Tyler Hill (second) and John Hunter Nemechek (fourth) led Toyota with top-five finishes in the Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday afternoon. Various accidents throughout the event resulted in many Playoff contenders finishing the day in the garage area. The series will decide the final four drivers to compete for the championship at Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 30.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Talladega Superspeedway
Race 20 of 22 – 94 Laps, 250.04 Miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Tate Folgeman*
2nd, TYLER HILL
3rd, Todd Gilliland*
4th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
5th, Ryan Truex*
8th, DANNY BOHN
10th, KEITH MCGEE
13th, BEN RHODES
14th, MATT CRAFTON
19th, CHANDLER SMITH
20th, DEREK KRAUS
21st, GRANT ENFINGER
22nd, STEWART FRIESEN
23rd, CLAY GREENFIELD
26th, DYLAN LUPTON
30th, JOHNNY SAUTER
32nd, AUSTIN HILL
35th, DREW DOLLAR
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, No. 4 Pye-Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 4th
What happened on the final lap coming to the checkered flag?
“I had a run, got by the 38 (Todd Gilliland) and was trying to keep the 12 (Tate Fogleman) in the mirror. He had a huge run through the tri-oval. He faked high and I went to block high and then the block was a little too late I guess. I should have stayed up and probably still would have won the race. Overall, solid day for our Pye-Barker Fire & Safety Services Toyota Tundra. Us and the Toyota teammates worked very well together. We had a Toyota train going there at one time today. Solid points day for us – 35 above the cut line I think or something like that going into Martinsville. Just have to survive and advance to get to the final four.”
Are you upset with the 12 truck or is that just restrictor plate racing?
“That’s just how every race here for the past however many years has ended some way like that. It is what it is. I can’t be mad. As much as you want to be mad, you can’t be mad. It’s partly my fault. You take it with a grain of salt. I’m more mad at myself than anything for not staying higher to kind of stay away from him. It is what it is.”
Do you feel Matt Crafton was justified to be upset with the pushing in today’s race?
“I could push the 2 (Sheldon Creed), I could push the 99 (Ben Rhodes), I could push the 18 (Chandler Smith). I could push everyone but Matt (Crafton). I don’t know if he needs to tighten his truck up or what he needs to do. The last time he got loose, I didn’t even touch him, it was all air. Didn’t even touch his rear bumper. That, to me, is a free race truck and it doesn’t handle well when you’re in a group setting.”
MATT CRAFTON, No. 88 Zep/Menards Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
Finishing Position: 14th
Saw the interaction post-race with John Hunter Nemechek, what was that for?
“Stage two off of turn two, there at the end he (John Hunter Nemechek) hits me off of the corner. He’s smarter than that. I’m fine with getting hit going down the straightaway for stage points, but not coming off of the corner, but what comes around goes around sometimes. At the end of the day, these guys brought me a really fast Menards Toyota Tundra.”
AUSTIN HILL, No. 16 United Rentals Toyota Tundra, Hattori Racing Enterprises
Finishing Position: 32nd
What happened from your viewpoint in the accident that ended your race?
“It seemed like the inside lane was pretty good and forming up pretty good, but it looked like the 38 (Todd Gilliland) might have got hit by the 23 (Chase Purdy) there and it got him just off center of me and when he did, I didn’t know I was wrecking until I was in the fence. I thought me and the 38 were working really well together and the United Rentals Toyota Tundra was really fast today. We were just biding our time and weren’t pushing too hard. Just knew there was a lot of racing left. Just thankful to NASCAR and everybody for keeping us safe because that was a pretty decent hit that I took there. I was like a pinball being knocked around by all the other trucks out there. I hope everybody else is okay as well. Talladega, what do you say? This is a product of what you get when you come to these places. Sometimes you end up on the hook and sometimes you end up in victory lane. Today we’re on the hook. Can’t thank all the guys at HRE (Hattori Racing Enterprises) enough. We’ll go onto the next one and see if we can stay out of the urgent care. I’ve been in too many of these. I need to stay out of that place.”
DREW DOLLAR, No. 51 HYTE Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 35th
What did you see in that accident?
“We were in the bottom lane and trying to ride it out before we got to the end. I think they wrecked up front and I didn’t see a lane through and we just got caught up in it. We had a really fast HYTE Toyota Tundra. I felt good about it. I felt like we had good speed. We could suck up to pretty much any truck that we needed to, could make the moves that we needed too. Just didn’t make it to the end. That is what we needed; just didn’t get there.”
Toyota Racing PR
