This Week in Motorsports: April 7 – April 13, 2025
- NCS/NXS/NCTS: Bristol Motor Speedway – April 11-13
- NHRA: The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – April 11-13
PLANO, Texas (April 9, 2025) – NASCAR is off to Bristol Motor Speedway with all three national series in action this weekend on the famed 0.533-mile, concrete short track. NHRA is also on-track this weekend in the first four-wide national event of the season at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
NASCAR National Series – NCS/NXS/NCTS
Camry XSEs win five of the first eight races … With Denny Hamlin’s win at Darlington Raceway last weekend, following up his win at Martinsville Speedway two weeks ago, Toyota has won five of the first eight NASCAR Cup Series races in 2025. Hamlin’s current run follows Christopher Bell’s incredible three-race win streak that spanned Atlanta Motor Speedway, Circuit of the Americas and Phoenix Raceway earlier this season. Another Camry XSE victory this weekend would be the 195th for Toyota in the Cup Series.
Toyota drivers maintaining positions near top of the standings … Now eight races into the 2025 Cup Series season, Toyota continues with six drivers inside the top-20 of the series points standings. With his two straight wins, Hamlin has bolted his way to second in the series points standings, with Bell, who captured another top-five result last weekend in Darlington, right behind in the third position. Tyler Reddick, who also came home in the top-five last weekend, moved up to fifth position in the standings, with 23XI Racing teammate, Bubba Wallace, in eighth. Chase Briscoe and John Hunter Nemechek are the others inside the top-20, sitting in the 14th and 19th positions, respectively.
Hamlin goes for another historic win … Hamlin returns to Bristol Motor Speedway in search of his third straight victory, as well as a repeat win in the Bristol spring race from a season ago. The 0.533-mile, concrete short track has been kind to the driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), where he’s amassed four career wins, 12 top-fives and 19 top-10s – with five straight top-10s there entering this weekend. Another victory by Hamlin would move him to three away from tying Kevin Harvick for 10th on the Cup Series all-time wins list at 60.
Bell returns to favorable Bristol … Like his JGR teammate, Bell has also had recent success at Bristol Motor Speedway. The driver of the No. 20 Toyota Camry XSE for JGR enters the weekend with four consecutive top-10s as well on concrete Bristol, including a fifth-place result last fall. Bell is also a recent winner at the famed speedway in the 2023 spring Bristol dirt race.
Double duty racers take on Bristol … Toyota will have a pair of drivers taking part in both the Xfinity and Truck Series races this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway with Corey Heim and Brandon Jones. Heim will make his Xfinity Series debut at Bristol in the No. 24 GR Supra for Sam Hunt Racing, along with his fifth career Bristol Truck Series start the night before in the No. 11 Tundra TRD Pro for TRICON Garage. In four previous attempts in his Tundra TRD Pro, Heim has one career win (2023) and four top-10 finishes. Jones, coming off a Xfinity Series win at Darlington last week, will run the Truck Series race Friday night for TRICON Garage in the No. 1 Tundra TRD Pro, his second Truck start of 2025. Jones has five top-five Xfinity Series results in the last six Bristol races as he looks for a second victory in his No. 20 GR Supra for JGR.
Friesen’s strong start continues … After a ninth-place finish at Martinsville Speedway two weeks ago, Stewart Friesen has three top-10 results in the first five races of the 2025 Truck Series season and sits fifth in the series points standings. Heading to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend, Friesen has top-10 finishes in five of his 10 previous starts at the speedway. Friday night will also be the 190th Truck start of Friesen’s career.
NHRA – Top Fuel/Funny Car
Toyota Top Fuel Dragsters leading standings … Three races into the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season, Toyota’s Top Fuel racers are at the top of the standings. With a final round appearance, a race win and the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge win so far this season, Shawn Langdon holds the category points lead by 77 points over his teammate, Doug Kalitta – who seeks a repeat win at the Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals. In third is Antron Brown, who captured victory at the season opener in Gainesville.
Ashley’s 100th race … This weekend’s Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas will be the 100th race in Justin Ashley’s NHRA career. The driver of the SCAG Power Equipment Toyota Top Fuel Dragster has had an impressive young career to-date, with 15 career wins and six No. 1 qualifiers entering this weekend.
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 49 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In spring 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 32 electrified options.
For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.
