compounding issues trying to get back in the stage points. You are trying to race to get laps on other cars to finish 25th. We still have a lot to fight for and I still think we are a championship caliber team and still bringing great race cars to the race track. I have had a bigger hole than 30 points so I will take that and run with it. I am proud of our efforts. Before today our worst finish in the playoffs was third and our worst qualifying position is third. THere is a lot to be said about our team. It is just a matter of going out now and trying to maximize.”

Chastain Returns to Kaulig Racing at Kansas Speedway, Seeking Second Win of the Season
Ross Chastain Notes:

Four-Career Starts at Kansas Speedway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Best NXS Start at Kansas Speedway: 20th (2016)
Best NXS Finish at Kansas Speedway: 13th (2016)

Kaulig Racing Notes:

Best Start at Kansas Speedway: 9th (2016)
Best Finish at Kansas Speedway: 9th (2016)

Quote:
“What’s up, guys. Ross here. I’m back in the Kaulig Racing car. I can’t wait to get to Kansas this weekend in the Nutrien Ag Solutions No. 10 (Chevy). We’ve had an awesome year so far. We’ve looking to build on our mile-and-a-half program though – I need some rear grip. Chris Rice and the boys, I know they’re working hard to dial it in, and we’ll see what we got this Saturday. Y’all tune in.”

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.