This Week in Motorsports: July 6-12, 2020
· NCS/NXS/NGROTS/ARCA: Kentucky Speedway (Sparta, Kentucky) – July 9-12
PLANO, Texas (July 8, 2020) – Five races in four days are on tap at Kentucky Speedway this week, including the second NASCAR Xfinity Series doubleheader of the season.
NASCAR National Series – NCS | NXS | NGROTS
Toyota Strong at Kentucky… Toyota has seen much success in the Bluegrass state since the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) debuted at Kentucky Speedway in 2011. Camry drivers have scored five wins in nine races, with Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. earning two victories a piece. Busch won the inaugural 2011 event and followed that up in 2015 with his second triumph. Truex’ two wins came in consecutive fashion in 2017 and 2018, combining to lead over 300 laps in the two events.
Hamlin Holds Playoff Points Lead… With 10 events before the NCS Playoffs begin, Denny Hamlin leads all drivers with 23 Playoff points secured on the strength of four race victories, along with three stage wins. Hamlin is looking for his first Kentucky Speedway victory after securing top five finishes in nearly half of the NCS events he’s competed in at the track thus far.
Built in Georgetown… Erik Jones will feature a new Toyota scheme this weekend highlighting the Toyota Camry, which is built in nearby Georgetown, Kentucky. Since 1988, over 12 million vehicles have rolled out of the plant, which employs over 10,000 people.
Xfinity Stars Success at Kentucky… Kentucky Speedway is a track where all three Joe Gibbs Racing NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) drivers have seen success. Riley Herbst ran his first NXS race at Kentucky Speedway last season and earned an 11th-place finish. Brandon Jones scored his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series top five at Kentucky Speedway in 2015, and Harrison Burton tied his career-best Truck Series result of third one year ago at the Sparta, Kentucky, track.
Dominant Hill… Hattori Racing Enterprises driver Austin Hill has started the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series (NGROTS) season on an incredible streak of six consecutive top 10 results. Hill’s average finish this season is fifth, and he leads the overall point standings by 51 points.
First for Smith… After turning 18 last month, Toyota Racing Development driver Chandler Smith makes his first NGROTS on a mile-and-a-half oval. In limited Truck Series starts last season, Smith’s impressive results including a runner-up finish at Bristol Motor Speedway. In three ARCA Menards Series starts this season has two wins at Phoenix Raceway in March and Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis last weekend.
NASCAR Regional Series – ARCA
Record Secured… With Smith’s victory last week at Lucas Oil Raceway, Toyota secured its 13th consecutive race win – dating back to July 2019 – which is a new national ARCA Menards Series record. Toyota looks to continue to grow that record with four Camrys scheduled to compete on Saturday afternoon at Kentucky Speedway, including series points leader Michael Self, Ryan Repko and Talladega winner Drew Dollar for Venturini Motorsports and Pocono winner Ty Gibbs for JGR.
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Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 40 million cars and trucks in North America, where we have 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama (10 in the U.S.), and directly employ more than 47,000 people (over 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold nearly 2.8 million cars and trucks (nearly 2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2019.
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