Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Daytona International Speedway
Race 16 of 33 – 250 miles, 100 laps
July 6, 2018
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Kyle Larson*
2nd, Elliott Sadler*
3rd, CHRISTOPHER BELL
4th, Ryan Blaney*
5th, Kaz Grala
7th, TIMMY HILL
12th, BRANDON JONES
14th, CHAD FINCHUM
22nd, RAY BLACK II
30th, BRANDON HIGHTOWER
37th, BLAKE JONES
39th, RYAN PREECE
40th, JOSH BILICKI
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA DRIVER POINT STANDINGS**
1st, Elliott Sadler* 582 points
2nd, Daniel Hemric* 570 points
3rd, Cole Custer* 556 points
4th, CHRISTOPHER BELL 547 points
5th, Justin Allgaier* 528 points
7th, BRANDON JONES 488 points
*non-Toyota driver
**unofficial point standings
· Christopher Bell finished third in Friday night’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway and was the highest-finishing Camry driver.
· Camry driver Timmy Hill (seventh) also finished in the top-10, while Brandon Jones placed 12th in the contest.
· Ryan Preece started from the pole after rain canceled qualifying earlier in the day.
TOYOTA QUOTES
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 GameStop PDP Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
What happened early in the race when you spun on pit road?
“I was pretty much just along for the ride there. Practice didn’t really go as smooth as we wanted it to – I didn’t feel like we had the strongest race car. Our PDP GameStop Camry was good when it mattered at the end there. We got bottled up getting onto pit road there that first stop and I wound up being just to the outside of the 16 (Ryan Reed) car and I knew where my pit box was, but I couldn’t find my sign in time and whenever I did I tried to yank it down and spun out. Thankfully I didn’t hit the wall and we were able to get it done and come back from there.”
Were you able to learn more about the draft here at Daytona in tonight’s race?
“I wish I could say I did, but not really. We got a third-place finish. I’m really bummed for (Justin) Haley, it was really cool that I was able to give him a shove to take the lead and just bummed for him, that stinks. Really proud of my team and hopefully we can build on this and create some momentum.”
How would you describe your race tonight?
“I don’t know, I was just along for the ride there. We got bottled up getting onto pit road on that first stop and I ended up on the outside of the 16 (Ryan Reed) car and my pit box was fairly early and I just couldn’t find my sign until it was too late. Then whenever I found my sign, I tried to yank it down there and spun out. Our PDP GameStop Camry was pretty good, we were there at the end, which is something I haven’t been able to say at speedway races so I’m pretty proud of that.”
BRANDON JONES, No. 19 Comcast/NBC Universal Salute To Service Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 12th
How was your run tonight?
“We had nine lives tonight this evening. For some reason, plate races have been like that for us lately. We’ve been near the action and miss it. I just needed a little more help to help advance our position in that final restart. But we made some great moves tonight. Had some really good runs and avoided the massive ones somehow. Pretty great night for us considering. It was cool for Comcast to come onboard with the Salute to Service. I really enjoyed representing them tonight. We’re not too bad. We have a pretty good race car here and it’s not destroyed. We can build on it and I am looking forward to the next one.”
RYAN PREECE, No. 18 Rheem Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 39th
What did you feel in the car, was it something with radiator?
“Yes. We felt the motor go down and it was right when we were starting to go up there and start working the bottom. Motor sounded funny that last lap. Changed pitch and I didn’t want to throw a grenade in front of the field and wreck everyone. Unfortunate. I felt like we were just starting to get the side draft and really work the bottom. But, we’ll never know. Daytona has never been really good for me. I’ll look forward to my next race in New Hampshire in two weeks and see what we can do there.”
What put you out?
“We must of got a piece of debris go through the radiator and we lost all of the water. It cooked the motor down. Unfortunate. I felt like we starting to make our way forward and start to work the draft. Just started to figure out what we needed to move forward and ended our night early. I hate it for these guys because of the owner points. They will drop some points in there today but hopefully we can make it up in New Hampshire.”
