Category: XFINITY Series PR

‘USAF Staff Sergeant Owen Wright to be honored as part of NASCAR Salutes on Miller’s car’

Mooresville, NC (July 2, 2019) Pit Viper Sunglasses will return as the primary sponsor for Vinnie Miller and the No. 78 BJ McLeod Motorsports NASCAR Xfinity Series car for the running of the Circle K Firecracker 250 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway.

The Utah based company was the primary sponsor on the No. 78 at Talladega Superspeedway and will return for the Friday, July 5th race on the 2.5-mile Superspeedway.

As part of NASCAR Salutes, U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Owen Wright, Avionics Journeyman at Barksdale AFB in LA will be on Miller’s NASCAR Xfinity Series car for the Firecracker 250. USAF Staff Sergeant Wright is a childhood friend of Miller’s from Ortonville, MI. and is tasked with maintaining the mission capability of Barksdale’s fleet of B-52 Nuclear Bombers.

“I’m so excited to go back to Daytona with Pit Viper Sunglasses on the No. 78 BJ McLeod Motorsports car this weekend,” Vinnie Miller said. “Chuck (Mumford) and I are so pumped to see all these people starting to wear their really cool shades. I love that my friend Owen Wright will be on the car as part of the NASCAR Salutes program. We plan on being full turbo this weekend in Daytona and hope to have a good showing for Pit Viper, Owen Wright and BJ McLeod Motorsports.”

Miller has three previous starts on the high banked Daytona International Speedway, posting a best finish of 19th in the July 2018 event.

“I like going to Daytona in the summer,” Miller continued. “It’s like a mini vacation mid season. The opportunity to race on the historic superspeedway is something I’ve dreamed about since being a little boy. I know the guys on the No. 78 team have been working hard to get the car ready for this weekend and I really hope to improve my top-20 finish from last year.”

The Circle K Firecracker 250 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway is scheduled to begin Friday, July 5 at 7:30pm.

For more information on Vinnie Miller and BJ McLeod Motorsports visit www.vinniemillerracing.com/ www.bjmcleodmotorsports.com

AJ Allmendinger Notes:
First-Career Start at Daytona International Speedway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)

Kaulig Racing Notes:
Best Start at Daytona International Speedway: 4th (Summer 2017 & Spring 2019)
Best Finish at Daytona International Speedway: 7th (Spring 2018)

Quote:
“What’s up, everyone. AJ Allmendinger. I’m back. Feels like forever. (I’ll) be back with Kaulig Racing for the first time, doing a superspeedway race in the Xfinity Series. Fast race cars. Justin Haley and Ross Chastain have already shown that this year on superspeedways. So, little nervous to be back and be able to experience this team firsthand. I’m going to have the 33rd Fighter Wing on the windshield – pumped about that. So be ready. Daytona International Speedway. (I’m) coming to bring a victory back home to this race team and if not, like my dad taught me, ‘either win or be the show.’ So, we’re going to win or crash some stuff. I’m ready though. Let’s do this!”

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.

Online Country-Focused Radio and Music Community to Serve as Primary Partner on Tyler Reddick’s No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro

WELCOME, N.C. (July 2, 2019) – Richard Childress Racing announced today that Gimme Country, Gimme Radio’s newest branch of its online music service, has joined its 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series program as a primary partner for Tyler Reddick’s No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro. The first immersive country music-focused radio service will first appear on Reddick’s Chevrolet Camaro for the upcoming July race at Daytona International Speedway. 

“We built Gimme Country to give a home to the millions of country fans that have been largely ignored by the other digital music services,” says Tyler Lenane, Gimme Radio CEO. “Seeing how Tyler Reddick and RCR have built a loyal following and how much they value their fans – it’s exactly what we want to do with Gimme Country, so this partnership was an absolute no-brainer. We are so excited to be working with such a great team.”

Similar to Gimme Radio’s first radio service, Gimme Metal, Gimme Country provides fans with an online radio and music community where they can listen to true country music 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Gimme Country promises to focus on more than just the handful of stars played on traditional radio, and instead give fans everything from legacy artists to outlaws, up-and-comers and women artists that they won’t hear anywhere else.

