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John Hunter Nemechek – No. 4 Mobil 1 Tundra Camping World Trucks Knoxville Preview

John Hunter Nemechek: Driver, No. 4 Mobil 1 Toyota

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Overview:
Event: Corn Belt 150, Race 14 of 22, 150 Laps – 40/50/60; 75 Miles
Location: Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway (half-mile dirt oval)
Date/Broadcast: July 9, 2021 at 9 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90

Neme’chek’ The Facts:

  • John Hunter Nemechek and the No. 4 Mobil 1 team head into Knoxville Raceway for the Corn Belt 150. Nemechek has put together a remarkable season thus far in his first season driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM). The second-generation driver leads the NASCAR Camping World Trucks Series regulars in wins (five), stage wins (nine), top fives (eight), top 10s (11), laps led (485), fastest laps run (237), driver rating (119.4), average running position (5.906) and average finish (7.1). With two races remaining in the regular season, Nemechek holds an 86-point advantage over Ben Rhodes in the driver standings. He has accumulated 34 playoff points so far this season and would add another 15 should he capture the regular season championship.
  • Nemechek registered his fifth win of 2021 in the series’ last stop, June 26 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. The talented wheelman was able to beat KBM owner-driver Kyle Busch head-to-head for the third time this season. Nemechek also bested his boss at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway in March and at Richmond (Va.) Raceway in April. Busch finished second to his pupil in all three of those events. Busch was victorious at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway in March and Kansas Speedway in May. In addition to beating Busch three times, Nemechek also outdueled reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott to pick up the victory at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth in June. So, he holds a four-to-two advantage this season going heads up against the last two Cup Series champions.
  • Across six career Camping World Trucks starts on dirt, Nemechek has collected one top five and four top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 14.7. Nemechek was running fifth in Stage Two of the dirt race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway earlier this year when he got spun by another competitor and was relegated to a season-worst 39th-place finish. The North Carolina native had better results when the Truck Series use to visit Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. He finished inside the top 10 four times in five tries, with a best result of fifth in the 2017 event.
  • Nemechek is an 11-time winner in Camping World Truck Series action, winning at least one race each season from 2015 to 2018 for his family-owned team, NEMCO Motorsports, and returning to victory lane this year with KBM. Across 115 career starts in NASCAR’s third division, the second-generation driver has compiled two poles, 1094 laps led, 36 top-five and 61 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 12.5. The North Carolina native qualified for the Camping World Truck Series playoffs in each of his two full-time seasons, finishing eighth in the championship standings in both 2016 and 2017. He was voted the series most popular driver in 2015.
  • Eric Phillips returns to KBM to lead the No. 4 team this season. Phillips led the No. 18 team at KBM in its debut season in 2010 and helped build the organization into one of the premier teams in all of NASCAR before departing at the end of the 2014 season. Under his guidance, the No. 18 team won eight races in its inaugural campaign and became the first team in Truck Series history to capture an owner’s championship in its first season of competition. In 2014, the Illinois native led the No. 51 team to an owner’s championship and his team’s 10 wins spearheaded KBM to a single-season Truck Series record of 14 wins. His 41 career Truck Series victories make him the winningest crew chief in Truck Series history, with 31 of those coming while at KBM. Phillips has been the crew chief for two Camping World Truck Series races on dirt. His drivers were involved in accidents in both events, leaving him with an average finish of 34.0.

John Hunter Nemechek, Driver Q&A:

What does it say about your team that you are finding different ways to win races?

“I think its good that you can win in a lot of different ways. If you do get back in traffic and your truck is off, then we are able to make the adjustments that we need to make our truck better to get back up to the front. Luckily, at Pocono, we had a late race caution come out and we were able to kind of get Kyle (Busch) on that restart and then we were able to pull away at that point. Starting the day, we weren’t very good, so being able to communicate and work on our truck, getting our truck better, continue to progress through the race I think is the biggest key. When you can win in so many different ways like we have at Pocono, Texas, Charlotte and then in dominating fashion at a couple race tracks, says a lot about this team. It says we have a never give up attitude and that’s a great thing that that can playoff into the championship run through the playoffs.”

