Category: XFINITY Series PR

John Hunter Nemechek, No. 23 Fire Alarm Services Chevrolet Camaro

ROVAL Xfinity Stats

First Xfinity Series start at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL

2019 Season Stats

27 starts, 4 top-five’s and 13 top-10’s

Notes:

– John Hunter Nemechek and GMS Racing will utilize chassis no. 214 this weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL. This chassis has been run two times this season by Nemechek. Once at Watkins Glen International (start: 20th/finish: 12th) and at Road America (start: 14th/finish: 26th).

– Nemechek heads into the second race of the Round of 12 in the 12th-position with 2,027 points.

Quotes:

“This will be my first time racing the ROVAL at Charlotte. I went last year to watch and learn from one of the best, Justin Marks. With what Marks taught me last year and the laps I’ve been logging on the simulator the past few weeks I feel confident going into this weekend. This is the second race in the Round of 12, so it’s going to be crucial to gain as many stage points as we can and finish strong. We need to get into a better spot in the standings going into Dover next 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/

SOCIAL MEDIA

To keep up-to-date with the latest news, information and exclusive content, follow GMS Racing on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Team Penske NASCAR Xfinity Race Report
Track: Richmond Raceway
Race: Go Bowling 250
Date: September 20, 2019
___________________________________________________

No. 22 MoneyLion Ford Mustang – Austin Cindric
Start: 1st (7th career pole)
Stage 1: 2nd
Stage 2: 5th
Finish: 2nd
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 250/250
Laps Led: 8
Driver Point Standings (behind first): 4th (-48)

Notes:

Austin Cindric and the No. 22 MoneyLion team had a solid opening race to the NASCAR Xfinity Playoffs Friday night at Richmond Raceway. Cindric scored a second-place finish, his 11th top-five of the 2019 season. The driver of the MoneyLion Ford claimed his third top-five in four starts at Richmond Raceway, pushing his average finish at the .75-mile speedway to an impressive 5.5. He remains fourth in NASCAR Xfinity Series point standings, four points behind third-place Tyler Reddick and 48 points behind leader Christopher Bell.

The driver of the MoneyLion Mustang started his Playoff run with an impressive qualifying run on Friday afternoon. His lap of 22.708 seconds, 118.901 mph gave him the pole for the 250-lap race, his first pole position at Richmond and fourth of the 2019 season. Cindric now has seven poles in 61 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts.

At the drop of the green flag, Cindric led the first six laps of the race but slipped back to third by lap 21. By lap 51 Cindric said the balance on the MoneyLion Ford was free on the initial run and then tight in the center for the short runs. Cindric raced his way back to second-place by the conclusion of Stage 1 on lap 75. Crew chief Brian Wilson made the call to pit for four tires and fuel during the stage caution. The MoneyLion crew did a solid job on the pit stop, keeping Cindric in second position when the race went green on lap 83.

The 21-year-old took the lead on the restart and led the next two laps before Bell found a way by on lap 86. Stage 2 ran caution free and Cindric said his No. 22 Mustang got tight during the long stretch of green. Cindric finished fifth when the segment concluded on lap 150. Wilson called his driver to pit road on lap 154 during the stage caution for an air pressure adjustment along with four fresh Goodyear tires. Another fast stop by the MoneyLion crew moved Cindric up to third position for the restart on lap 158.

Cindric slipped back to fourth on the restart but over the course of a long run he was able to make up the lost distance. The third and final stage also went green, which allowed Cindric to race his way to the second-place before the conclusion of the 250-lap event.

Quote: “This is the only double-digit buffer (ahead of the cutoff position) I think I’ve ever had in NASCAR, so I’ll take it. We had a good night in our MoneyLion Ford Mustang. Two runner-up finishes here at Richmond is good, but you want to win races. I’ve got to keep working and keep figuring out how to catch that guy in the 20 (Bell) but overall it was a great day.”

