This Week in Motorsports: June 29 – July 5, 2020
· NCS/NXS: Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Indianapolis, Indiana) – July 4-5
· ARCA: Lucas Oil Raceway (Indianapolis, Indiana) – July 3
· ARCA WEST: Irwindale Speedway (Irwindale, California) – July 4
PLANO, Texas (July 1, 2020) – NASCAR competes at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway and ARCA competes on the short track of Lucas Oil Raceway also in Indianapolis, while ARCA West heads to Irwindale Speedway in Southern California.
NASCAR National Series – NCS | NXS
Kiss the Bricks… Kyle Busch owns both of Toyota’s NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) wins at the Brickyard, which he scored in back-to-back seasons (2015, 2016). In 2015, Busch used the final restart to score the win and in 2016 he dominated the field– leading 149 of the 170 laps. Not only did Busch sweep the Cup Series races at the 2.5-mile historic track, he was also victorious both of those years in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) and again in 2019.
Leading with Four… Denny Hamlin had a great weekend at Pocono Raceway, ending Sunday with his series-leading fourth win of the season. Since combining with crew chief Chris Gabehart at the beginning of the 2019 season, Hamlin has driven to 10 wins, which is the most in the series. Hamlin also leads the series with most top-five finishes (nine) this season. In his 41 career wins, Hamlin has yet to score a victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway having finished a career-best third at the track three times.
Jones Back in a Playoff Spot… With a season-best third-place finish Sunday at Pocono Raceway, Erik Jones has climbed back inside the provisional Playoff field. Jones is one of four Toyota drivers currently in the playoff field, along with his Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammates Busch, Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr., Jones drove to a runner-up finish in his first Brickyard attempt for JGR in 2018 – less than one second behind race winner Brad Keselowski.
First for the Xfinity Series… For the first time, the Xfinity Series will compete at Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course. Veteran Brandon Jones owns three top 10 finishes on road courses, while rookie Harrison Burton will make his second road course start in the Xfinity Series after finishing 13th last fall at the Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Fellow rookie Riley Herbst is making his first NASCAR national series event start on a road course.
NASCAR Regional Series – ARCA | ARCA West
Toyota Looking for Lucky 13… Toyota heads into Lucas Oil Raceway looking for its 13th consecutive ARCA Menards Series race win – a streak that dates back nearly a full calendar year (July 2019). Venturini Motorsports (VMS) drivers have earned 10 of those victories with JGR adding two. Toyota will have five Camrys in the field including VMS’ Michael Self, who continues to lead the overall point standings, and JGR’s Ty Gibbs, who dominated on his way to victory lane at the series’ most recent event at Pocono Raceway.
Rookie Points Leader… The ARCA Menards Series West is back on track this weekend at Irwindale Speedway on Saturday with Toyota rookie driver Jesse Love leading the pack. The 15-year-old Love scored his first career ARCA West win this past weekend at Utah Motorsports Campus, and currently leads the point standings by nine on the strength of three top-two finishes to start the 2020 season.
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