You’ve raced at Eldora and on the dirt at Bristol, how do you think the racing at Knoxville will be?
“I’ve studied some video from a couple past races at Knoxville, some sprint car stuff and then the SRX Series the last couple weeks. I’ve been looking at a lot of that, just trying to figure out what the race track surface does. I’m sure it’s going to be totally different, so I’m looking forward to practice on Thursday night and seeing what we have. Our goal is to go and try to survive, run every lap, and try to win. At this point, there is two races left in the regular season, so we want to continue to rack up as many wins and stage points as possible.”

Brian Brown has won multiple track championships in sprint cars at Knoxville. Will you be able to lean on him for tips about track conditions?
“I definitely think I can pick his brain about the track and kind of see what he thinks the track normally does throughout the night. I feel like when you run a sprint car compared to a stock car it is going to be totally different, so I don’t know how much information I’ll be able to lean on him from that side. I definitely think any experience on dirt is better than none, so talking to him about track conditions, moisture, how they prep it and different things, what they’ll do overnight from Thursday to Friday and when we come in the garage on Friday seeing what they’ve done and how he thinks the track is going to change. I think that is the biggest thing for us, is to make adjustments to our truck and better ourselves throughout the night.”

John Hunter Nemechek Career Highlights:

  • Eleven-time winner in Camping World Truck Series action, winning at least one race each season from 2015 to 2018 for his family-owned team, NEMCO Motorsports. Across 115 career starts in NASCAR’s third division, has compiled two poles, 1,094 laps led, 36 top-five and 61 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 12.5.
  • Qualified for the Camping World Truck Series playoffs in each of his two full-time seasons, finishing eighth in the championship standings in both 2016 and 2017.
  • Produced three top-10 finishes and an average result of 22.4 while competing for rookie of the year honors in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2020. He recorded a career-best eighth-place finish twice, both coming at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, earned the Sunoco Rookie of the Race award four times and finished 23rd in the championship standings.
  • Across 52 career XFINITY Series starts, has totaled one win (Kansas Speedway, 10/20/18), one pole, 225 laps led, 12 top-five and 30 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 12.0.

John Hunter Nemechek’s No. 4 Mobil 1 Tundra:
KBM-X134D: The No. 4 Mobil 1 team will unload KBM-X134D Friday night in Knoxville. The chassis was obtained from Bragg Racing Group and has run five times with a best finish of fourth coming at Eldora Speedway in 2015 by Erik Jones.

KBM Notes of Interest:

  • KBM drivers have earned three wins, one poles, 407 laps led, seven top-five and 13 top-10 finishes, with an average finish of 13.5 across 24 starts on dirt tracks. Martin Truex Jr. won the inaugural dirt race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in March while Darrell Wallace Jr. (2014) and Christopher Bell (2015) both claimed victories at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.
  • KBM holds the Camping World Truck Series records for most career wins (88) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). With his victory at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Track, Truex Jr. became the 16th different driver to win a Truck Series event for KBM. In addition to collecting a series-record seven Owner’s Championships, the organization has produced two championship-winning drivers: Erik Jones (2015) and Christopher Bell (2017).
  • The No. 4 has 16 career victories at KBM and was the number for both of the organization’s driver championships.

Roush Fenway Weekly Advance | Atlanta II

Roush Fenway Weekly Advance | Atlanta

The NASCAR Cup Series schedule heads back to Georgia this weekend as Atlanta Motor Speedway hosts its second race of the 2021 season. Jack Roush has 13 wins all-time at AMS, including six in the Cup Series.

NASCAR Cup Series Race at Atlanta
Sunday, July 11 at 3:30 p.m. ET
NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM Channel 90

· Ryan Newman, No. 6 Oscar Mayer Ford Mustang
· Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang

Road America Recap, Atlanta Preview

· Buescher advanced to the final round of Sunday’s qualifying session at Road America and went on to finish 18th in the Fastenal Ford.
· Newman finished 32nd in the Kohler Generators Ford at the 4+ mile course.
· Fastenal returns to Buescher’s machine this weekend in Atlanta.
· Oscar Mayer is on board with Newman and together they will run the brand’s new logo for the first time across the car and additional No. 6 team assets.

