Toyota Racing
This Week in Motorsports – May 27- June 2, 2019
Toyota Racing On-Track this Week
MENCS/NXS/ARCA: Pocono Raceway (Long Pond, Pennsylvania) – May 31 – June 2
NHRA: Route 66 Raceway (Joliet, Illinois) – June 1 – 2
NKNPSE: Memphis International Raceway (Memphis, Tennessee) – June 1
NASCAR National Series – MENCS | NXS
Pocono Hot Streak… Toyota drivers have captured wins in the last three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) events held at Pocono Raceway with Kyle Busch victorious in July 2017 and July 2018 and Martin Truex Jr. the defending race winner in last year’s June event. Denny Hamlin is the winningest active driver at the Pennsylvania track with four victories. His most recent wins were in a Toyota in 2009 and 2010. In total, Camry drivers have tallied seven MENCS victories at the Tricky Triangle with former Toyota drivers Matt Kenseth (2015) and Joey Logano (2012) also collecting wins.
Toyota Rolling Through 2019… A Camry has visited victory lane in eight of 13 MENCS races this season, including the most recent race winner, Truex. Hamlin has notched two wins (Daytona International Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway) while Busch (ISM Raceway, Auto Club Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway) and Truex (Richmond Raceway, Dover International Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway) both have three victories. Additionally, across all three NASCAR national series, Toyota drivers have captured 20 of 32 race wins or 63% of the events run in 2019.
Pennsylvania Dreamin’… The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) will compete in its third race at Pocono Raceway since the series debuted at the track in 2016. Busch is the most recent race winner after capturing the win last season in his second series start at the track. Christopher Bell and Brandon Jones have NXS experience at the 2.5-mile track while Jeffrey Earnhardt will make his series debut there.
NHRA – Top Fuel | Funny Car
Route 66 Site of History-Making Win… Former Kalitta Motorsports driver Jeff Arend made history at Route 66 in 2012 when he became the first driver to win in the TRD-designed Toyota Camry Funny Car. Beginning with Arend’s triumph, Camry drivers have since registered 29 wins and two Funny Car world championships.
Brown, Kalitta Winningest Active Drivers in Chicago… No active Top Fuel drivers have won at Route 66 Raceway more than Toyota drivers Antron Brown and Doug Kalitta with three victories a piece. Brown won at the track in 2012, 2014 and 2016, while Kalitta took top honors in 2002, 2004 and 2006.
Brown Closing in on First 2019 Win… With a pair of runner-up finishes in the last four races, Brown is closing in on his 51st career Top Fuel win, which would put him just one win behind Joe Amato for the third most all-time wins. The three-time world champion has won at least one race in each of his 11 full seasons in Top Fuel.
Todd Continues Hot Streak… After winning the 2018 Funny Car world championship, J.R. Todd has shown no signs of letting up this season. The Camry driver has advanced to nine final rounds in the last 15 races, including the series’ most recent race in Virginia.
Regional Stock Car Racing – ARCA | NKNPSE
Taming the Tricky Triangle… Toyota drivers have won three of the last four ARCA Menards Series events at Pocono Raceway. Former Camry driver Zane Smith (July 2018) tallied one win while Toyota drivers Riley Herbst (June 2017) and Harrison Burton (June 2018) also captured victories at the 2.5-mile track. This year, Michael Self and Christian Eckes return to Pocono for their second and third starts, respectively, while Hailie Deegan will make her track debut in her second-career ARCA start.
Heading East… Bill McAnally Racing (BMR) heads east for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (NKNPSE) event at Memphis International Raceway. Two-time K&N Pro Series West champion Todd Gilliland returns to BMR this race, joining team regulars Derek Kraus and Brittney Zamora. Since the NKNPSE started racing at Memphis in 2017, Toyota drivers have gone undefeated at the 0.75-mile track. Harrison Burton collected the first win in 2017 while Ruben Garcia Jr. was last year’s winner.
Midget Racing – USAC | POWRi
The Lull Before the Storm… Both national midget car series are off this weekend before beginning the most intense run of the season with 11 races in 13 days starting on Tuesday, June 4. USAC’s Indiana Midget Week will kick things off with six races in six nights before POWRi takes the stage with its five-race Illinois Midget Week beginning on June 12. Leading the way for Toyota are Kevin Thomas Jr., who is currently second in USAC competition, and Logan Seavey, who sits on top of the POWRi standings.
