Toyota NASCAR Homestead Advance

Toyota NASCAR Homestead Advance
Week of November 13 – 19

Championship State of Mind: Toyota is within reach of two manufacturer titles going into the NASCAR season-finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where four Toyota drivers are also set to compete for their respective championships. Toyota currently leads the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) manufacturer’s championship standings by 31 points and the highest-finishing 2018 Toyota Camry would need to finish 28th or better in Sunday’s race to earn its second-consecutive OEM title. Toyota holds a 36-point advantage in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) manufacturer point standings, and will clinch its 10th title in 14 seasons when the first Tundra takes the green flag in Friday’s race just south of Miami.

Camry Championship Contenders: Toyota drivers Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. comprise two of the four Cup Series drivers who will compete for the coveted MENCS trophy in Sunday’s season-finale. Busch looks to earn his second-career Cup Series championship in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Camry after earning his and Toyota’s first Cup title in 2015. Busch has won five races this season, tallied 13 top-five and 21 top-10 results, and ranks second in the series with 14 stage wins. Truex has enjoyed a career-best year behind the wheel of the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Camry, leading the series with seven victories, 19 stage wins and 2,175 laps led and was the MENCS regular season champion. The 37-year-old Mayetta, New Jersey native is a two-time NASCAR XFINITY Series driver champion, but he is yet to win a Cup Series title.

Tundra Drivers in Title Hunt: Toyota drivers Christopher Bell and Matt Crafton are set to compete in the NCWTS ‘Championship 4’ in Friday’s race at Homestead. Bell looks for his first NASCAR national series championship, while Crafton is the only driver in NCWTS history to earn back-to-back titles when he accomplished the feat in 2013 and 2014 behind the wheel of a Tundra. Twenty-two-year-old Bell has won a series-best five races this season along with 14 top-five and 20 top-10 results in 22 starts. Series veteran Crafton has one win, five top-five and 15 top-10 finishes in 2017 – his 17th straight season in the NCWTS. Tundra drivers have won six total NCWTS driver championships since 2004. In addition to Crafton’s two NCWTS titles, fellow Toyota driver Erik Jones won the championship in 2015 during his rookie campaign, Todd Bodine holds a pair of driver’s titles in 2006 and 2010, and Johnny Benson was the NCWTS champion in 2008.

Staying Connected: You can follow Toyota Racing on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and online at www.toyotaracing.com. For media images, please visit www.toyotaracingmedia.com.

Toyota at Homestead – Notes & Numbers:

Erik Jones leads the MENCS Rookie of the Year standing by 14 points over Daniel Suárez heading into the season-finale … Toyota drivers have won three times in MENCS competition at Homestead-Miami Speedway, including a pair of wins by Denny Hamlin (2009 and 2013) and Busch’s championship-securing victory in 2015 … Matt Kenseth, who will compete in his last race with Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) and Toyota this weekend, has one Homestead (2007) win before joining JGR in 2013 … Sunday’s event will be the 45-year-old driver’s 650th race of his MENCS career … The No. 18 and No. 20 JGR Camrys are both eligible to win the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) Owner’s Championship Saturday at Homestead … Ryan Preece will make his third NXS start of the season in the JGR No. 18 Camry after winning his first-career race in his first start with the team earlier this year at Iowa Speedway … Christopher Bell will drive the No. 20 Camry at Homestead … Bell won the NXS race at Kansas last month in just his fifth series start … In addition to the No. 4 (Bell) and No. 88 (Matt Crafton) Tundras, Kyle Busch Motorsports’ No. 51 Tundra is also competing for an NCWTS Owner’s title in Miami.

Toyota 2017 Statistics: