This Week in Motorsports: September 20-26, 2021
· NCS/NXS/NCWTS: Las Vegas Motor Speedway – September 24-26
· ARCA WEST: The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – September 23
PLANO, Texas (September 22, 2021) – It’s a fresh Playoff round for all three top series of NASCAR as they all try to move forward with a victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The weekend starts on Thursday with Toyota drivers looking to close in on an ARCA West championship with a race at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
NASCAR National Series – NCS| NXS| NCWTS
600 for Busch… Kyle Busch hits a big milestone this weekend as he competes in his 600th Cup Series event at his home track – Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He has 59 victories, 225 top-five finishes and 333 top-10 finishes. The two-time Cup Series champion has one Cup Series victory (March 2009), two Xfinity Series wins and three Truck Series victories at his home track.
All four Playoff drivers moving on… All four Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) drivers advanced into the Round of 12, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin on their victories in the first round and Busch and Christopher Bell on their point standings. Truex has scored Toyota’s last two wins at Las Vegas (March 2017 and September 2019).
Xfinity Series Playoffs begin… All three full-time Supra drivers Harrison Burton, Daniel Hemric and Brandon Jones are part of the 12-driver Xfinity Series Playoffs that begin this weekend. All three drivers earned top-10 finishes at Las Vegas earlier this year with Hemric coming home in second after leading 74 laps. Jones followed him to the line after leading 28 circuits.
Lupton back in the Xfinity Series… For the first time since 2018, Dylan Lupton will be back in the Xfinity Series driving the No. 26 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing for his first of two races with the team. Lupton has 35 career starts in the Xfinity Series.
Friesen continues to run strong… Stewart Friesen has continued to have an impressive Playoffs. The Canada-native started the Playoffs with three straight top-five finishes – his first such streak in over two years. Friesen looks to add to that streak at Las Vegas. Since joining Team Toyota in 2020, Friesen has two top-five finishes, and three top-10 finishes in three starts at Las Vegas.
Tundra top-fives… Bristol was the second time this season – and fifth time in Toyota’s Truck Series tenure – Toyota drivers swept the top-five finishing positions with first-time winner Chandler Smith leading them to the line. The last time Toyota swept the top-five finishing positions was earlier this year at Las Vegas Motor Speedway where championship points leader John Hunter Nemechek scored his first victory for Kyle Busch Motorsports with team owner Busch coming home in second followed by Austin Hill, Friesen and Matt Crafton to complete the top-five for Toyota.
NASCAR Regional Series – ARCA WEST
Love plans to add another win… Toyota development driver Jesse Love continues to be impressive in his quest for a second-straight ARCA West title for Bill McAnally Racing. The 16-year-old holds a 19-point advantage in the standings with three races remaining. Last season at the Bullring, Love started on the pole and finished third to Toyota teammate Gracie Trotter, who scored a historic victory.
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