Buescher, No. 17 Team Confident Entering Weekend

Buescher and the No. 17 team’s last outing at AMS was a good one, as they finished 7th in March. Just three weeks prior to that at Homestead – a track very similar to Atlanta – Buescher led 57 laps and won the first stage of the race, giving the team a solid notebook entering this weekend’s action.

Consistency is Key

Ryan Newman has been consistent at Atlanta in his last three races, recording finishes of 13th-14th-13th dating back to 2019. He and the No. 6 team most recently came from near the back of the pack this spring and drove to 13th at a track he has nine top-10s at all-time in 29 Cup starts. In fact, his last nine races at Atlanta include finishes of fifth (2013), seventh (2014), 10th (2015), and the three-straight top-15s.

Roush Fenway at Atlanta

Roush Fenway has 267 total starts at AMS in the three major NASCAR touring series, totaling 13 wins, 59 top-fives, 111 top-10s and 9 poles, while leading 3,154 laps and turning over 103,000 miles. The team has 186 starts in NCS action with six wins and 72 top-10s with four poles.

AMS/Roush Fenway History

Roush Fenway competed in its first NASCAR event at AMS on March 20, 1988, finishing 31st after getting

involved in an early crash. Just three years later the organization claimed its first win there in the fall of ‘91 with the No. 6 Ford. Roush Fenway won its first of seven NXS races at the track in the spring of ’97. Roush Fenway’s top outing at AMS came in the fall of 2005, when the organization placed four cars inside the top seven, with three cars finishing in the top five including race winner Carl Edwards. Altogether in the two races at AMS in 2005, Roush Fenway posted six top-five finishes and two wins.

Spring Forward

All but one of Roush Fenway’s Cup wins at AMS came in the fall, with the only spring win coming

in 2005. Three of RFR’s seven NXS wins came in the fall.

Roush Fenway Atlanta Wins
1991-2 Martin Cup
1994-2 Martin Cup
1997-1 Martin NXS
1998-2 Martin NXS
2000-1 Martin NXS
2002-2 Busch Cup
2005-1 Edwards Cup
2005-1 Edwards NXS
2005-2 Edwards Cup
2008-1 Kenseth NXS
2008-2 Edwards Cup
2011 Edwards NXS
2012 Stenhouse NXS

One Cure Ford Mustang: Chase Briscoe Atlanta Advance

CHASE BRISCOE
Atlanta Advance
No. 14 One Cure Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview
● Event: Atlanta 400 (Round 21 of 36)
● Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 11
● Location: Atlanta Motor Speedway
● Layout: 1.54-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 260 laps/400 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 80 laps / Stage 2: 80 laps / Final Stage: 100 laps

● TV/Radio: NBCSN / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Chase Briscoe and the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing team earned their second top-10 finish of the season last Sunday at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Both of Briscoe’s top-10s have been earned on road courses with the first coming at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

● Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway marks Briscoe’s second Cup Series start at the 1.54-mile oval and the first time he’s revisited a track on the schedule, with the exception of the Pocono Raceway doubleheader. When the NASCAR Cup Series visited Atlanta in March, Briscoe started 24th and finished 23rd in just his sixth Cup Series start. Though the team struggled to find the right balance throughout the race, by the time the checkered flag waved, Briscoe felt like the team had improved enough to run up front in this weekend’s return.

● One Cure returns to the No. 14 Ford Mustang for its first race of the 2021 season at Atlanta. The One Cure project is led by the Flint Animal Cancer Center at Colorado State University with a mission to find a cancer cure through research benefiting man’s best friend. It is founded on the principle that cancer affects all creatures and that treatment breakthroughs come through collaboration between scientists and doctors working with people and animals. This approach is known as comparative oncology and it is the guiding concept of One Cure and the Flint Animal Cancer Center. The center works to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer in pets, and teams with the human medical field to translate research findings that will help people with cancer.The center, located in Colorado State’s James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital, sees more than 1,500 new animal cancer patients every year, with approximately 130 of them enrolled in carefully monitored clinical trials specific to their cancer type. The canine and feline patients are helping pioneer cancer research, moving cutting-edge treatments out of the laboratory and into clinical practice, ultimately providing hope for the next generation of animal and human cancer patients.