Gimme Country also offers fans the unique opportunity to interact with their celebrity DJs, including country music superstar Lee Ann Womack, Brandy Clark, Dillon Carmichael, Joshua Hedley, Jesse Dayton and more. Fans who download the Gimme Country app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store can chat directly with the DJs and other fans to learn more about the stories behind the music and life on the road.

Reddick will get the chance to DJ his own show, “RCR 50: Wheels of Country.” The show, airing on Friday, July 5, at 1 p.m. ET, will feature songs and artists that RCR has ties to or have been fans of throughout its 50 years of existence. Fans can download the Gimme Country app to listen to the show, as well as chat with Reddick when he logs in to the app’s chat room at 1:30 p.m. ET on July 5.

“Gimme Country is changing the way fans can listen and interact with the music they love through their app,” said Tyler Reddick. “It’s cool to see that country music fans can download the app and find some new music they’ll love or great songs they forgot about, but also learn more about the artists or songs while doing so. It’s similar to what we’re trying to do with fans in NASCAR and always trying to find new ways to engage with them. With NASCAR and country music fans having such a big overlap, this partnership seems like a perfect way to continue to reach new fans and engage with the loyal ones we already have. I’m excited to have a chance to DJ a show for them this week. That’s something entirely new for me.”

Reddick’s 2019 season has been off to a solid start, as the defending Xfinity Series champion picked up right where he left off and is currently leading the point standings with three wins, two pole awards, 11 top-five and 13 top-10 finishes.
To learn more about Gimme Country, please visit gimmecountry.com.

For additional information on today’s announcement, and all that’s happening at RCR, please visit rcrracing.com.

About Gimme Country:
Gimme Country is a community-based music streaming company founded by digital music veterans from Apple Music, Google Play, Beats Music and Rhapsody. On Gimme Country, listeners tune in to hear world class DJs playing music they can’t hear anywhere else…for free. And Gimme Country allows country music fans from around the world and the DJs/artists to communicate directly with one another in a live feed, in real time, as the music is being played. Gimme Country is available at gimmecountry.com and as an iOS and Android App. Gimme Radio is a Techstars-backed company.

About Richard Childress Racing:
Richard Childress Racing ( rcrracing.com ) is a renowned, performance-driven racing, marketing and manufacturing organization. Incorporated in 1969, RCR celebrates 50 years of racing in 2019 and has earned more than 200 victories and 15 championships, including six in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series with the legendary Dale Earnhardt. RCR was the first organization to win championships in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series and is a three-time winner of the Daytona 500 (1998, 2007, 2018). Its 2019 Cup Series lineup includes two-time NASCAR champion, 2017 Coca-Cola 600 winner and 2018 Daytona 500 champion Austin Dillon (No. 3 Dow/American Ethanol/AAA/Symbicort/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet) along with Rookie of the Year contender Daniel Hemric (No. 8 Caterpillar/ Bass Pro Shops/Liberty National Life Insurance/Cessna/VF Workwear Chevrolet). Its Xfinity Series program includes defending Series Champion Tyler Reddick (No. 2 Gimme Country/Tame the Beast/Hurdl/Pinnacle Financial Partners/Anderson’s Maple Syrup/KCMG Chevrolet) as well as select races with Kaz Grala and Joe Graf, Jr. (No. 21 Camaro).

Justin Haley Notes:
Third Career Start at Daytona International Speedway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Best Career Start at Daytona International Speedway: 4th (Spring 2019)
Best Career Finish at Daytona International Speedway: 17th (Spring 2019)

Kaulig Racing Notes:
Best Start at Daytona International Speedway: 4th (Summer 2017, Spring 2019)
Best Finish at Daytona International Speedway: 7th (Spring 2018)

Quotes:
“We just came off a strong run at Chicagoland Speedway where we had two Kaulig Racing cars in the top ten for the second time ever. This week, we’re going to one of Kaulig Racing’s favorite, and a personal favorite of mine, Daytona International Speedway. It’s going to be a special Fourth of July weekend for us. We’ve got a close, personal friend of Kaulig Racing, Sgt. First Class Jackson, riding on the windshield for this race. I’m looking forward to it – we’ve always been fast at the superspeedways, so I can’t wait to unload in the sunshine state and see what speed we’ve brought.”