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)
Friday, September 20, 2019
EVENT: Go Bowling 250, Richmond Raceway

Ford Finishing Results:
2nd – Austin Cindric
3rd – Cole Custer
5th – Chase Briscoe

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 22 MoneyLion Ford Mustang – A GOOD START TO THE PLAYOFFS. “This is the only double-digit buffer I think I’ve ever had in anything in NASCAR, so I’ll take it. Obviously, a really good night for the MoneyLion Ford Mustang, keeping the Fords up front. Two runner-up finishes here at Richmond is good, but you want to win races, so I’ve got to keep working and keep figuring out how to catch that guy in the 20, but, overall, a great day.”

YOU STARTED ON THE POLE AND WERE IN THE TOP 6 ALL NIGHT. DO YOU FEEL THIS WAS YOUR BEST OVAL RACE IN THE SERIES? “I don’t know if that’s up for me to debate, but we’re peaking at the right time, that’s for sure. That’s definitely what I know, but I’m really proud of the progress we’ve made, the progress I’ve made, the things that I’ve understood to put races like this together and overall just a great team effort.”

IS THIS THE PERFECT RUN TO HAVE A WEEK BEFORE THE ROVAL? “I think so. To have a buffer over a race that has a lot of variables as far as strategy, as far as the race track itself, as far as the aggression it’s a great buffer to have, but at the same time we’re chasing speed, we’re chasing wins, we’re chasing what it takes to not just be as good as the 20, the 00, the 2, we’re chasing what it takes to be better.”

DO YOU LOOK AT IT AS AN OPPORTUNITY RACE? “Yeah, no doubt. We’ve obviously been strong on the road courses this year. There’s no sugar-coating that, so for us to have one of those in the Playoffs and somewhere that’s local and somewhere that not a lot of people have a notebook on it’s a great opportunity for us to have an advantage.”

HOW CONFIDENT DO YOU FEEL? “I feel confident we can run top five, but you want to win. I think the Gibbs cars have been exceptionally good on road courses this year, so I’d expect Bell to be on it. He’s probably got a little confidence now that he’s decided he can actually road race, so he’s done a good job and I expect to be racing him for sure.”

COLE CUSTER, No. 00 Go Bowling Ford Mustang – HOW DO YOU ASSESS TONIGHT? “After qualifying I was really happy with it. I was a little worried after that, qualifying 12th, but we were able to kind of work forward there and didn’t quite have enough for the 20. He could just kind of tie the corner together better than I did, but I think it was a really good way to start off the Playoffs. We’re 60 points to the good now, so going to the Roval you have no idea what to expect, so that makes you feel a little bit better.”

HOW WAS THIS RACE DIFFERENT FROM THE SPRING? “I don’t know if it was too much different, but we couldn’t really get back to where we were in the spring. It was kind of on one side of the fence or the other setup-wise, but I think we got close. We just needed a little bit more there at the end.”

COLE CUSTER CONTINUED — HOW FRUSTRATING IS IT THAT BELL HAS DONE SO WELL ON THE SHORT TRACKS? “You look at their whole team, I mean at a lot of these short tracks they’ve been doing it for 15 years so it’s tough. They have a really good notebook and we’re right on their heels, it’s just a matter of the little things, I guess. There are things I could probably do a little bit better also, but they definitely have a big notebook over there.”

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 98 Ford Performance Ford Mustang – WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO START SO WELL IN THE PLAYOFFS? “It’s good. I feel like this place is probably my worst race track, so to come out of here with a fifth is always nice. I think this first round is a lot easier to race your way out of the next round, instead of race your way into the next round. I feel confident that if we have the same result we had tonight in these next two races, we should be alright. There are so many variables that go into the Roval. There’s a lot of opportunity to get caught up in other people’s messes, and the same at Dover, so I don’t know. I felt like we weren’t a very good race car tonight, so to finish fifth is a good thing, but we just gave up a little bit too much on stage points. That will definitely cost us Playoff-wise. That first stage I was running fifth or sixth and that caution came out and I ended up running 10th in the stage, so just gave up a lot of points right there and even in the second stage. I’ve just got to clean all of that up and go to the Roval next week, where we obviously have a really good package going there and hopefully do it again.”

