This Week in Motorsports: October 12 – 18, 2026
NCS/NOAPS/NCTS/ARCA WEST: Phoenix Raceway – October 16-18
PLANO, Texas (October 14, 2026) – The NASCAR Cup, O’Reilly, and Truck Series along with the ARCA Menards Series West, head out to Phoenix Raceway for the second and final trip this season. The weekend in the desert culminates with a 312-lap race for the Cup Series on Sunday.
NASCAR National Series – NCS/NOAPS/NCTS
Toyota looks to clinch manufacturer title in Phoenix… With the 17th victory of the season, Toyota looks to clinch its fourth Cup Series manufacturers’ championship in Phoenix. Toyota just needs a driver to finish 15th or better to clinch its first manufacturers’ title since 2019. Seventeen wins is also the most in a single season since 2019, where Camry drivers crossed the finish line in first place 19 times.
Briscoe Looks to Continue Momentum in Phoenix… With his win in Charlotte last weekend, Chase Briscoe earned his first back-to-back victories in NASCAR’s top series. The Indiana native will head to Phoenix this weekend to a track that holds a special memory for him as he brought home his first career Cup Series victory back in March of 2022. As the postseason is heating up, Briscoe is the hottest driver in the series over the course of the last three races with consecutive wins at Las Vegas and Charlotte, and a near victory three weekends ago at Kansas where he led 23 laps before settling for a fourth-place finish. During his hot streak, the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) driver has vaulted up the standings from eighth to his current fourth with four races to go in this year’s Chase.
Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe eye points lead … After Charlotte, three out of the top-four spots in the Chase standings are being held by Toyota Camry XSE drivers from the JGR stable. Denny Hamlin sits in second, 49 points out of the lead, with Christopher Bell third 51 points out, and now Briscoe is just 65 points behind the Chase leader Kyle Larson. In total, five Toyota’s are inside the top-10 in the standings with Tyler Reddick in seventh and Ty Gibbs in ninth, with just four races left in the season.
Bell seeks third Phoenix win … Bell returns to Phoenix Raceway looking for his third Phoenix win after finishing in the runner-up spot there in the spring to add on to terrific performances the last two seasons. In the spring of 2024, the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) driver led 50 laps on the way to victory and then followed it up by leading 105 of the 312 laps last season in a dominant win in March. The one-mile short oval has been one of Bell’s best tracks during his Cup Series career, with four top-fives and eight top-10s, along with those two victories, in 13 previous starts.
Gray hoping to extend Chase Top-10 streak…Taylor Gray has been the most consistent driver among the Toyota GR Supra teams through the first five races of the O’Reilly Series Chase. Gray now has five consecutive top-10 finishes to start this year’s postseason as he heads to Phoenix, a track where he’s earned two top-10 finishes in just three career starts there. In 2025, Gray brought home two top-10 results as he was sixth in the spring race and followed it up with a seventh-place finishing position in last year’s season finale.
Brandon Jones looks to continue strong Phoenix stats … JGR driver Brandon Jones returns to Phoenix in search of continued strong runs at the short oval in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Jones comes into the weekend with a top-10 finish in three of the last five Phoenix races. He owns a total of nine top-10s and five top fives, along with a win in 2020, in 21 previous starts at Phoenix.
Honeycutt looks to expand on points lead at Phoenix… With just four races remaining in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chase, Kaden Honeycutt heads to Phoenix on Friday evening with a 17-point lead as he hopes to finish strong with his eye on his first Truck Series Championship. Honeycutt, driver of the No. 11 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for TRICON Garage, has a strong track record in limited races on the one-mile oval. In fact, Honeycutt has finished inside the top 10 in all four starts at Phoenix, dating back to his Truck Series debut there in 2022. In his most recent start at Phoenix last November, Honeycutt brought home his best career Phoenix finish of third, as he finished the 2025 season in a Toyota prepared by Halmar-Friesen Racing substituting for co-owner and fellow series regular Stewart Friesen.
NASCAR Regional Series – ARCA Menards Series West
Strong entries for Toyota in Phoenix … Team Toyota will field a strong set of entries for this weekend’s ARCA Menards Series West race at Phoenix Raceway, as the manufacturer searches for its seventh win in the last 10 ARCA races at the one-mile oval. Max Reaves is entered in the JGR No. 18 Toyota Camry after capturing five total victories this season, with three wins in the National series and adding two more in the East series. Toyota will have two Development Drivers, Jade Avedisian and Isabella Robusto, among its eight entries on Saturday night, each seeking their first win of the year. Arizona-native and series regular Mia Lovell, Avedisian, Gavan Boschele, Landon Brown, Kasey Kleyn and Wesley Slimp round out the six-car Nitro Motorsports lineup while Robusto will enter the race for RAFA Racing.
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.
