This Week in Motorsports: April 20 – April 26, 2026
NCS/NOAPS/ARCA: Talladega Superspeedway – April 24-26
PLANO, Texas (April 22, 2026) – NASCAR’s Cup and O’Reilly Series head to the heart of Alabama and Talladega Superspeedway for the first of two visits in 2026. The two series will be joined by the ARCA Menards Series for a weekend packed of high-stakes, superspeedway racing.
NASCAR National Series – NCS/NOAPS
Toyota’s incredible run continues … With Tyler Reddick’s triumph at Kansas Speedway last Sunday, Toyota has now captured its seventh win in the first nine Cup Series races in 2026, the best start in as many races for a series manufacturer since 2007. The start is also the best for Toyota in its Cup Series history. For Reddick, he has now won five of the first nine races this season, becoming the first driver to do such since Dale Earnhardt Sr. in 1987. Reddick now owns a 105-point lead in the Cup Series driver standings over his 23XI Racing co-owner, Denny Hamlin.
Reddick eyes another drafting track win … Reddick began his historic 2026 Cup Series season with two consecutive drafting track wins at the Daytona 500 and at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta) in February. He now heads to Talladega Superspeedway looking for three straight. Reddick has 12 career starts at Talladega, which includes the dramatic win in the 2024 spring race, when he avoided a last-lap tri-oval wreck to claim victory in his No. 45 Toyota Camry XSE.
Briscoe looks for Talladega repeat … After a dramatic win at Talladega last October that put him into the Championship 4, Chase Briscoe returns to the 2.66-mile superspeedway in hopes of a repeat victory this Sunday. The driver of the No. 19 Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) also enters the weekend with two consecutive top-five finishes from Bristol Motor Speedway and Kansas, as well as three top-10s in the last five Cup Series races. Sunday will be the 190th career Cup Series start for Briscoe and his 11th at Talladega.
Wallace eager to continue drafting track prowess … Bubba Wallace has established himself as one of the premier drafting track drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series, which recent statistics continue to show. Wallace has finished inside the top-10 in the last three drafting track races dating back to last fall’s Talladega race – a fourth-place finish at Talladega in 2025, 10th at this year’s Daytona 500 and eighth at EchoPark Speedway. Wallace is well-positioned to continue the streak this weekend in Talladega, the site of his first career Cup Series win in 2021.
Gibbs extends top-10 streak … Finishing ninth in last Sunday’s race at Kansas, Ty Gibbs has finished inside the top-10 in seven consecutive races, the best such run of his career to-date. The streak includes his first career victory at Bristol two weeks ago. Gibbs is tied with Reddick for most top-10s in the Cup Series at seven, as he sits fourth in the Cup Series points standings entering this weekend in Talladega.
Gray coming off second career triumph … Last weekend’s victory for Taylor Gray at Kansas Speedway marked the second visit to victory lane in his young O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career. Gray led 48 laps on his way to victory to give Toyota its fourth consecutive O’Reilly Series win at Kansas. The result was also Gray’s third consecutive top-10 finish, as he and the No. 54 Toyota GR Supra team for JGR have found their groove at this point in the season.
Crews continues strong start to O’Reilly career … With his fifth-place finish last weekend in Kansas, Brent Crews has now earned four-top 10s and two top-fives in six career O’Reilly Series starts to date. His last two races – Bristol and Kansas – marked his best two finishes so far, with a third at Bristol and the fifth at Kansas. This weekend, the Toyota Development Driver makes his superspeedway debut at Talladega in hopes of securing another top-10 and even top-five to continue the strong series debut.
NASCAR Regional Series – ARCA Menards Series
Toyota brings strong lineup to Talladega … For this weekend’s ARCA Menards Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, Toyota will field a strong lineup as it looks for its 12th ARCA win at Talladega, its fourth in succession and ninth in the last 10 races. In the JGR No. 18 Toyota Camry, Gio Ruggiero returns after earning a victory in Kansas last weekend, his second ARCA win of the season after he was victorious in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway. For Nitro Motorsports, Jake Bollman, Isabella Robusto and Thomas Annunziata will pilot the No. 20, 55 and 70 Toyota Camrys, respectively. Bollman currently leads the ARCA Menards Series points standings by 12 points entering the weekend, as the now 19-year-old makes his debut at Talladega. Robusto makes her second career start at Talladega this weekend, where she finished third last season – the best finish by a female driver in the series at the famed superspeedway. Annunziata also makes his second career Talladega. Nitro Motorsports’ will also field Toyota Camrys this weekend for Jake Finch in the No. 15 and Gus Dean in the No. 25.
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.
