This Week in Motorsports: July 3-9, 2023
· NCS/NXS: Atlanta Motor Speedway – July 8-9
· NCTS/ARCA: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – July 7-8
PLANO, Texas (July 5, 2023) – After racing around the streets of downtown Chicago, NASCAR is back to superspeedway-style racing at the newly-configured Atlanta Motor Speedway, while the NASCAR Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series teams compete at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
NASCAR National Series – NCS | NXS | NCTS
1,000 for the Camry… This weekend marks the 1,000th event for the Toyota Camry in NASCAR. Counting this upcoming race weekend, the Toyota Camry has competed in 595 NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and 405 NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) races under the Toyota Camry badging. The Camry has won 324 races – 175 in NCS and 149 in NXS.
Gibbs continues to impress in rookie season… Ty Gibbs continues to impress in his rookie season in the NASCAR Cup Series. With his fourth ninth-place finish of the season at Chicago, Gibbs moved inside the Playoff field for the first time since the second race of the season. Gibbs had a strong run at Atlanta earlier this season, bringing his Camry home in the ninth spot.
Bell adds to Playoff tally… Christopher Bell led the most laps and earned two valuable Playoff points at the Chicago Street Course, as the Oklahoma-native now has seven Playoff points in his tally heading into Atlanta. Bell, who is just 21 points out of the championship lead, finished third at Atlanta in the spring to lead Toyota.
Nemechek looks to add to advantage… John Hunter Nemechek added to his Xfinity Series points lead for the second consecutive race with a runner-up finish in the Chicago Street Race. The North Carolina-native led 10 laps and finished eighth in the spring race at Atlanta Motor Speedway earlier this season.
Smith, Grala desire to start top-10 streaks… Sammy Smith and Kaz Grala both earned solid top-10 finishes in Chicago and are looking to add to those streaks heading into Atlanta. Smith, who finished sixth, moved back inside the top-10 in points with the strong run, while Grala (10th) has officially bounced-back from a tough start to the season with nine top-20 finishes in the last 11 races.
Heim plans to extend points lead … With three races remaining in the regular season, Corey Heim continues to hold down the points lead. After missing Gateway due to illness, Heim got right back in the seat and back in his consistent groove as the Georgia-native earned a stage win and his sixth consecutive top-10 finish. Despite competing in one less race than any other full-time driver, Heim has 10 top-10 finishes – two more than any other competitor. He is 16 points ahead of second-place Zane Smith heading into this weekend. Heim made his track debut last season at Mid-Ohio, earning the pole and leading three laps before losing a transmission with seven laps to go.
Sawalich running two… William Sawalich will get two chances for victory this weekend. The 16-year-old will compete in his normal ARCA Menards Series ride – the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Camry – on Friday, before making his second Truck Series start for TRICON Garage on Saturday. The Toyota development driver was impressive in his Truck debut, finishing inside the top-10 at Martinsville in April.
NASCAR Regional Series – ARCA
Love looks to continue hot streak… Jesse Love continued his strong performance with his fourth national ARCA Menards Series win in the last five events. The Toyota development driver holds a 40-point advantage in the series standings going into Mid-Ohio this weekend. Love finished fifth in his track debut last year.
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