HOW MUCH CONFIDENCE DO YOU HAVE AFTER WINNING THAT RACE LAST YEAR? “I think it definitely gives you confidence. None of these races are easy to win and there are so many good road racers right now in this series, so it’s gonna be tough. Honestly, with that backstretch chicane it’s gonna be almost a new race track. I felt like that honestly was where I made up a lot of my time last year was in that corner, so I don’t know if it’s gonna be the same race track for me personally. I don’t know. I feel like we just have to go there and finish. We run top five I feel like there. It definitely is a really good opportunity to gain points just because there are gonna be some guys in the Playoffs that kind of struggle road racing and that’s a huge opportunity to gain points on them, so hopefully we can do it.”

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)
Friday, September 20, 2019
EVENT: Go Bowling 250, Richmond Raceway (Media Availabilities)

COLE CUSTER, No. 00 Go Bowling Ford Mustang – THOUGHTS ON THE PLAYOFFS STARTING AND TRYING TO SWEEP THIS YEAR AT RICHMOND. “I think with the Playoffs you just try and up your focus a little bit. You can’t underestimate anybody or change your mindset really. I think you’ve just got to do what you’ve been doing all year and make sure that you get your car handling the way that you want it to. People are gonna make their cars better coming into this race, so you have to make sure you’re on your game.”

CHRISTOPHER BELL HAD ONE OF THE BEST CARS IN THE SPRING. WHAT IF HE IS DOMINANT TONIGHT. HOW DO YOU CONTEND WITH THAT? “I don’t really care. I think you just worry about yourself. I know we won this race last time and I knew what we did to get there and I think we’ve got a good idea of what to do. It’s just a matter of if we can put it all together tonight.”

AS PART OF THE BIG THREE IN THIS SERIES, DOES THAT HAVE ANY AFFECT ON YOU IN THE PLAYOFFS FROM AN EXPECTATION STANDPOINT? “You just kind of have to reset, I guess. Everybody is on a pretty level playing field and you have to make sure that you’re managing the situation well. We have a really good amount of Playoff points, so we have to make sure we probably don’t have any really bad days and just trying to make it to the next round is really the biggest thing.”

WAS DARLINGTON A TURNING POINT IN TERMS OF CHANGING THE MOMENTUM FOR YOUR TEAM? “Yeah, I think the last few races have been a good turning point to try to get some consistency back and trying to get us back to where we were. I felt like we were fast all throughout the summer, but it’s just that the races didn’t play out well or I made a couple of mistakes and it didn’t work out well. I feel now we’re kind of back on track and I think we’ve got some good tracks coming up too.”

YOU HAVE A POINTS CUSHION TO START THE PLAYOFFS, SO HOW DO YOU MANAGE THAT AND STILL BE AGGRESSIVE IN THE RACE? “The biggest thing is you can’t be too conservative because other people will put you in some bad spots, but you want to make sure that you don’t put yourself in a really bad situation also. It’s kind of balancing both because if you race too conservatively, it can get you in trouble.”

Toyota Racing – Christopher Bell
NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff Media Day Quotes

RICHMOND (September 19, 2019) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to media at NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff Media Day:

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

Would Kyle Busch make the ‘A-Main’ at the Chili Bowl?

“That’s a great question. Would Kyle Busch make the ‘A-Main’ at the Chili Bowl? If he got seat time, absolutely.”

What will the next seven r aces mean for your career?

“There’s been nobody that’s won all three championships. I don’t think there’s been anybody that’s won all three championships yet so that would be a really good goal. It starts with these seven races.”

Do you focus more on accomplishments that no one else has done?

“Absolutely. That’s been one of my goals ever since I was a kid. I wanted to set record, break records. I love getting track records whenever we qualify. To be able to be the first driver to have three championships would be really, really – that would be a pretty cool record to have.”

