Toyota Racing
This Week in Motorsports – April 8 – 14, 2019
Toyota Racing On-Track this Week
· MENCS/NXS: Richmond Raceway (Richmond, Virginia) – April 12-13
· NHRA: Houston Raceway Park (Baytown, Texas) – April 12-14
· ARCA: Salem Speedway (Washington County, Indiana) – April 14
NASCAR National Series – MENCS | NXS
Toyota Speeding Through 2019… Toyota Racing continued its incredible start to the 2019 season at Bristol Motor Speedway – sweeping the NASCAR national series weekend for a third time (ISM Raceway, Texas Motor Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway) in just an eight-week span. Toyota drivers have earned 15 victories of a possible 20 NASCAR national series events this season. Toyota also leads the manufacturer championship standings in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS), NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) and NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series (NGOTS).
It’s all about Toyota Owners… This weekend’s races at Richmond Raceway will serve as a thank you to Toyota owners. In its seventh-consecutive year partnering with Richmond Raceway, Toyota will sponsor both the MENCS Toyota Owners 400 and NXS ToyotaCare 250. Toyota has several fan activations and special opportunities for Toyota owners on-site including the Toyota Racing Experience, Toyota Owners Hub, Toyota Thrill Ride, Toyota Owners Parking, Toyota Owners Express Lanes and a Toyota Green Space. Plus, a handful of Toyota owners will be paired with a MENCS Toyota driver and one lucky owner will win $10,000 when their driver finishes highest among the Toyota contingent.
Richmond Ready… Toyota drivers have dominated at Richmond Raceway as of late with Toyota MENCS drivers winning five of the last seven events. Kyle Busch swept both MENCS Richmond races in 2018 and has six career wins at the 0.75-mile track. Busch is off to a blazing start in 2019 and has three MENCS wins in eight races this season. Just last weekend Busch earned his 50th MENCS win in a Toyota at Bristol. Fellow Camry teammate Denny Hamlin considers Richmond Raceway a home track as he grew up in nearby Chesterfield, Virginia. Hamlin has three career MENCS wins at Richmond and has 1,659 laps-led. Hamlin will make his 400th Toyota MENCS start at Richmond on Saturday night.
Bell wants the Ball… Christopher Bell earned his second victory of the 2019 season at Bristol Motor Speedway and the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash prize. Through seven races this season, Bell has won twice and has placed inside the top-10 five times. As the NXS heads to Richmond Raceway this weekend, Bell is eyeing a repeat. He swept both NXS races at Richmond in 2018. In three career NXS races at Richmond, Bell has never finished outside of sixth place. With his finish at Bristol, Bell also qualified for the opportunity to win the Dash 4 Cash event at Richmond as well.
NHRA
Todd Looks to Go Back-to-Back at Houston… Fresh off repeating his 2018 victory at the Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas, J.R. Todd looks to do the same in Houston this weekend after Todd defeated Robert Hight in last year’s final round. After winning at Vegas this past weekend, the reigning Funny Car world champion has driven his DHL Toyota Camry to the winner’s circle five times in the last 11 NHRA events and advanced to eight final rounds during that span. Since winning his first Funny Car race at the Toyota Nationals in Sonoma in July 2017, Todd has won nine of 38 races – the most by any Funny Car driver during that time.
Kalitta Holeshots to Top Fuel Points Lead… Doug Kalitta continued his dominance at the starting line in Las Vegas, registering two more holeshot victories on his way to the Four-Wide finals. Six of his nine round wins this season have come on holeshots, propelling him into the Top Fuel points lead where he currently holds a 33-point advantage after four races. Kalitta is a three-time winner at Houston Raceway Park, taking top honors in 2003, 2015 and 2016.
Houston Holds Fond Memories for Brown… Antron Brown’s 50 Top Fuel wins have been spread out over 20 different tracks on the NHRA circuit, but few hold as fond a memory for him as Houston Raceway Park. Brown earned his first-ever Top Fuel win in Baytown, Texas in 2008, when he defeated Larry Dixon in the final. With that win, he became the first driver in NHRA history to win in both Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle. The long-time Toyota driver also won at the track in 2014. His 50 wins in the class ranks him fourth all-time, just two behind Joe Amato for third.
Regional Stock Car Racing – ARCA Racing Series
Toyota Aims to Defend Salem… Toyota drivers have won both ARCA Racing Series events to start the 2019 season, including Harrison Burton winning at Daytona International Speedway and Michael Self capturing victory in Pensacola, Florida. Toyota drivers swept both races at Salem Speedway in 2018 with Christian Eckes winning in the spring and Chandler Smith taking the victory in the fall. Now Toyota looks to make it three-for-three in 2019 this weekend at Salem.
