This Week in Motorsports: April 13 – April 19, 2026
NCS/NOAPS/ARCA: Kansas Speedway – April 17-19
PLANO, Texas (April 15, 2026) – NASCAR’s Cup and O’Reilly Series head to America’s heartland this weekend for the first of two visits to Kansas Speedway in 2026. They will be joined by the ARCA Menards Series, in an action-packed three days around the mile-and-a-half oval.
NASCAR National Series – NCS/NOAPS
Toyota continues incredible start to 2026 … With Ty Gibbs’ triumph at Bristol Motor Speedway last Sunday, Toyota has now won six of the first eight Cup Series races in a historic start to the 2026 season. Gibbs’ win follows the four victories by Tyler Reddick and one by Denny Hamlin for Toyota’s count so far this year. Kansas Speedway offers Toyota a prime position to continue the streak this weekend, as the manufacturer traditionally runs well around the mile-and-a-half track, and is seeking its 13th win in the Cup Series there.
Gibbs coming off maiden win, extends top-10 streak … In what has been a successful start to 2026, Gibbscomes to Kansas this weekend off his first career Cup Series win last Sunday at Bristol. The driver of the No. 54 Toyota Camry XSE led the final 25 laps and held off hard chargers, while on old tires, in an overtime restart to take the checkered flag. He also extended his top-10 finishing streak to six straight races, which dates to Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in March. The streak is a career-best for Gibbs and is the longest in the series so far.
Wallace hits 300 career starts … Sunday’s Cup Series race at Kansas will be the 300th in the career of Bubba Wallace. To-date, the 23XI Racing driver has three career victories, 28 top-fives, 64 top-10s and three pole positions. One of those victories for Wallace came at Kansas in 2022, when he piloted the No. 45 Camry. Sunday will be Wallace’s 17th career Cup Series start at the mile-and-a-half oval.
Heim returns to the Cup Series … For the first time since the Daytona 500, where he led eight laps late in the race, Corey Heim is back behind the wheel of the 23XI Racing No. 67 Toyota Camry XSE this weekend at Kansas. Sunday will be the ninth career Cup Series start for the Georgia native, and his third at Kansas, after running the spring race there the last two seasons. Heim is a former winner around this oval, winning both races in the Truck Series in 2024, leading 143 of the 268 total laps run.
Hamlin, Bell look to continue Kansas success … Kansas has been a favorable track for Joe Gibbs Racing’s (JGR) Hamlin and Christopher Bell. Hamlin, who’s made 35 career starts there, enters the weekend with top-10 finishes in 12 of the last 17 races – which includes wins in 2019, 2020 and 2023. Hamlin has four wins, 15 top-fives and 17 top-10s at Kansas. For Bell, Sunday will be his 13th career start at Kansas, where he’s earned nine top-10s in his 12 previous starts. He’s also earned four pole positions and has started inside the top-10 in nine of his 12 starts.
Crews coming off career-best race … With a third-place finish last Saturday at Bristol, Brent Crews earned his career-best result in his young O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career. In just five starts, the 18-year-old has one top-five and three top-10s heading to Kansas this weekend, where he makes his mile-and-a-half debut in the series.
GR Supra teams eager to continue Kansas prowess … Kansas has also been a strong track for Team Toyota in the O’Reilly Series, with three consecutive victories after Brandon Jones’ win last fall. The triumph by Jones joined Aric Almirola’s win in 2024 and John Hunter Nemechek’s in 2023. Should Toyota visit victory lane again this Saturday, it’d be their 15th overall series win at Kansas and 15th in the last 20 O’Reilly Series races at the mile-and-a-half oval.
Jones seeks back-to-back at Kansas … Jones and his No. 20 GR Supra team arrive at Kansas in search of their second straight win there and their first victory of the 2026 O’Reilly Series season. The victory last fall was the seventh of Jones’ career, second of the 2025 season and third overall at the oval. In 11 career starts around this mile-and-a-half, Jones has three wins (2019, 2020 and 2025), five top-fives and eight top-10s.
NASCAR Regional Series – ARCA Menards Series
Star-studded Camry lineup … Team Toyota will have a stacked lineup in this weekend’s ARCA Menards Series race at Kansas, as the manufacturer goes for its second win of the 2026 national series season and its 12th national series win at the track. Gio Ruggiero will be in the JGR No. 18 Toyota Camry, making his second ARCA start of the season, after winning the season opener at Daytona back in February. Toyota will also have three other development drivers in Jade Avedisian, Isabella Robusto and Thomas Annunziata driving the Nitro Motorsports No. 15, 55 and 70 Toyota Camrys. Robusto will make her fourth career ARCA start at Kansas this weekend, where she’s been on pole before – in 2024. For Avedisian, this weekend marks her first career mile-and-a-half start in what will be her third career start in the ARCA Menards Series. She’s made three starts in the West Series so far this year, which includes a pole at the season opener at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway. Annunziata makes his third start of the ARCA season after a third-place result at Phoenix Raceway.
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 nearly 48,000 people in the U.S. who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of more than 35 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.