Do you view this as your last chance to get an Xfinity Series championship?

“No, no I don’t. It’s a very good opportunity and I’m not sure I will have another opportunity that’s this good so I want to try to capitalize and make the most of it.”

Did Tyler Reddick surprise you at Homestead last year?

“Not at all. Just because he was really good at those style race tracks last year. You look back and he struggled all year long, but whenever you went to California he was really good and that’s a really slick, abrasive race track. Chicago he was good before he crashed. Darlington he was good. Just the Homestead’ish’ style race tracks, he was good all year long. Then he put it together for Homestead.”

Is there anyone that could be an underdog and win in Homestead this year?

“I’ve said it all year long, (Justin) Allgaier is probably the guy that is most capable of it just because he has the experience and he’s been around the longest. He knows how to win races and whenever they get going, I think he’ll be the guy.”

Do you study what the other drivers do as much as you study what you do on track?

“Sometime. You just got back over and watch previous races. Obviously, you go back and sometimes I was the best car and sometimes other guys were the best cars and you just try to study what made them so good. Could they really run the bottom good? Were they good on long runs? Were they good on short run? How the restarts played out. Stuff like that. You find yourself just studying the races and the different drivers in the races.”

What is your relationship on the track and away from the track with Cole Custer and Tyler Reddick?

“I’m not going to say we’re friends, but I think we all three respect each other and I think that’s really cool. We race each other with respect and we respect each other outside the cars.”

Do the three of you bring out the best in each other?

“Yeah, I do. We race each other hard and it seems like each of us have our moments at times so that’s pretty good.”

What did it mean for Tyler Reddick to compliment your driving after the Indianapolis incident?

“I think it just goes back to respect. I hope Tyler (Reddick) would have said that because if the roles were reversed, the same outcome was very likely just because that was a very key moment in the race and we knew that whoever would come out with the lead was going to be hard to beat. If the roles were reversed, I put it on his door and we probably crash the same way. There’s no hard feelings there. There’s nothing there.”

Is it rare to have such a unique relationship of respect with your competitors?

“So for me, it’s been pretty common throughout the course of my career. In my USAC days, Bryan Clauson was the guy. He was my top competitor and same thing, I’m not going to say we were friends, but we had a good relationship outside the car and we really respected each other and raced each other clean. Rico (Abreu) is another guy, we race each other really hard, but we respect each other. I don’t know, it’s been fairly normal over the course of my career.”

What would be bigger in your career – winning all three NASCAR championships or winning a fourth consecutive Chili Bowl?

“You put me on the spot there. Only one guy has won four straight Chili Bowls. Nobody has won three NASCAR championships. The fourth Chili Bowl is a lot closer, that’s for sure. That’s number one – that’s number two right now because number one is the Xfinity Series championship.”

There has been a couple people who have come in that have said that they just want to be the fourth guy in at Homestead, because they assume that you, Tyler Reddick and Cole Custer will be there. Do you feel that way?

“Well, we definitely have the advantage, but last year was a rude awakening. I was in a very similar spot last year. We snuck through the first round really easy. I won Richmond and locked myself into the second round. We ran top-five at the Roval and won at Dover, so we were on top of the world. Then all of a sudden we go to Kansas and crash. Ok, we are not that bad. I think we right on the bubble at Kansas. We go to Texas and we crash, and then the next thing you know you have to win at Phoenix to be able to race for a championship. It happens fast. You get on the other side of it very, very fast.”

Do you think people will be pressuring you in these Playoffs to try to get you to make mistakes?

“My response to that would be that the reason that we were in must win situation wasn’t because of mistakes; it was just because of racing circumstances. Ultimately, it wasn’t mistakes that put us in a must win situation. It’s tough to stay out of that and be ready to tackle it if it happens.”

Do you think that these other teams are going to put you in situations to mess up?

