This Week in Motorsports: September 28 – October 4, 2020
· NCS/NXS/NGROTS: Talladega Motor Speedway – October 3-4
· ARCA: Illinois State Fairgrounds – October 4
PLANO, Texas (September 30, 2020) – Toyota drivers are potentially hitting a couple milestones this weekend as NASCAR’s top three series take on the last superspeedway of the year at Talladega. The Toyota Tundra is set to compete in its 400th NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series (NGROTS) race on Saturday, and ARCA Menards Series drivers have the opportunity to drive to Toyota’s 100th national ARCA victory with a win on the dirt in Illinois on Sunday.
NASCAR National Series – NCS| NXS| NGROTS
Hamlin Ready to Showcase Superspeedway Strength … Denny Hamlin has an incredible record at the other superspeedway on the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) schedule – Daytona International Speedway – with victories in three of the last five Daytona 500 races. Hamlin also has a win at Talladega in 2014 and scored a top-five finish there earlier this season. After a stage win and a third-place finish at Las Vegas, Hamlin has a 58-point advantage over the Playoff cutline heading into this weekend.
E. Jones Looks to Earn First Talladega Win… Erik Jones nearly earned a win earlier this year at Talladega Superspeedway, racing for the win on the final corner before contact with the wall led to a fifth-place finish. Jones also has two wins at Daytona International Speedway, including scoring the non-points paying Busch Clash victory to start the season.
100 Camry Starts for Suárez… This weekend marks the 100th start for Daniel Suárez aboard a Toyota Camry in the NCS. The 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) champion began his Cup Series career with Toyota in 2017 and earned a career-best second-place finish at Pocono in 2018.
B. Jones Solid at Superspeedways… NXS veteran Brandon Jones has had a solid run at the superspeedways. He earned his first top-five finish with Joe Gibbs Racing at Talladega in 2018 when he drove to a runner-up finish. Jones added a top-five finish at the season opener at Daytona International Speedway earlier this season.
400 for the Tundra… Saturday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway marks the 400th race for the Toyota Tundra in NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series competition. Since joining the series at the beginning of the 2004 NGROTS season, Toyota drivers have scored 197 victories, eight driver championships and 11 manufacturer’s titles in 16 seasons. Toyota has six Tundras in the field at Talladega driven by Las Vegas winner Austin Hill, veteran Stewart Friesen and four drivers making their Talladega Truck Series debut: Christian Eckes, Derek Kraus, Raphael Lessard and Chandler Smith.
Truck Series Playoff Cutoff… With his win on Friday at Las Vegas, Hill can breathe easy as he has clinched a spot in the next round of the Playoffs. Tundra teammate Eckes is looking to clinch his spot in the Round of 8 as well with a solid result. Eckes is currently six points above the cutline. He has two previous starts at superspeedway events at Daytona with a pole in the 2019 season opener.
NASCAR Regional Series – ARCA
Looking for 100 in Illinois… After Ty Gibbs drove to his sixth national ARCA victory of the season, Toyota is sitting at 99 national ARCA victories. Gibbs is looking to clinch 100 victories for Toyota at Illinois State Fairgrounds on Sunday along with the Venturini Motorsports teammates Michael Self, Drew Dollar and Corey Heim.
Two Races Left… Sunday’s race is the 19th of 20 on the ARCA Menards Series schedule and Self sits two points out of the championship lead currently held by Bret Holmes. Self won at Illinois State Fairgrounds last season after leading the final 47 laps (of 102).
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