This Week in Motorsports: September 12-18, 2023
· NCS/NXS/NCTS/ARCA: Bristol Motor Speedway – September 14-16
· NHRA: Maple Grove Raceway – September 17
PLANO, Texas (September 13, 2023) – NASCAR heads to Bristol for its annual night race, while the NHRA kicks off its Countdown at Maple Grove Raceway in Pennsylvania.
NASCAR National Series – NCS | NXS | NCTS
Reddick clinched into the Round of 12… Tyler Reddick delivered in the final laps at Kansas Speedway and earned his second victory of the season to move on to the Round of 12 for the first time. The California-native had a clutch final restart the score the win, and now can rest easy going into Bristol Motor Speedway. Reddick has one top-five in four career starts on the pavement in Bristol.
Hamlin plans to clinch early… Denny Hamlin should be able to clinch his spot in the next round early in the running at Bristol as he holds a 49-point advantage over the cut line heading into Saturday night’s race. The Virginia-native has won the race twice, most recently in 2019.
Truex, Wallace look to move above the cutline… After cut tires in Kansas, Martin Truex Jr. and Bubba Wallace head to Bristol Motor Speedway looking for strong runs. Truex, the 2017 Cup Series champion, sits in 13th – just seven points below the cut line. He has multiple strong runs at Bristol but is looking for his first win. His best finish – a second – came in 2011. Wallace, who is 19 points below the cut line, has a best finish of 10th in 2020.
Nemechek starts Xfinity Series from top spot… John Hunter Nemechek heads into Bristol off another dominating performance. He earned his series-leading sixth win this season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, leading 145 of 200 laps. It was also a major race for Toyota, as Nemechek earned the 200th Xfinity Series win for Toyota. The points leader is making his first Xfinity Series start at Bristol since 2019, where he finished in third.
Bayne returns for back-to-back races… Trevor Bayne will compete in the next two races for Joe Gibbs Racing in their Xfinity Series no. 19 Toyota GR Supra. Bayne, who is a Tennessee-native, has seven top-10 finishes in 10 starts for Joe Gibbs Racing over the last two seasons. In his season debut in Daytona, Bayne led 26 laps before being caught up in a late-race incident.
Heim plans to continue top-10 streak… Corey Heim added another strong run to his tally at Kansas Speedway. The Toyota development driver led 40 laps of Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race before finishing fourth for his 12th consecutive top-10 finish, which ranks amongst top-15 all-time in NASCAR history. Heim begins the Round of 8 atop of the Truck Series points lead, eight points above the Playoff cutline. The Georgia-native finished in the top-10 in his pavement debut on Bristol last season.
Gray impresses in Kansas… Taylor Gray earned his career-best finish at Kansas Speedway on Friday night as he brought his Toyota Tundra TRD Pro home in the runner-up spot. Gray, who is making his third pavement Bristol start, finished third in the ARCA Bristol race last season.
NASCAR Regional Series – ARCA
Sawalich looks to earn first title… William Sawalich comes into Thursday’s ARCA race looking to clinch his first ARCA Menards Series East title. The 16-year-old has a 20-point advantage coming into Bristol. He has earned top-five finishes in every ARCA East race this season, including three wins. Sawalich will also run the NASCAR Truck Series race later that evening for TRICON Garage.
NHRA – Top Fuel | Funny Car
Brown, Capps look to continue streak… Former champions Antron Brown and Ron Capps come into Maple Grove after winning back-to-back races. Brown, who moved up to the third seed in the Countdown in Top Fuel after the victories in Brainerd and Indy, earned a semi-final finish last season at Maple Grove, while defending Funny Car champion Capps started his championship run with a final round appearance.
Toyota Top Fuel looks to continue streak… After Brown’s victory in Indianapolis, Team Toyota has won the last five Top Fuel races this season starting with Steve Torrence scoring Toyota’s 200th NHRA win in Seattle, followed by back-to-back wins from points leader Justin Ashley in Sonoma and Topeka and Brown’s last two victories.
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