“I don’t think so. If you are a guy on the outside looking in, for me, I would be trying to win races. The bonus points that we have right now are really big. It’s going to be really hard to outpoint us, but if somebody outside the big three wins in the second round, then all of a sudden that bubble spot becomes a lot more relevant and especially if two people win, then one of us are out. People underneath us winning races is a really big deal and it really affects us.I think that is a big focus point.”

You came over from the dirt background. What was it like to experience NASCAR driver introductions?

“That was one thing that I thought was really, really cool about NASCAR. I still get nervous before the races and NASCAR does a great job of making every race an event. On the dirt side of things, you have few events and a lot of races. Where on the NASCAR side, every race you go to is hyped up – it’s an event. That was very surprising to me and I thought that was very cool. Driver introductions, every race is treated the same and every race is an event. It’s not like you have three marquee events and the rest are races.”

Do you chat with other drivers during driver introductions?

“I’m not much of a chatter, so I try to keep to myself.”

Do you think Placerville will be an event?

“It should be. They are putting up the money for it to be, so it should be. I hope I’m not there.”

Really, why is that?

“I want to be celebrating in Orlando. If you win the championship, you have to go to Orlando for the championship tour, which is on top of Placerville. So if I win the championship, I will not be able to race.”

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 – Brandon Jones
NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff Media Day Quotes

RICHMOND (September 19, 2019) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Brandon Jones was made available to media at NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff Media Day:

BRANDON JONES, No. 19 Freightliner Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

How happy are you with the performance this season even though a win has eluded you?

“If it doesn’t bite us, one of us messes up. It’s been a heck of a season, it really has. The speed is there. We just have to clean up a few little things, that’s it. We’re really close I think to being really successful. This is four years now for me in this series full time with over 100 starts. I’m ready this year to compete for this thing.”

Do you feel you’re a dark horse?

“A little bit. I like being in the shadows. You’ve got the ‘Big 3,’ they’ve been talking about them a bunch, but we’re coming on. We’ve got the speed to make it to the end and it will be a shock to a lot of people I think if we get there. I’m trying as best as I can with all I’ve got. I’m leaning on my teammates, talking to our Cup guys, our Xfinity guys every single week to try to figure out how to pick up little sections. I’m not searching for big stuff anymore, it’s little things to find and that’s what makes you go from good to great. Taking big notebooks after these races, that’s one thing Kyle (Busch) has been pretty adamant on is having a good notebook after each race. Sit down, talk about your goods, your bads and then the next time you come to the track, you have that book to lean on.”

Does being a dark horse allow you to celebrate the small victories and quietly advance?

“For sure. It takes all that pressure off of you of doing well every single week. These guys are expected to go out and run for the win and if they don’t win, they’re pouting over second. We’re not. We’re taking second and fifth, third, whatever and having a good day out of that. We’re continuing to build. That’s what the 19 team is all about this year is continuing to build off of good runs, but then try to improve ourselves as well.”

How did you make it through the bad luck in the summer months?

“I’ve had years like that, that have happened that way. We’ve got the rest of the year to keep going. I kept telling myself, ‘There’s a next week,’ every single time. I sat down and would look at where we ran, what we did today, our stages were phenomenal, we were running good at the time of all this stuff happening. That’s where I kind of kept going. I see the disappointment in the guys. See the drive that they still want to try to get a win with me and that’s what kind of kept me going through that time. We’re starting to clean it up and starting to be where we need to be.”

Is it difficult when your teammates are able to win races?

“I just have to try to figure out what they’re doing. We’ve obviously all got the same car. We’ve got different crew chiefs, but we all lean on the same setups, we all show up to the track very similar to each other every single week so there’s got to be something that they’ve figured out and they have a feel for it. I’m still kind of looking for that, but I think once a driver gets that feel that they’re looking for, that’s when you see success. You see Christopher (Bell) doing really well, you see Cup guys doing really well on this team. That’s what I think has led to their success is they get a feel down for it and that’s what they do every single week.”

