Brandon Jones (second), Trevor Bayne (fourth), John Hunter Nemechek (fifth) and Ty Gibbs (sixth) earned strong finishes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday evening. Jones scored a season-best finish, while Nemechek led the first laps and delivered the second top-five result for Sam Hunt Racing in their 49th NASCAR start.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Phoenix Raceway
Race 4 of 33 – 200 miles, 200 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Noah Gragson*
2nd, BRANDON JONES
3rd, Josh Berry*
4th, TREVOR BAYNE
5th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
6th, TY GIBBS
34th, JEFFREY EARNHARDT
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
BRANDON JONES, No. 19 Menards/Jeld-Wen Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
What were you missing at the end?
“First off, I think this is exactly what this 19 team needed to kind of turn this season around. We’ve had speed at all of these race tracks so far and just haven’t got the finishes that we need. It’s really early in the season still. I thought when we came out of the pits there and were out ahead of him, it was going to be pretty good because aero situations were pretty tough today and it seemed like whoever was leading the race was kind of difficult to pass. Noah (Gragson) was leading before we all pitted. We were a little bit faster, so I think they just made some adjustments and got it better, but still all-in-all pretty happy to come home second – we got some really good stages too. Can’t thank Jeld-Wen and Menards enough for being on this Supra. This is the right momentum we need to turn this season around.”
TREVOR BAYNE, No. 18 Devotion Nutrition Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
You battled back to the front after that penalty to earn another top-five finish. How was your race?
“I’ve never seen a Xfinity go green flag for the last segment. We had a bad stop at the beginning and it kind of got us behind. I tried to make up for it in the wrong spot and sped on pit road, so we had to go the rear. We went from dead last to fourth. That thing was hooked up, catching the leaders, running the fastest lap times every single lap and never had a chance to recover. The only reason I look disappointed is because I’ve never had a race car that good. This Devotion Nutrition Supra was unbelievable on the long run and I feel like I should have won with it. Those make you sick. California, I felt like Cole Custer had a better car. Here, we had the car to win, so you don’t want to give those away, but for what we had to overcome in 100 laps – to come from the rear and back up to fourth is pretty solid.”
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, No. 26 Stillhouse Toyota GR Supra, Sam Hunt Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
What did you guys learn today?
“We didn’t start off super great during practice and qualifying. We qualified decent, found a little bit of speed, but the long run speed wasn’t very good. We worked hard on it all day and made some big adjustments from practice to qualifying and qualifying to the race and made some more adjustments during the race. This team just never stopped working on this Stillhouse Toyota Supra. We got up there and led some laps – I think that’s the first for Sam Hunt Racing – ran inside I feel like the top five, top six all day, which is a huge accomplishment for them. I had fun behind the wheel driving this thing. Anytime that I can come race and be behind the wheel, I’m enjoying it. The more laps the better and to run in the top five for this team is great. This is a great group of guys. Now our focus has shifted back to the Truck deal next week.”
TY GIBBS, No. 54 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
Recovered from the early contact for a solid top-10. How was the race overall?
“It was good. I feel like our Sport Clips Supra was pretty fast today. It just didn’t have enough speed and where they put the resin made it harder – just a weird spot, so it made it just single file and hard to pass. We got spun out and then came from the back. We were down a set of tires and then it went green to the end, so we never had time to get all of the way back up. I feel like we had a third-place car, second place at-best. Just a frustrating day. Frustrating, but we have to keep moving on.”
TRD PR