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 .

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Saturday, June 29, 2019
Camping World 300 Post Race Results/Driver Quotes

FORD FINISHING RESULTS
1st – Cole Custer
2nd – Joey Logano
6th – Austin Cindric
16th – Chase Briscoe

COLE CUSTER, No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang — Finished 1st — VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW

“At these low grip race tracks it is a little bit of everything and that is a testament to our whole team and everyone at the shop that set up the car. When you go to these low grip race tracks and can be good through a whole run it isn’t easy to do. I want to thank everyone at Haas Automation and Stewart-Haas Racing because we are going to be taking it to ‘em in the summertime.”

WHAT DOES THIS WIN SAY ABOUT YOU FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR? “We can run good anywhere. Short tracks are something we want to get better at but we are knocking on the door there. I think we are the ones to look out for right now. I think we have done it quietly so far, but we are going to do it.”

GENE HAAS SAID YOU NEEDED TO WIN CONSISTENTLY HERE AT THE XFINITY LEVEL. WHAT DOES THIS SAY ABOUT WHERE YOU THINK YOU HAVE MATURED AND WHERE YOU ARE RELATIVE TO YOUR CAREER RIGHT NOW? “I think it is just a matter of getting everything a little better. There are still things I can get better at. It is just a matter of trying to perfect things a little bit. I tried to get better at the high line today. I am just trying to get better every time I go out there.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 12 Snap On Ford Mustang — Finished 2nd

“We just weren’t quite good enough. Cole and that whole Stewart-Haas team just beat us. They were faster in every department. We just weren’t quite good enough overall. After practice I was able to look at Cole’s times and it was obvious that he was the fastest car. You just had to hope that we made some good adjustments to keep up. We did. We got closer but Cole did a great job running up near the wall like he did. That was impressive. He is a good up and coming talent and he proved that to me today at least. When you are following him you can see that stuff. We were just too far off in practice when we unloaded and we had to swing at this thing with big changes. It is hard with only a couple of 50-minute practices to get where you need to when other teams are fine tuning. We need to get a little closer to fire off in practice and maybe we could have tuned the car to get all the potential out of it. Overall, I am proud of this race team. We had good pit stops and all that which is good for tomorrow. We will try to win one tomorrow. It is really cool to get a Ford in victory lane today, we hope to do the same thing tomorrow.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang — Finished 6th

“I came on the radio at one point after we had the window come out under green and got a lucky caution, I said, ‘Guys, adversity is the spice of life and it is about to get spicy.’ We were up to the top-10 again about three laps after the restart. We got the car right, made the right adjustments. A couple guys were pretty clever with strategy there at the end. We probably should have been fourth or fifth on the day but I am happy with it. It is probably one of the best executed races we have had in the last month.”

Camping World 300 Post Race Winning Team Press Conference

COLE CUSTER, No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang — DID YOU THINK COMING INTO THE SEASON THAT HALFWAY THROUGH THE SEASON YOU WOULD HAVE THIS MANY WINS? “I knew we were going to be good, it was just a matter of how long it was going to take us to get there. We both have won a lot of races before and it was just a matter of how long it was going to take for us to learn each other and the cars and I think it started at Fontana. It really started off good. I think we will just get better and better throughout the year.”

MIKE SHIPLETT, crew chief, No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang — TALK ABOUT THIS WIN HERE TODAY FROM YOUR POSITION: “The philosophy is to just make the next car better than the last car that we had. Every week we try to make the car a little better than we had the week before. Everybody believes in that and works and strives to try to make the car better. We will have the best car that we have ever had when we get to Homestead.”