What do you do to try to figure out what they’re doing to get that feel?

“I try to talk to them, it’s tough. For (Martin) Truex Jr. or Kyle (Busch) or anybody to sit down and say this is exactly what I’m doing and if you copy this, you’re going to run really fast. If Truex says he’s using a lot of brake at one place, I don’t necessarily know what his a lot of brake is and I try to translate that to what I’m doing. The biggest help us truthfully having our simulator at Toyota. You go, you can sit down and you can look at data, you can look at brake traces and truthfully, we’ve got that really close to where it mimics the track. We go back and try to duplicate how the race went on that every Monday and Tuesdays and try to make that a little bit better for us as well. That’s our biggest piece we’re leaning on this year is really watching stuff like that.”

Are you in the simulator every week?

“Yes, for this weekend we ran Richmond. Next week it will be Roval and so forth. We try to do it a week in advance for a couple hours for a day. That’s plenty whenever you’re sitting in that looking.”

How do you see your road to advancing through the Playoffs?

“There’s a lot of scenarios, but I think if they have just a pitch perfect next couple races, they’re solid and they run one, two, three every single week then you’re going to want to try to win. There’s a lot of stuff that can happen. You see some of the big contenders at Indy had some issues so there’s some stuff that can happen. There’s still some races that stuff can go down so you just have to determine that midway through and see how those cars are running.”

Do you feel this is the best shot you’ve had in your career in the Playoffs?

“100 percent. When Xfinity went to the low downforce package, that was tough for me. I felt that I was really good with the high downforce, it’s obviously an easier car to drive. It’s a lot more stable when you get in traffic and when you get in those tough aero positions. Driving it now for two years, I’m starting to pick up on it and starting to figure out how you need to be on the edge in these cars. Also running for a Playoff championship a couple times now, I’ve learned how these drivers race each other when it comes down to the Playoffs. I know who to race hard, I know who to give extra room to I think so that’s going to help as well going into this one.”

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.

JR MOTORSPORTS TEAM PREVIEW:
TRACK: Richmond Raceway
RACE: GoBowling 250 (250 laps / 187.5 miles)
DATE: Friday, Sept. 20, 2019

Michael Annett
No. 1 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet
• By virtue of his season-opening victory at Daytona, Michael Annett will begin the Round of 12 in the NXS Playoffs at Richmond Raceway as the seventh seed, 46 points behind the lead.
• Annett’s best NXS finish at Richmond came in the fall of 2012, when he logged a fifth-place result.
• In 14 starts on the .750-mile oval, Annett has logged one top-five and three top-10 finishes, leading four laps.
• On tracks measuring less than a mile so far this season, Annett has four top-10 finishes and an average result of 9.8 in five starts.

Justin Allgaier
No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet
• This weekend Justin Allgaier will make his 300th career NASCAR Xfinity Series start. Allgaier made his debut in the series in 2008 and has 10 wins, 80 top fives and 170 top 10s to his credit.
• The Illinois native enters the playoffs at Richmond as the sixth seed, 43 points behind the leader.
• In 17 NXS starts at Richmond, Allgaier has four top-five and seven top-10 finishes, with a best effort of second in 2017.
• During the series’ most recent race at the Virginia short track earlier this year, Allgaier drove to a third-place finish after leading 86 laps.

Zane Smith
No. 8 PatientPop Chevrolet
• Zane Smith returns behind the wheel of the No. 8 for his second NXS start at Richmond on Friday night.
• Smith finished sixth in his first start at the short track earlier this season.
• Overall, Smith has earned one top five and four top 10s in seven starts in 2019.
• PatientPop, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based company providing a complete practice growth platform that delivers measurable improvements for medical providers, is on board the No. 8 as primary partner at Richmond.
• In Smith’s four short track starts this season for JRM, he has earned a best finish of fifth at Iowa in June.

