This Week in Motorsports: July 13 – 19, 2026
NCS/NCTS: North Wilkesboro Speedway – July 18-19
PLANO, Texas (July 15, 2026) – NASCAR’s Cup and Truck Series head back to North Wilkesboro Speedway for an action-pack weekend of short track racing. Sunday night’s 450-lap Cup Series race culminates the weekend – the first Cup Series points race at North Wilkesboro since 1996.
NASCAR National Series – NCS/NCTS
Bell advances to In-Season Challenge semifinals … After last weekend’s race at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta), Christopher Bell has advanced to the semifinals of the NASCAR Cup Series In-Season Challenge – the lone Toyota Camry XSE remaining in the tournament. Bell will go up against Ryan Blaney Sunday night at North Wilkesboro Speedway. The Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) driver has also been on a strong run of late in the Cup Series, with three consecutive top-five finishes and two consecutive runner-up results, which has propelled him up to ninth in the series point standings. Bell also won the All-Star Race which was held at North Wilkesboro last season.
Wallace makes 200th Toyota start … Sunday’s race at North Wilkesboro will be the 200th in Bubba Wallace’scareer driving a Toyota Camry. The 23XI Racing driver made his first start with the manufacturer at the 2021 Daytona 500, and has since captured three victories (Talladega 2021, Kansas 2022 and last season’s Brickyard 400), 28 top-fives, 60 top-10s, along with three pole positions, in that timespan. In three of his first five years with Toyota, Wallace made the Cup Series Playoffs and is pushing for a spot in “The Chase” this season.
Honeycutt continues impressive 2026 … With a third-place finish last weekend at Lime Rock Park, TRICON Garage’s Kaden Honeycutt added another impressive result to an already stellar 2026 Truck Series season. After 14 races, the Toyota Development driver has one win (Watkins Glen International), nine top-fives and 10 top-10s, along with three pole positions. Honeycutt sits second in the series point standings, 44 points behind the lead, as he chases a regular season title with four races remaining.
Leitz, Heim to pilot No. 1 and No. 5 Tundras … For this weekend’s Truck Series race at North Wilkesboro, Nick Leitz and Corey Heim will be behind the wheel of the No. 1 and No.5 Toyota Tundra TRD Pros, respectively, for TRICON Garage. Leitz makes his 10th career Truck Series start and second of 2026 after running the No. 5 for TRICON Garage at Daytona International Speedway to open the season. For Heim, this will be his sixth Truck start of the season, where he has three wins (Darlington Raceway, Rockingham Speedway and Michigan International Speedway), four top-fives and four top-10s. This weekend also marks Heim’s 95th career Truck Series start.
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 approximately 48,000 people in the U.S. who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of more than 36 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.