COLE CUSTER CONTINUED — DID YOU HAVE ANY ADJUSTMENTS YOU WANTED MADE ALONG THE WAY TODAY? “Our car was pretty good all day. The problem is it is never going to be absolutely perfect here. The track is so slick and everything. You have to have it the way you want and manageable. It changed a lot through a run and I really worked the brake bias a lot today trying to help the handling a little bit and that helped us a lot. We had a great car. I don’t think anybody had anything for us. We made little to no adjustments all day.”

MIKE SHIPLETT CONTINUED — “We just tweaked on it every stop to make it just a little bit better knowing what Cole was going to face and what the track was going to do. This race has been at the same time of day for the last two or three years so the track goes through a certain transition and we kind of knew that and we just kept up with the race track all day long.”

COLE CUSTER CONTINUED — “The last two years we competed with Mike’s car here at Chicago the last two years with Larson driving it. They always got me, so it was nice to drive his car this year.”

HOW MUCH CONFIDENCE DOES THIS GIVE YOU FOR HOMESTEAD? “I think the low grip tracks have always been good for our team. I think now we are the most well rounded team that we have ever been. When we go to short tracks and mile-and-a-halfs and superspeedways and everything we go to. It is just a matter of getting everything a little better and I think we are. It is just about doing your homework every weekend I guess.”

MIKE SHIPLETT CONTINUED — CAN YOU REALLY APPLY THIS TO HOMESTEAD WITH THE WEATHER AND THINGS THAT WILL BE DIFFERENT WHEN WE GET THERE IN NOVEMBER? “Really you have Homestead and Darlington, those are the two tracks that you run up against the wall. I wouldn’t say that the track prepares you for Darlington but what it does is it prepares you for running up against the wall. You get two opportunities, here and Darlington to do that before Homestead.”

COLE CUSTER CONTINUED –JOEY LOGANO HAD HIGH PRAISE FOR YOU AFTER THE RACE: “That is huge. Joey is a series champion and it was fun racing with him today. I think we had the better car and that was a huge part of it. I think it is fun racing against those Cup guys. They set the bar high. It is good now how they have it. I think we put on better racing when we are by ourselves but you still get that benchmark for when the Cup guys come down to know where you are really at.”

WHAT WAS YOUR MINDSET WHEN THOSE GUYS STAYED OUT AND THEN GOT THAT CAUTION AND HOW THAT UNFOLDED? “We were so fast that I wasn’t really that worried about it. It was just a matter of I knew we were going to probably get by them because we were faster compared to them all day. It was a matter of not wanting the 12 to get the lead before me because then I would have been in his dirty air. I wanted to get the lead as fast as I could so that I could have clean air.”

MIKE SHIPLETT CONTINUED — WILL THIS CAR BE YOUR CAR AT HOMESTEAD? “It is way to early to decide what car is going to Homestead. The next car we build we try to make better. This car, usually we have about a five-week rotation. This car will probably go somewhere around Darlington. That will be the next time you see this car. Cars are cars, we just make the next one better than the last one.”

COLE CUSTER CONTINUED — HOW DID YOU HANDLE THE HEAT TODAY? “I don’t know if I did a better job cooling myself down or what but it wasn’t really that bad for me. It was hot out there but last year I was dying. This year it wasn’t too bad except for when I stopped and all the smoke came in, that wasn’t the best. It could have been worse I think. I don’t know what everybody else thought.”

TALK US THROUGH THAT FINAL RESTART AND WHAT YOU WERE ABLE TO DO AND WHAT YOU WERE TRYING TO DO: “I think the final one was with the 9 and 1 in front of us. I just wanted to get by those guys as fast as I could. I think we definitely had a better car than them, it was just a matter of whether me or the 12 got the lead first and I wanted the lead because I wanted the clean air.”

