John Hunter Nemechek (second) missed his first Daytona triumph by mere inches as the caution came out on the final lap in Saturday evening’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event. Nemechek’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Myatt Snider, joined him inside the top-five finishers.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Daytona International Speedway
Race 1 of 33 – 300 miles, 120 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Austin Hill*
2nd, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
3rd, Justin Allgaier*
4th, Parker Retzlaff *
5th, MYATT SNIDER
16th, PARKER CHASE
19th, SAMMY SMITH
11th, SAMMY SMITH32nd, KAZ GRALA
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
Could you see the caution lights at the end, and did you believe you were ahead of the 21?
“I thought we were ahead. The 31 (Retzlaff) gave the 21 (Hill) a good push on the outside but can’t thank everyone on this Mobil 1 GR Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing. Just proud of the effort. It’s been a long off season waiting to get to Daytona and just to be that close. Great points day, but our car was as fast as Xfinity 10G. Looking forward to moving on to Fontana and I’m glad that we got the year kicked off this way and hopefully we can go chase some more wins, I feel like there are some here in our future. Need to get our speedway program just a little bit better. Thank you for the opportunity from Coach (Gibbs) and I wish Coy (Gibbs) was here. Thank you to Heather (Gibbs) and the entire Gibbs family and everyone at Toyota and TRD for helping me move back up to the Xfinity Series after taking a gamble and moving up from the Truck Series after leaving the Cup Series. The plan is working, and the Lord is good.”
Can you describe the racing for the last few laps?
“Intense and fast just like Xfinity 10G. I can’t say enough about this team. I was hoping after we signed the deal to come to Daytona and get the season kicked off and to come out of here with a race car that’s in one piece with these awesome Mobil 1 colors. Definitely makes us proud. It was really close there when they threw the caution, I thought we were ahead. Just can’t thank Myatt Snider enough for working with me all day. We didn’t have the numbers with the Toyotas, it was definitely a Chevy type of day. But we worked well together, and we were able to come home in second and fifth. Just thankful for this opportunity from Coach (Gibbs) and wish Coy (Gibbs) was here to spend it with us. Glad that we came home second, and we can get our points run kicked off on the right foot. Looking forward to Fontana next week and the rest of the year.”
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
MYATT SNIDER, No. 19 Tree Top Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
Can you describe those last few laps?
“It was pretty harrowing. They get pretty sketchy towards the end. The 1 (Sam Mayer) tried to throw that block, but I just have to credit Joe Gibbs Racing and Tree Top for bringing such a great Toyota GR Supra. It was really fun to be able to race with everybody. I love Daytona despite all of the things that have happened here. To go top-five in my first time out with JGR, is cool. Hopefully, we can get a few more races with them and get Tree Top out there.”
Wild finish, are you glad it wasn’t you on your roof this season?
“I don’t want anyone to flip at this race track. I can confirm it is not very fun, but what is fun is racing this Tree Top GR Supra here at Daytona. The boys from Joe Gibbs Racing brought me a really fast – just about as fast as Xfinity 10G – Supra, and it was really a lot of fun. I thought we had it there with John Hunter (Nemechek). I thought I pushed him to the win. I hate it that the 7 (Justin Allgaier) pushed him down below the double-yellow line. It was really, really close, but that’s what you deal with here. It’s spots and inches here. It is Daytona.”
Toyota Racing PR
