Toyota Racing
This Week in Motorsports – May 21 – 27, 2018
Toyota Racing On-Track this Week
· MENCS/NXS: Charlotte Motor Speedway (Concord, North Carolina) – May 26-27
· ARCA Racing Series: Charlotte Motor Speedway (Concord, North Carolina) – May 24
NASCAR National Series – MENCS | NCWTS
Toyota Gives Thanks This Memorial Day Weekend… Toyota will feature several military activations at Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend in conjunction with the launch of this year’s NASCAR Salutes program. Five Tundras will be custom wrapped to showcase the five military branches and will act as additional grand marshal vehicles for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race with an attending general from each military branch driving them on the track. In addition, the names of six fallen military members will be highlighted on the windshield banners of the Camry pace cars and grand marshal Highlander vehicles. Prior to the race, 40 active military members will be paired with a driver during driver introductions with a magnet displayed on each ride-along Tundra with their name, rank and branch. Active and former military members will also receive admission to Toyota Owners Hub where they’ll receive refreshments, free giveaways and access to driver appearances.
Record-Setting Review… The 2016 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway was one for the record books as Camry driver Martin Truex Jr. led the most miles in a single NASCAR race in the sport’s history. Truex paced the race for 588 miles – 392 laps (of 400) – on his way to victory. Fast forward to 2017 and Truex was back in the winner’s circle, this time in the fall race at Charlotte. With two wins in two years at the 1.5-mile track, Truex leads Toyota drivers with the most victories at Charlotte as former Camry drivers David Reutimann (2009), Clint Bowyer (2012) and Carl Edwards (2015) each hold one win there.
One to Go… Kyle Busch is no stranger to Charlotte having won a combined 15 NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victories at the North Carolina track, but Charlotte continues to remain elusive to for Busch in the Cup Series. Although Busch won the 2017 All-Star race at Charlotte, the track remains the only active track he is yet to win a Cup Series points race. Busch ranks second among active drivers in laps led (993) and driver rating (104.9) in 28 MENCS starts in Charlotte.
Trending to the Top… Xfinity Series regular Brandon Jones has logged four-consecutive top-10 finishes in his last four starts, the longest top-10 streak of his career. A newcomer to Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing in 2018, Jones has jumped from ninth to seventh in the series point standings as he looks to make his fifth career-series start at Charlotte. In four career NXS starts at Charlotte, Jones has finished 16th or better in each race.
NASCAR Bump and Run Stats… In last week’s All-Star Race at Charlotte, Daniel Suárez (second) was the highest-finishing Camry driver, while Denny Hamlin (fourth) and Kyle Busch (ninth) also finished top-10… Xfinity Series drivers have eight Camry wins at Charlotte with Busch tallying six total… Truck Series driver Noah Gragson heads to Chicago next weekend to spend time with the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series and will take part in a variety of activities with Toyota NHRA drivers including their autograph session at Toyota PitPass.
NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series – Top Fuel | Funny Car
Todd Continues Hot Streak… After another solid showing with a semi-final appearance in Topeka, Kansas, J.R. Todd is on one of the best streaks of his Nitro career in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. The Camry driver has registered a 10-3 round win-loss record over the last five races, including wins at Las Vegas and Houston. Todd also has qualified in the top four in three of those five events. Todd and NHRA next compete at Illinois’ Route 66 Raceway from Friday to Sunday, May 31 to June 3.
Midget Racing – USAC | POWRi
Midget Car Series Prepare For Grueling Stretch… After inclement weather forced the cancellation of two dirt midget races this past weekend, both the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League and USAC will be off this weekend before the sport’s racers tackle one of the most demanding stretches on the schedule with 11 races over 13 days. The run kicks off with the six-race USAC Indiana Midget Week (May 29 – June 3) before POWRi takes center stage with its five-race Illinois SPEED Week (June 6-10) with just two days off in between. Six Toyota drivers are currently scheduled to compete in all 11 races – Tanner Carrick, Sam Johnson, Tucker Klaasmeyer, Ryan Robinson, Logan Seavey and Holly Shelton.
Regional Stock Car Racing – NASCAR K&N Pro Series | ARCA Racing Series
Toyota Leads the Way… Toyota drivers continued their hot streak in the ARCA Racing Series and are now five for five in the series with Zane Smith capturing three wins in 2018 and Michael Self (Daytona) and Christian Eckes (Salem) also visiting victory lane. After a 14-year hiatus from Charlotte Motor Speedway, Thursday’s event will mark the first time a Toyota has competed in ARCA competition at the track north of Charlotte.
Get to Know the Racer
Natalie on Deck… In her first full-time season competing in the ARCA Racing Series for Venturini Motorsports, Natalie Decker opened 2018 on top by winning the pole for the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway – becoming just the fourth female to win a pole at Daytona. Three months later and with four more races to her name, Decker has two top-10 finishes this season, including a career-best fifth-place finish at Daytona. Decker most recently finished seventh at Ohio’s Toledo Speedway – the track where she made her ARCA debut a year ago.