Tyler Reddick and the No. 2 KCMG Team Battle Through Balance Issues to 10th-Place Finish

Finish: 10th
Start: 9th
Points: 1st

“We could never quite get the balance of our No. 2 KCMG Chevrolet Camaro to where we wanted to to be at Chicagoland Speedway this weekend until the very end of the race. We had the speed to contend, we just couldn’t get the handling to be where I needed it to be to run the lines I wanted to. Our car started to handle the best it did all race towards the end of the day. It just needed to be a little bit tighter to run the top lane. Unfortunately, with about 15 laps to go it suddenly felt like something was wrong with our Camaro. It didn’t feel like a loose wheel but more like something was coming apart. I had to slow down the pace we were running to keep it out on the track and not end up wrecking. We luckily had enough of a cushion to stay in the top 10 though the checkered flag. We’ll go back and study what went wrong and regroup at Daytona. A big thanks to all the KCMG guests that we had at the track today.”-Tyler Reddick

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Chicagoland Speedway
Race 15 of 33 – 300 miles, 200 laps
June 29, 2019

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Cole Custer*
2nd, Joey Logano*
3rd, CHRISTOPHER BELL
4th, Michael Annett*
5th, BRANDON JONES
11th, RILEY HERBST
17th, JEFFREY EARNHARDT
19th, SHANE LEE
25th, CHAD FINCHUM
29th, TOMMY JOE MARTINS
34th, JOEY GASE
35th, TIMMY HILL
*non-Toyota driver

· Christopher Bell was the highest-finishing Supra driver, as he finished third for his ninth top-five finish of the season.

· Brandon Jones scored his second top-five finish of the weekend after finishing fifth. Jones finished runner-up in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series event on Friday.

TOYOTA QUOTES

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

Finishing Position: 3rd

What did you need more of to get the win today?

“I don’t really know. Our Supra was really good and really balanced. It was a little it tight early and loose late. Drove really good and really the motto of our weekend. I felt really good yesterday in practice. We were just lacking a little bit on the 00 (Cole Custer). They’ve been the class of the field at Homestead the last couple years and they were really good here at Chicago too. We know we have to go back and work on it a little bit. Really proud of all of our guys on this Rheem Supra. They’ve been working hard. We’re close. We have a good group of guys here in the Xfinity Series and we’re all pretty tough.”

Did you learn anything today to make you more confident to run the higher groove at other tracks?

“I survived 200 (laps) of them on the top. That was a big thing, just building confidence up to run up there without hitting the wall.”

Did the track change much during the race?

“It was pretty consistent. Once it rubbers up, it stays the same.”

Were you able to make a lot of adjustments to the car during the race?

“We didn’t really try a bunch just because my car was really good and we were really close on balance. We knew a couple things we could do to fire off speed and I feel like our long run kind of matched the 00 (Cole Custer), he just was a lot faster than us to take off. We’re close, we just need a little bit more.”

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

Finishing Position: 5th

You guys had an up-and-down day. How did you get back into the top-five?

“It’s tough. It’s on me. You can’t speed on pit road if you are going to try to win one of these races. There was two really good guys all day in the race, but I kind of thought we were third-place all race long. All-in-all, this is where we need to be. We had great stages. Great points day – it’s what we need to do to get back into this thing.”

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

Finishing Position: 11th

How was the race today?

“Good learning day for sure. Wish we could have got a top-10 or even a top-five if the cautions would have fallen our way. We just took what was given to us and got the wave around. Then we were able to get back to 11th by the end.”

Toyota Racing – Jeffrey Earnhardt
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Chicagoland Speedway – June 28, 2019

XCI Racing driver Jeffrey Earnhardt was made available to the media in Chicago:

Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 81 Comcast NBC Universal Salute to Service Toyota Supra, XCI Racing

What is your thoughts on Chicagoland?

“It’s a big fast oval. One of the few race tracks that we go to that you can run all over. There is multiple racing grooves, different ways that you can attack the race track. It’s really cool to be able to come to a track like this. It’s cool as a driver when you can move around and try to find more speed in the car.”

How is your team coming around?

“It’s good. Getting to work with the guys on the team is great. We are getting a lot of help from Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota; it is a huge plus. I have spent a lot of time in the simulator. You get off weekends, and it’s easy to get a little rust on you. It’s good to be able to get on the simulator and stay fresh. We got on it earlier this week to help prepare for this weekend. I feel like we made some really good gains on the simulator that hopefully we can translate to the race this weekend.”

