Story By: SAM MAHONEY / TOYOTA RACING – HAMPTON, GA – Georgia’s own Chandler Smith (fourth) and Corey Heim (fifth) led Toyota with top-five finishes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon.
Smith, a Talking Rock, Ga.-native, was strong throughout the day – leading 28 of 163 laps, while Marietta, Ga.-native Heim delivered the best superspeedway finish for Sam Hunt Racing and earned his third top-five finish of the year in just his 11th start of the season.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Race 24 of 33 – 251.02 Miles, 163 Laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Austin Hill*
2nd, Parker Kligerman*
3rd, AJ Allmendinger*
4th, CHANDLER SMITH
5th, COREY HEIM
10th, RYAN TRUEX
25th, SHELDON CREED
28th, TAYLOR GRAY
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
CHANDLER SMITH, No. 81 Wheelers Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
Can you talk about that finish?
“It is what it is. We had a really fast Wheelers Toyota GR Supra all day. It was as Xfinity Internet. I feel like I’ve been robbed of three Atlanta wins now unfortunately in my career here. I’m kind of speechless honestly. There are a lot of different things that I could have done. I could have been more selfish when I got cleared and went to the bottom and covered that and controlled the race for sure, but I was trying to be a good teammate and that didn’t pay for me today, as usual.”
COREY HEIM, No. 26 Toyota GR Supra, Sam Hunt Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
Was there anything more that you could have done on that final lap?
“Yeah, I think at the end of the day, I would have done the same thing. I’m a little frustrated about it, but if you are in a spot to win at these superspeedways and someone gets to your right rear, you have to do that, or else you are going to lose the race. I can be mad all I want, but if I was in the same spot, I would have done the same thing. It is frustrating, but I have to give a huge thank you to Sam Hunt Racing – to bring me here. We literally don’t have a logo on the thing, but we have a lot of people in the background that are providing a lot of support – Toyota, Sam Hunt Racing, Synergy – all of those guys get us to the race track, week-in and week-out, if we don’t have a logo on the car. Very thankful right now, and another top-five for Sam Hunt Racing – happy about that, but certainly still frustrated.”