This Week in Motorsports: May 18 – 24, 2026
NCS/NOAPS/NCTS: Charlotte Motor Speedway – May 22-24
ARCA West: Colorado National Speedway – May 23
PLANO, Texas (May 20, 2026) – NASCAR heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway for its annual Memorial Day weekend of racing around the 1.5-mile oval, culminating with the Crown Jewel Coca-Cola 600 Sunday night. Meanwhile, the ARCA Menards Series West heads to Colorado National Speedway Saturday night for its fifth race of 2026.
NASCAR National Series – NCS/NOAPS/NCTSS
Toyota seeks another Coca-Cola 600 triumph … Team Toyota enters this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 in search of its eighth victory in the Crown Jewel event. Christopher Bell was the most recent winner in a Toyota Camry in 2024. Martin Truex Jr. has the most Coke 600 wins for Toyota with two – 2016 and 2019.
Hamlin looks to continue 600 success … Denny Hamlin has a knack for putting up strong finishes in the Coca-Cola 600. Sunday night will be his 21st start in the Crown Jewel event, where he has top-10 finishes in three of the last five Coca-Cola 600s, including his win in 2022. In 34 starts on the Charlotte Motor Speedway oval – which includes the fall race which was last run in 2017 – Hamlin has 12 top-fives and 21 top-10s, as well as poles in the 2013 Coca-Cola 600 and the 2017 fall race.
Heim returns to the No. 67 … 23XI Racing’s Corey Heim is back behind the wheel of the No. 67 Toyota Camry XSE this weekend in the Coca-Cola 600. Should he qualify for the event, Heim would make his 11th career Cup Series start and fourth of the 2026 season. In his last start at Texas Motor Speedway earlier in the month, Heim led 69 laps before an incident resulted in a 31st-place finish. Heim returns to Charlotte after sweeping both Truck Series races there last year on the oval and the ROVAL – enroute to his Truck Series title.
Thompson returns to favorable Charlotte … Charlotte Motor Speedway has become one of the better tracks for Sam Hunt Racing’s Dean Thompson. The driver of the No. 26 Toyota GR Supra earned his best career O’Reilly Series finish in last season’s race at Charlotte, coming home fifth in his second start at the track. In his time in the Truck Series, Thompson earned two top-10s in three starts on the 1.5-mile North Carolina oval, which includes a third-place result in 2023.
Jones continues strong run … With his sixth-place finish last weekend at Dover Motor Speedway, Brandon Jones now has five consecutive top-10 finishes in the O’Reilly Series dating back to Kansas Speedway in April. In total, Jones has eight top-10s, and three top-fives, in 14 races so far this season. Jones currently sits fifth in the driver’s point standings entering this weekend in Charlotte, which will be his 350th career O’Reilly Series start.
Honeycutt continues strong 2026 start … Kaden Honeycutt extended his strong start to the 2026 Truck Series season with a fourth-place finish last weekend at Dover. Honeycutt now has seven top-10s and six top-fives in nine Truck Series races this season, and remains in the points lead, 38 points atop the standings. He makes his third career start on the Charlotte oval this weekend, where he’s finished inside the top-10 in both previous starts – seventh in 2024 and third in 2025.
Jones, Sawalich again do double duty … Jones and William Sawalich will again take on double duty, this time at Charlotte this weekend. Jones, who will drive the No. 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for TRICON Garage on Friday, makes his third Trucks start this season after a sixth-place finish at Dover last weekend. Jones also finished fourth at Texas. Sawalich, who will pilot the No. 5 Tundra TRD PRO for TRICON, makes his fourth Trucks start of 2026. He’s coming off a 14th-place finish in the Dover race and makes his Truck Series debut at Charlotte this weekend.
NASCAR Regional Series – ARCA Menards Series West
Lovell takes on Colorado … In Saturday night’s ARCA Menards Series West race at Colorado National Speedway, Mia Lovell will pilot the No. 15 Toyota Camry for Nitro Motorsports. Lovell makes her fifth start in the West Series this season and is coming off two top-10 finishes at Tucson Speedway (eighth) and Shasta Speedway (ninth).
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our nearly 1,500 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs approximately 48,000 people in the U.S. who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of more than 36 million cars and trucks at our 11 manufacturing plants. In 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina began to assemble automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.
For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.