How has this season been a lift to your career?

“It has been huge. In my opinion, it’s every driver’s dream to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing. With Xtreme Concepts Racing having Joe Gibbs Racing support is incredible. You go out every weekend knowing you are racing for the win, where previously a good day for me was 25th and I was trying to take care of the car. Now, if I don’t leave it all on the line, they get mad at me. It has been a change, but it has been a good chance. It’s exciting to have the opportunity to drive up there and showcase my talents because people were starting to doubt you and wonder if you can do it. I’m very fortunate and appreciative of the opportunity that I have given. I really want to capitalize on it and get that win this year. We’ve been close and had some good runs, but I want to put it all together and put the car in Victory Lane. That’s what we are working towards, and with the races we have left, I think we will find victory lane in one of them or a few of them.”

Your mile-and-a-half program has been really strong this year. Can you lean on any of those setups here in Chicago?

“I feel like Chicago is different. It’s such a multi-groove racetrack. You can really make speed in different ways here. I would compare this to a Michigan, where you have the seams you have to worry about. You can run right up by the wall and be really, really fast. The past two races Kyle Larson has put it on running the fence, that is a good way to make speed here. There’s not a whole lot of tracks that you can do that. (Justin) Allgaier was fast and he won in 2017 here by running the bottom. There’s multiple different ways that you can attack this weekend to run well. I don’t know if any of the mile-and-a-halves that we have run you can quite use to compare. It’s really good to know that you have run well at these tracks and capitalize on them.”

What is your favorite type of track?

“I like small tracks. I like the concrete tracks, so Dover and Bristol. Luckily, I get to run the fall Bristol race so I’m excited about that. I’ll be in the No. 81 Xtreme Concepts car there, so I’m really looking forward to that race. But the mile-and-a-halves are fun. I used to not be a really big fan of them, but when you are in good equipment, every race becomes fun. It makes a world of a difference to have a good handling car. If you have a bad handling car, it’s going to be a bad day no matter what. Having good equipment, I’m finding myself loving every track. I used to hate Atlanta, but I went this year and I loved it. It makes a big difference when you have a good car.”

You are running the No. 81 at Daytona. How excited are you to run in a good car there?

“I’m looking to go back and finish what we started.  We started the race very strong, and unfortunately, did not get the finish that we deserved. We had a really fast car for qualifying; we qualified second. We ran out front the first segment of the race. I think if you look at what we were able to do at Talladega. We didn’t qualify as good, but we had a lot of strengths in other areas. We were able to run up front, fall to the back and race our way back to the front. As a driver, I gained a lot of experience and bettered myself as a plate racer. I feel like that is going to be that much better getting back to Daytona. I am looking forward to going there.”

Can you talk about your sponsor Xtreme Concepts? They are really driving this team.

“Our partnership started a little over a year ago at Charlotte in the Cup race. They came on as an associate sponsor. We didn’t get to spend a lot of time together that weekend, but he took a really big liking to me. The things I have got to do and the things they believe in are similar to me. We started talking and they said they wanted to put me in a car where you can go and win races. We talked about it and obviously, Joe Gibbs is a program that you can win at. We went from running nine races with Gibbs to running nine races with them plus six races with Xtreme Concepts Racing. It all just snowballed to where it became a whole program where they started their own race team and working to be a competitive factor in the sport with their own team. It is really cool how it all came together. It has been an incredible partnership thus far. The believe that Landon Ash, the owner of Xtreme Concepts, has in me has been incredible, and has given me the opportunity to do incredible things with supporting our military and seeing what goes on with the service dog training. It has been really incredible to a part of that.”

What is the next step for the future?

“We want to be full-time in one of the top three series next year, preferably Xfinity or Cup, but we are going to see how the rest of this year goes. I think we are going to be able to achieve it, but it is a process. Especially coming together how quick it did, we are trying to push. We are running before we walk, so it is going to be a process. We are working on getting all that figured out. Knowing what we are capable of for next year, you have goals and then you have to see what is realistic. That is what we are working towards right now.”

