Ty Gibbs (third) started his Playoff run with a strong third-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon. His fellow Playoff driver, Brandon Jones, got taken out in an accident not of his making and was scored 27th. With two races remaining in the Round of 12, Gibbs is third in the point standings with a 46-point advantage over the cutoff. Jones is 11th in the point standings, 13 points behind the final Playoff berth.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Texas Motor Speedway
Race 27 of 33 – 300 miles, 200 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Noah Gragson*
2nd, Austin Hill*
3rd, TY GIBBS
4th, AJ Allmendinger*
5th, Riley Herbst*
25th, JOEY GASE
27th, BRANDON JONES
28th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
35th, ANIKORI OGATA
38th, JEFFREY EARNHARDT
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
TY GIBBS, No. 54 Interstate Batteries Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
What more did you need to compete with Noah Gragson?
“Honestly, we were just a little tight coming through there. We fired off really, really free and it set the tone for the rest. They adjusted for what I asked for, but I asked for a little too much so it’s my fault. Thank you to my team, Interstate Batteries, Monster Energy, Toyota. Thank you to the Man Above, all glory to Him. We will keep working on it and head to Talladega which is a yard sale.”
I know you had an interesting moment today, did your heart start to go into your chest heading to the wall there?
“I was just trying to give it my all, and I just got a little wide and I just missed it up the cushion a little bit. This Supra was fast, just got to find a little bit more speed. Getting loose there really hurt me, so it is what it is.”
BRANDON JONES, No. 19 Menards/Pelonis Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 27th
Could you have done anything different on that restart?
“Not really. I think that I already knew going up in the top lane that it was on the free side. I told Jeff (Meendering, crew chief) already a few times that it was trending looser on these restarts. Too much trash I think gets blown up there during caution laps so it takes a while before it blows off and becomes good again. I think that the 18 (John Hunter Nemechek) was pushing a little too hard. Nothing to fault him there for, but probably a little early to be going that far. It is what it is. No stage points hardly all day, and a bad finish. That kind of does it for you when you don’t get stage points, so frustrating day, but big thanks to Pelonis, Menards, everybody there. I think we can go to Talladega and you never know what happens there. We could win it. Our road course program is phenomenal lately, so we will go to the ROVAL and have a strong run there.”
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, No. 18 Romco Equipment Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 28th
Can you walk us through what happened?
“The 7 (Justin Allgaier) chose the top behind me, and I haven’t seen the replay of it, but the 7 chose the top behind me and started pushing. The 21 (Austin Hill) made it three-wide on the 9 (Noah Gragson) and I was three-wide at the top being able to be in the race and I think we ended up four-wide at one point which doesn’t really work aero-wide in the pack. The resin was up there as well and I don’t know. It sucks. The Romco Toyota Supra was really fast and I thought we were going to have a shot to win the race and repeat from last year. It didn’t work out. I’m looking forward to seeing what the future holds.”
Toyota racing PR
