● The My Bariatric Solutions 300 at Texas Motor Speedway is the sixth event of the 33-race NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule and the third race of the 2019 season for Jeffrey Earnhardt.
● Texas marks the debut of Xtreme Concepts Racing (XCI Racing) and the No. 81 Toyota Supra. Earnhardt will also pilot the No. 81 Xfinity Series entry June 29 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, July 5 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Aug. 16 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and Aug. 31 Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. In addition to the five-race Xfinity Series schedule, XCI Racing will field an entry for Earnhardt in the two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series events at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on April 28 and Oct. 13, respectively.
● Earnhardt has made three Xfinity Series starts at Texas with a best finish of 19th on April 4, 2014 in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300. The 29-year-old driver looks to continue the pace he set in the first two events of the season at Daytona and Atlanta Motor Speedway where he scored finishes of 15th and sixth, respectively.
● Earnhardt’s sixth-place finish at Atlanta was his best Xfinity Series result in 68 career starts, with his previous best being a 12th-place effort on Aug. 22, 2014 in the Food City 300 at Bristol and again on May 2, 2015 in the Winn-Dixie 300 at Talladega.
● Earnhardt’s result at Atlanta was his best career finish across 153 combined starts in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Gander Outdoors Truck Series. His previous best finish was seventh on Feb. 18, 2011 in the season-opening Truck Series race at Daytona.
● Earnhardt kicked off the 2019 season with a 15th-place result at Daytona after starting from the second position and leading a career-high 29 laps. He followed that up just one week later with a career-best sixth-place finish at Atlanta.
● In the season-opening Xfinity Series race at Daytona, Earnhardt qualified second and led the first 29 laps. Earnhardt’s second-place qualifying effort earned him his best starting spot in 153 career starts across the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Gander Outdoors Truck Series. And Earnhardt’s 29 laps led were more than he had led in 15 previous races at Daytona in the NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and Gander Outdoors Truck Series.
● Earnhardt is batting .1000 in earning stage points in 2019. He earned stage points for the first time in his career at Daytona when he finished fourth in the first stage and fifth in the second stage to collect a total of 13 bonus points. He maintained his front-running ways in his most recent race at Atlanta, finishing seventh in the first stage and fifth in the second stage to tally 10 bonus points.
| Jeffrey Earnhardt, Driver of the No. 81 Xtreme Racing Toyota Supra |
| What are the expecations for XCI Racing heading into the team’s debut at Texas?“I’m really excited to hit the track running with the Xtreme Concepts Racing team. I’m confident that with the Joe Gibbs Racing alliance we’ll pick right back up where we left off following Daytona and Atlanta. I think it’s fair to say that expectations are exactly the same – top-five finishes. We’re starting off in a good place and we’ve got the cars and the team to make it happen. It’s business as usual for me, and I’m looking forward to getting to work with Matt Lucas and the rest of the No. 81 team.” You’ve had a few weeks off, but you’ve been at the track observing and putting in a lot of work at the shop to prepare for this race. How are you feeling about the My Bariatric Solutions 300 at Texas?“I feel like we’re all curious as to how the PJ1 will change the racing at Texas and where it will be applied. I expect the preferred line will still be the bottom – as we’ve seen in the past – because the surface is still so new. Texas is so fast and if you get out of that groove, the car will step out from under you pretty quick. Texas isn’t a track where I’ve got a ton of experience, so I’ve spent a lot of time in the simulator and had discussions with Christopher (Bell) and Brandon (Jones) about what to expect. We’re doing everything we can on our end to be prepared for as many different scenarios as possible but, at the end of the day, I’m just ready to get back to the track and back in a Toyota Supra.” |
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