Noah Gragson
No. 9 Superior Essex Chevrolet
• Noah Gragson enters the opening round of the 2019 NXS Playoffs as the eighth seed, just 50 points shy of the series lead.
• Gragson will make his third NXS start at Richmond on Friday. In two previous NXS starts at the Virginia track, Gragson has earned a best finish of second (April 2018).
• In six career NXS starts on short tracks, Gragson has recorded two top fives and four top 10s.
• Superior Essex, a global leader in the design, manufacturing and supply of wire and cable products, serves as the primary partner for the No. 9 Chevrolet this weekend.

Driver Quotes
“The playoffs are finally here, and we can’t wait to turn up the wick and go get them this weekend at Richmond. After we won at Daytona, we knew we were in, and we have been working all season long to get to this weekend. The key for us and the No. 1 Pilot Flying J team is to be fast, be solid and advance to the Round of 8. That starts Friday night. We’ve had fast cars and a lot of good strategy, so we’re going to step it up and focus on advancing. That’s all that matters now.” – Michael Annett

“This No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture team is ready to get the playoffs underway this weekend at Richmond. I feel like we’re peaking at the right time and Jason Burdett (crew chief) and the guys have been working hard preparing for these upcoming races. Our goal is to have strong consistent runs and be there at the end in Homestead fighting for the championship.” – Justin Allgaier

“I am fired up to get back behind the wheel of the PatientPop Chevy this week in Richmond. We had a good run here back in the spring and I feel like Taylor (Moyer, crew chief) and I can build off of those notes to have a really solid night on Friday. I can’t wait to get going.” – Zane Smith

“I’m ready to get the playoffs started this weekend in Richmond. I’ve always really enjoyed racing there and we came close to getting the win there last year and had good speed with our Superior Essex Chevrolet earlier this year. Hopefully we can unload with that same speed on Friday and keep this positive momentum going. We all know what’s on the line now so we just need to go out and execute and do our jobs.” – Noah Gragson

JRM Team Updates

• JRM at Richmond: In 69 NXS starts at Richmond Raceway, JR Motorsports has scored three wins, 21 top-five and 39 top-10 finishes. JRM’s three victories at Richmond came in three consecutive years with Kevin Harvick in April 2014, Chase Elliott in September 2015 and team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. in April 2016.
• NXS Playoff Media Day: JRM teammates Michael Annett, Justin Allgaier and Noah Gragson will be participating in media day for the 2019 NXS Playoffs on Thursday, Sept. 19. The day’s events include an autograph session at Brown’s Island, a parade through downtown Richmond and concludes with media breakout sessions in the media center at Richmond Raceway.
• NXS Autograph Session: JRM teammates Michael Annett, Justin Allgaier, Zane Smith and Noah Gragson will be participating in the NXS autograph session in the Old Dominion Building at Richmond Raceway on Friday, Sept. 20 from 2 – 2:45 p.m. EST.
• Allgaier Q&A: Justin Allgaier will be participating in a fan Q&A at the Markel Entertainment Plaza in the FanGrounds on Friday from 3 – 3:15 p.m. EST.

Haley Set to Make NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs Debut
Justin Haley Notes:

Second Start at Richmond Raceway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Best Start at Richmond Raceway: 14th (2019)
Best Finish at Richmond Raceway: 10th (2019)

Kaulig Racing Notes:

Best Start at Richmond Raceway: 5th (2016)
Best Finish at Richmond Raceway: 7th (2018)

Quotes:
“We are headed to Richmond Raceway this weekend. It’s a special one, because we are starting the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs, which means we have this awesome red banner up here, red splitter, and red spoiler. So, if you see us on TV, check out all the red cars, because that’s our competition this week! Richmond is a short track. We haven’t been to a short track in a minute, so I am excited to go back there under the lights, race, and get multiple grooves of racing going while beating and banging. Good, old short track racing in Virginia, and we are excited to kick off the Xfinity Series Playoffs this weekend in Richmond.”

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 .

John Hunter Nemechek, No. 23 Safeway Chevrolet Camaro