Toyota NXS Atlanta Post-Race Recap - 2.24.18

TOYOTA QUOTES
 
 CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Ruud Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
 What’s your takeaway from the race today?
> “Our Ruud Camry was really fast. We just weren’t quite good enough to catch up to the 98 (Kevin Harvick). I felt like the 22 (Joey Logano) and I were pretty equal. At times I’d be better, at times he’d be better. Probably just used it up too much on that last one. I hope the all fans enjoyed watching the race on their Xfinity X1 app and tune in next week for a good one at Vegas (Las Vegas Motor Speedway).”
   How would you describe your day?
> “I don’t know. I am a little bit bummed right now but I will probably wake tomorrow and be pretty happy with it. Our Ruud Camry was fast but I wasn’t good enough to run with the 98 (Harvick). And I don’t know if I put myself up too fast on the green flag pit stop that the 22 (Logano) was able to get by me late in the race. I don’t know what I missed on but our guys brought a really fast Camry and we’ll try to get them in Vegas next week.”
>  
> How important was it for you to come to that Xfinity Series test here?
> “Well it’s huge. This place is really hard to get around. Between all my different teams that I’ve driven for at Kyle Busch Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing, I have been able to test here twice, have done two Truck Series races and now an Xfinity Series race. Out of the NASCAR tracks, this is probably where I have the most laps at. It definitely helped me today. It’s a ton of fun. Thank you to Atlanta for not repaving this place and hopefully we can squeak another year out of it. This is one of the best surfaces we go to on this schedule.”
>  
> What was your experience with tire fall off?
> “You’re supposed to be struggling but he (Logano) was struggling a little bit less than I was. The tire fall off was expected. You know what it’s going to be whenever you come to a place like this or Homestead. I have to get a little bit better as a driver to be able to compete with these guys.”
>  
> KYLE BENJAMIN, No. 18 Peak Antifreeze & Coolant Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
> Finishing Position: 8th
> Do you feel you got everything possible out of the car today?
> “I think we had probably a top-10 car and finished eighth with it, that’s what we had. I was a little too tight in the center
> and rolling the center – just couldn’t get off the corner and get back in the gas, a little too free there. I think we got pretty
> much what we had in the car there. I was proud of myself and I worked on myself there. Really glad Peak came on board
> and represent them. We had a good car today.”
>  
> With this being your first race at Atlanta, did you get what you expected from the race?
> “I expected a top-10 and really hoped I could run top-10 for sure. I was shooting for a top-five or even a win, but I learned
> a lot to come back here about what the car needs or what to look for. It’s hard to come to a track like this for the first
> time and run with (Kevin) Harvick or (Joey) Logano, but if I get the chance to come back here, now I know what I need.”
>  
> How did the track feel overall?
> “It felt pretty slick. At the end the sun came out there, but we had shade there for a while, but when the sun came back
> out it got wild. We freed the car up a little bit on the last pit stop and I think we got too free up off the corner to hang
> with the 22 (Logano) who was right in front of us. We had an okay car today and I feel like I got the most I could out of it
> and I had to work on myself a little bit and I think we got better.”
>  
> BRANDON JONES, No. 19 Menards/Jeld-Wen Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
> Finishing Position: 17th
> How was your run today?
> “Today wasn’t really the day we wanted. It was heading towards the day we were hoping for and I ended up having a right
> front go down. I need to do a better job at anticipating when  that’s going to happen. It was weird. It was a lap before having
> something break and a right front go down at the same time we were trying to determine what was going on. Considering
> that, not a bad day. It was all under green flag pit stops. Not where we want to be but we’ll bounce back next week.”
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