Toyota NASCAR Michigan & Gateway Advance
Week of June 12 – 18, 2017
PURE MICHIGAN: Camry drivers have won five times in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) at Michigan International Speedway. In August 2015, Matt Kenseth drove his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Camry to victory lane at Michigan, allowing Toyota to claim the coveted Heritage Trophy which debuted in 2013 and goes to the winning manufacturer of each Cup race. Camry drivers Denny Hamlin (June 2010 and June 2011), Kyle Busch (August 2011) and former Toyota driver Brian Vickers (August 2009) have also visited victory lane at the two-mile oval.
HOMEWARD BOUND: A native of Byron, Michigan, Camry driver Erik Jones earned his career-best third-place MENCS finish last weekend at Pocono Raceway. The 21-year-old has three top-10 finishes so far in his rookie year, including two in the last three events. The 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) champion has earned eight-career NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) wins and seven NCWTS victories, and if he can win at his home track in Michigan, he’d join an elite list of 29 drivers who have won across all three NASCAR national series.
MAKING OF A CHAMPION: Last June, Toyota driver Daniel Suárez claimed a historic victory in the NXS at Michigan to become the first Mexican-born driver to win a NASCAR national series race. The win qualified him for the series’ inaugural Chase and he went on to earn two more victories (Dover and Homestead) en route to becoming the 2016 XFINITY Series champion and the sport’s first foreign born champion. Earlier this year, he was selected to drive the No. 19 Camry in the Cup Series, where he has earned four top-10 finishes in his rookie year while also running select NXS races, where he’s earned four top-five results in nine starts.
MEET ME IN ST LOUIS: Tundra drivers have won two-of-the-last-three NCWTS events since Gateway Motorsports Park reopened in 2014, and five total Truck races at the track located just outside of St. Louis. Last year, Christopher Bell tallied his second-career NCWTS victory at Gateway – and his first triumph on pavement after the former full-time midget car racer won at Eldora Speedway’s dirt track in 2015. His Gateway win and 17 top-10 finishes last year propelled the Oklahoma-native to finish third in the end of the year standings, and Bell has also won twice in 2017 (Atlanta and Texas). Other drivers to pilot Tundras to victory lane in Gateway include Todd Bodine (2006), Johnny Benson Jr. (2007), Mike Skinner (2009) and Darrell Wallace Jr (2014).
Staying Connected: You can follow Toyota Racing on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter by using #ToyotaNation and online at www.toyotaracing.com. For media images, please visit www.toyotaracingmedia.com.
Toyota at Michigan & Texas – Notes & Numbers:
Toyota drivers have won 15 (of 29) MENCS stages this season, more than any other manufacturer … Martin Truex Jr. (eight), Kyle Busch (four), Denny Hamlin (two) and Matt Kenseth (one) have all won stages this year … Matt Kenseth has three-career Cup wins at Michigan, the most among active drivers … Camry drivers have three NXS Michigan victories – Joey Logano (2012), Kyle Busch (2015) and Daniel Suárez (2016) … Busch and Hamlin will compete in both the Cup and NXS races at Michigan … The Toyota Technical Center (TTC) is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan and for more than 35 years has been the driving force behind Toyota’s North American Engineering and Research and Development activities while overseeing the design and development of vehicles.
