This Week in Motorsports: September 21-27, 2026
NCS/NCTS/ARCA NATIONAL: Kansas Speedway – Sept. 25-27
ARCA WEST: Madera Speedway – Sept. 25-26
PLANO, Texas (Sept. 23, 2026) – TOYOTA RACING heads back to the Midwest and the second trip to Kansas Speedway this season for three days of racing as the Chase continues for the NASCAR Cup Series and Truck Series, along with the ARCA Menards Series season finale.
NASCAR National Series – NCS/NCTS
23XI and Toyota hope to continue Kansas dominance…Since 2022, Toyota – and 23XI Racing in particular – have been impressive at Kansas Speedway. Former 23XI driver Kurt Busch and Bubba Wallace swept the season in 2022 for 23XI with Tyler Reddick adding wins in 2023 and again this past April to give the team four total wins at Kansas in the last five years. Reddick, who currently sits seventh in the Chase standings, will look to recapture his early season magic and move up the postseason standings as his Kansas win earlier this year marked his fifth victory over the course of the first nine races of the season that also saw Toyota drivers win seven of those first nine events.
Hamlin, Bell look to add to Kansas success … Kansas has been a track Joe Gibbs Racing’s (JGR) Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell circle on the calendar each year. Hamlin, who’s made 36 career starts there, enters the weekend with top-10 finishes in 13 of the last 18 races – which includes wins in 2019, 2020 and 2023. Hamlin has four wins, 16 top-fives and 18 top-10s at Kansas as he hopes to follow up his fourth-place finish back in April with another solid run there. For Bell, Sunday will be his 14th career NCS start at Kansas, where he’s earned nine top-10s in his 13 previous starts. He’s also earned four pole positions and has started inside the top-10 in nine of his 13 starts at the 1.5-mile oval.
Toyota teams in the thick of points battle … Hamlin and Bell continue to be in the middle of a battle for the championship lead with the top-four drivers separated by just 17 points with seven races remaining in NASCAR’s postseason. Hamlin (second) continues to lead six Toyota drivers in the top-10 positions, which includes Bell in fourth, fifth-place Ty Gibbs, Tyler Reddick (seventh), Chase Briscoe (ninth) and Bubba Wallace (10th).
Honeycutt looks to overtake Championship lead as the Chase continues… With his top-10 finish in the Truck Series Chase opener last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, Toyota Development Driver Kaden Honeycutt cut further into the championship lead as he now sits just three points behind the leader heading into Kansas. Honeycutt, who is in the post-season for the second consecutive year, will eye his first Kansas win as he has two top-five and three top-10 finishes in five career races at the 1.5-mile oval.
Brent Crews returns to Truck Series at Kansas… While the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series is taking a week off, Brent Crews is most certainly not. The Toyota Development Driver will instead make just his second Truck Series start of the year and first since May at Watkins Glen, as he takes over driving duties this weekend in the No. 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for TRICON Garage on Saturday at Kansas. This marks just the second ever start at Kansas for the 18-year-old, as he finished a solid fifth at Kansas in April while making his sixth career start in his usual fulltime ride in the O’Reilly Series for JGR.
NASCAR Regional Series – ARCA Menards Series/ARCA Menards West
Bollman and Annunziata face off for first ARCA Menards Series title… It will all come down to two Toyota drivers Friday night at Kansas Speedway as Nitro Motorsports’ Jake Bollman and Thomas Annunziata will go toe-to-toe as each young driver looks to secure their first career ARCA Menards Series Championship. Bollman, driver of the No. 20 Toyota Camry, holds a 16-point advantage entering the finale. A finish of 10th or better will lock up the championship for Bollman no matter what Annunziata does at Kansas. Annunziata, the driver of the No. 70 Toyota Camry out of the same Nitro Motorsports shop, holds the tiebreaker on Bollman by virtue of his win earlier this season at Lime Rock Park should the pair end the season equal on points.
Lovell and Robinson head to Madera … As the ARCA Menards Series West heads to Madera Speedway in Madera, California, Nitro Motorsports brings three entries in search of victory. Mia Lovell will pilot the No. 15 Toyota Camry this weekend for Nitro for her 10th start of 2026, where she has two top-fives and five top-10s so far this season. Will Robinson will be in the No. 25 for his fourth West Series start this season after coming home with his career best finish, fifth, in early September at All-American Speedway.
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.