Toyota Racing – Christopher Bell
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Chicagoland Speedway – June 28, 2019

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to the media in Chicago:

Christopher Bell, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Did you enjoy your off-weekend?

“So I had a really fun weekend scheduled and unfortunately the Midwest weather put an end to it. After Iowa, I was planning on – well, I did fly straight to Ohio and I was going to do the Ohio Speedweek Monday through Saturday. I was supposed to get six races in. We flew up, rained out Monday, rained out Tuesday so I flew home and didn’t get to race. Very rare weekend off for me.”

Have you re-signed with Joe Gibbs Racing?

“I’m good for another year. I don’t know what I’m going to be racing, but I will be somewhere.”

So you will be somewhere with Joe Gibbs Racing?

“Yes.”

So you extended for one year?

“Yes.”

You don’t know whether that will be Xfinity or Cup?

“No, not right now. It’s a little bit too early.”

Is Joe Gibbs Racing committed to paying you next year?

“I guess that’s what that means.”

Is it good to know?

“It’s really good that I have a job. Driving for Joe Gibbs Racing is where I want to be at. I’m thankful that I get to go for another year.”

Are you still in a rush or are you not in a rush?

“My words got spun around a little bit. I didn’t mean to ever say that I don’t enjoy racing in the Xfinity Series, I love the Xfinity Series and I love the cars. I’ve said it multiple times, the rules package that we have right now is so much fun to drive. I love where I’m at and next year, I have no idea where I’m going to be at, but if I’m in Xfinity again, I have a lot of fun racing there and I’m okay with that.”

Does it ever get awkward with other drivers when rumors are going around the garage about you both, specifically Erik Jones?

“Honestly, I don’t get very much time around Erik (Jones) or any of our Cup guys really. I guess Kyle (Busch) would be the guy that I’m around the most just because I drove for him and he runs the most Xfinity races. As far as the JGR Cup guys, I really don’t have very much interaction with them. There’s really not anything awkward because you look at the results and all four of their drivers are doing exactly what they need to do. I don’t feel like any of their drivers feel like they’re on the hot seat at all. Obviously, me looking in, there’s not really a hole for me yet. I don’t know where I’m going to be.”

Is it frustrating to keep being asked about next year?

“You just keep giving the same answer over and over and over. It’s not really frustrating, it’s cool that I keep getting talked about because obviously Cup is the highest level in the sport and for people to talk about me going there is pretty special.”

What is the key to your success the last couple months?

“Just have really good race cars, that’s the bottom line. This whole, really racing in general, I’ve learned from a very young age, you’re only as good as the race cars you sit in. I’m lucky to have really fast race cars and drive for Joe Gibbs Racing.”

What is a crazy move on the race track to you as a driver?

“A perfect example of that is him (Tyler Reddick) committing to running the wall at Homestead last year. That very easily could have resulted in a cut tire, getting trapped a lap down in the first stage of the race. But it didn’t and he won the race and won the championship. It’s just stuff like that. We know on Saturday, he’s going to commit to running around the wall here at Chicagoland from lap 30 in the race to lap 200 in the race. It might work out for him, he might hit the wall and get a flat tire. It’s just stuff like that and just his risk versus reward factor, he’s always going to go for it and that’s just his driving style.”

How much does the composite body help?

“It helps a lot. That goes for all of us. We’re all learning more as we go and we’re coming to find out that you can run pretty hard, you can make mistakes and you can run into each other and run into the walls a little bit and get away with it.”

Do you need to learn how to do some of that even more on the race track?

“Absolutely and (Tyler) Reddick at Homestead was very eye-opening for us because we all went into. Homestead last year thinking, ‘Okay, the top, we know the top at Homestead is very fast.’ It’s proven time and time again. But the risk factor is so high. Reddick, he did it last year. With the composite body, he was able to scrub the wall a couple times and he still won the championship. Now learning from that this year, whenever we go back to Homestead, we’re going to have to run against the wall and that’s just part of it.”

Will you have to train yourself to not race with composite bodies whenever you move to Cup?

