This Week in Motorsports: May 2-8, 2022
· NCS/NXS/NCWTS: Darlington Raceway – May 6-8
· ARCA EAST: Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway – May 7
PLANO, Texas (May 4, 2022) – It’s officially throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway, as team’s showcase paint schemes of the past. The ARCA Menards Series East also hits its halfway point of the season in Nashville.
NASCAR National Series – NCS | NXS | NCWTS
Toyota Racing celebrates a milestone… Toyota is set to mark a significant milestone this weekend when the green flag waves in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race. The race will mark the 1,500th NASCAR event for Toyota since joining the Camping World Truck Series in 2004. To celebrate that moment two of Toyota’s Cup drivers – Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell will showcase schemes that led to milestone moments for Toyota. Hamlin will campaign his 2016 Daytona 500 winning scheme, while Bell will run his 2017 SiriusXM Truck Series championship title scheme. In the Truck Series, Tyler Ankrum and Chase Purdy will honor founding members of Team Toyota. Ankrum will honor Mike Skinner, one of Toyota’s first drivers in 2004 who won 12 races and earned 35 pole positions in a Tundra, and Purdy will honor Darrell Waltrip, one of Toyota’s first team owners in the Truck Series.
Truex looks to repeat… Martin Truex Jr. is looking for his first win of the season and Darlington Raceway seems like a perfect spot. Truex is the reigning winner of this race – an event that he dominated by leading 248 of 293 laps and winning both stages. It was Truex’s second victory at the track. He also won the Southern 500 in 2016.
Hamlin wins at Darlington… Denny Hamlin simply wins at Darlington Raceway. The Virginia-native earned his first win at the track ‘Too Tough to Tame’ in 2010 and has since added three additional victories – including a win last fall.
Bell continues to move forward… Christopher Bell is on a very impressive run as the third-year driver has scored four top-10 finishes in the last six races, including a fourth place run on Monday in Dover. Bell has moved from 29th in the point standings to 10th with the solid performance.
Jones returns to Darlington with momentum… Brandon Jones continues to hold momentum coming into Darlington after his Martinsville Raceway victory and pole at Dover Motor Speedway last weekend. Jones is a former winner at Darlington, winning the fall 2020 race in a Toyota throwback livery honoring Toyota’s first stock car champion, Robert Huffman.
Nemechek back in the 26… John Hunter Nemechek is back for a second consecutive week in the Xfinity Series, but this time he is back aboard the Sam Hunt Racing (SHR) No. 26 Toyota GR Supra. In two starts this season, Nemechek is averaging a top-10 finish and led the team’s first laps in Phoenix. Nemechek has several more Xfinity starts scheduled with both SHR and Joe Gibbs Racing this season. He will also be continuing the championship hunt in the Truck Series as he looks to finish one spot higher on Friday night than he did in Darlington last fall where he finished runner-up.
Heim looks for redemption… Corey Heim is back aboard the No. 51 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro this weekend, one season removed from making his series debut at the track. Heim was impressive as he drove through the field to the lead, before being involved in an accident.
Rhodes leads… Ben Rhodes continues to lead the Camping World Truck Series point standings as he looks to join his teammate Matt Crafton as a back-to-back champion in the series. Rhodes won the series’ most recent event in Bristol and has finished inside the top-five in five of the six races this season.
NASCAR Regional Series – ARCA East
Smith returns to Nashville as the leader … Reigning ARCA East champion Sammy Smith is back at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway looking for another victory. Smith led over half of the laps on his way to his second career ARCA East win. A victory would also help grow his championship lead, which currently sits at two points.
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