“Same thing, risk versus reward. We’re learning to put our car in jeopardy here and find all this speed running right up against the fence and if you hit the wall you can get away with it in these Xfinity cars. Like you said, the Cup deal, you scrub the wall, you get a tire rub immediately. I don’t know if the composite bodies are coming to the Cup Series, you hear they are and I love the composite bodies. Maybe it is something we’ll have a head start on the Cup guys at some point.”

How aware are you of the other Xfinity Series points contenders?

“The way that the NASCAR championship deal works, really nothing matters until Homestead. There’s a championship four so four of us are going to be competing against each other all with zero points so winner take all format. Right now, it looks like the three of us have a little head start as far as the championship points and whenever the Playoffs start, we’ll have that little it of a lead because of the championship points. Ultimately, I don’t feel like we’re racing against each other right now until we get to Homestead racing against each other. You obviously always want to excel and beat the other competitors so I’m happy that I have four and they have three and I want five this week.”

Do you enjoy the new points system or would you prefer the old system?

“I really enjoy, I enjoy being able to race hard and crash a couple times going for wins because you’re able to win races at some point. On the same hand, a one-race deal for a winner take all format is kind of tough. It’s very difficult because if you get one loose tire on that last pit stop, if you have – we saw Erik Jones get in the wrong restart lane in the Xfinity race a couple years ago – just it can all boil down to that last run of the race. It’s just part of it so there’s nothing we can do about it. It creates a lot of drama and excitement. I’ve never been the best points racer, but it is pretty stressful knowing that you can be one loose wheel away or one uncontrolled tire away from losing a championship. The early part of the season, it’s happened to me a bunch this year, I’ve DNF’d and had bad finishes, but I’ve won three times so who cares, we can kind of scratch it off. Whenever the Playoffs start, that mentality goes away and you have to start focusing more on the points unless you’re able to win and it advances you automatically.”

Toyota Racing – Brandon Jones
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Chicagoland Speedway – June 28, 2019

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Brandon Jones was made available to the media in Chicago:

Brandon Jones, No. 19 Menards/Bali Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Are you excited about Chicagoland this weekend?

“Chicago is always a blast. It is one of the best mile-and-a-halves that we go to. There isn’t that many wrecks. It definitely produces top, bottom and middle groove racing. For a driver, that’s what we love. We love being able to move around. We don’t have any big Cup drivers in this race. Those guys do a great job of knowing when the top is not good and going to the bottom. And when the bottom isn’t good, they know when to go back to the top. Those are big things that those guys know what to do with their experience.”

How do you conserve your equipment for the longer runs?
“I think I am a lot more aware of that, even from last year. Especially when you run the Truck Series, it definitely helps. You drive those trucks a little bit different than the Xfinity Series, but I am going to get a taste of that racing this evening and see how many laps it is taking to move to the top, how to set up passes, things like that. It will be interesting for sure. You definitely have different pit strategy in the Truck Series. You pretty much just stop at each stage, and that is all you have. In the Xfinity Series, you can play some games. You have some longer stages, so we will keep that all-in consideration.”

Is there anything that those dominate cars this year have been able to do that you can see?

“There is something to do with their feet. The way they are gassing the car or breaking the car. With low downforce, you really want to carry as much corner speed as you can. The car is never connected to the track and you have to get over that feeling. Once you do, you see the dirt guys really in control of their car. They don’t really seem to be affected by that as much versus someone that came through the asphalt ranks. I think the dirt stuff is helping some of these guys on these worn-out tracks.”

Do you have more truck races this year?

“We have Kentucky and Phoenix.”

How did you choose your races?

“It was pretty much where Kyle (Busch, team owner, Kyle Busch Motorsports) had openings. I tried to stay at tracks that had Xfinity races. I think Kansas was our one-off.”

How do you approach the summer with being in a good spot in the points?
“I still want to win. I want to lock myself in. We have been trying to get some stage points. I learned that last year that is a big deal. You really want the stage points, the playoff points. So we have been going after that as much as we can. Our long-run speed has been there all year.”