● Briscoe has three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Atlanta with a best finish of ninth in 2020. The native of Mitchell, Indiana, also made a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start at the track in 2017, starting fourth and finishing 25th.

● Before taking to the track at Atlanta, Briscoe will return to the Truck Series for the third time this year to compete in the No. 04 CircleBDiecast.com Ford F-150 for Roper Racing Friday night at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway. The former dirt racer has competed in four previous Truck Series races on dirt surfaces, collecting three top-fives and a win at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio in 2017. In the Truck Series’ most recent dirt race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Briscoe started 33rd and finished fifth.

● Following his second top-10 finish at Road America, Briscoe gained two spots in the driver championship and is now 23rd. He continues to lead the Rookie of the Year standings by 139 points over Anthony Alfredo and has been the highest finishing rookie contender in 16 races to date.

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 One Cure Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

For the first time this season, you get to return to a track that you’ve already raced at in the Cup Series. What does that do for your confidence?

“I’m pretty excited. We weren’t exactly our best earlier this year at Atlanta. That was probably one of our worst tracks this year. But it’ll be nice to go and know the feel I need the car to have and to know what to expect when I go into turn one on lap one of the race. Having decent track position to start will also help, so I’m definitely looking forward to having another shot at it. It’s another one of my favorite tracks and I think we’ll be able to have a chance to come out with a good finish.”

Will you go back to Atlanta with a completely new setup, or did you find something that worked in the first race?

“We’ll for sure go back with something different. We tried to figure out what worked last time but we’re going to have something different. Truthfully, I’m a dramatically different racecar driver than I was at that point of the year. I feel a lot more confident and know what I need in the car. For us, we should be better going back this time. You never really know until you get there, but I do think it will be a lot easier. Track position at the start is so key in these Cup Series races. You kind of end up running the speed of the cars you’re around, so starting 11th will hopefully help us.”

You’ve been doing more racing outside the Cup Series – a few Truck Series races, and you have some dirt races on the schedule. Explain how that can help you improve on Sunday.

“Doing more racing, I feel like, has made me sharper when I get in the Cup car. Whether it’s running the Sprint car last week in Wisconsin before Road America, or the truck which I’ll run at Knoxville this week, I just think it’s really been helping me stay on my game. They are absolutely different disciplines, but I feel like there’s a lot of crossover. In Sprint cars, you’re having to work with a lot of tire spin and you have to be able to finesse the car in those situations, which you then deal with on road courses. There are things that I can apply when we go to tracks like Atlanta that are hot and slick when the car is sliding around. You have to be able to control it.”

No. 14 One Cure Team Roster
Primary Team Members Driver: Chase Briscoe
Hometown: Mitchell, Indiana Crew Chief: Mike Cook
Hometown: Annapolis, Maryland Car Chief: Chad Haney
Hometown: Fairmont, West Virginia Engineer: Marc Hendricksen
Hometown: Clinton, New Jersey Spotter: Joe White
Hometown: Windsor, Virginia
Over-The-Wall Members Front Tire Changer: Daniel Coffey
Hometown: Granite Falls, North Carolina Rear Tire Changer: Chris Jackson
Hometown: Rock Hill, South Carolina Tire Carrier: Jon Bernal
Hometown: Shelby, North Carolina Jack Man: Brett MorrellHometown: Windham, Maine Fuel Man: Rick Pigeon
Hometown: Fairfax, Vermont
Road Crew Members Underneath Mechanic: Stephen Gonzalez
Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina Front End Mechanic: J.D. Frey
Hometown: Ferndale, California Interior Mechanic: Trevor Adams
Hometown: Naples, Florida Tire Specialist: Keith Eads
Hometown: Arlington, Virginia Engine Tuner: Jon Phillips
Hometown: Jefferson City, Missouri Transporter Co-Driver: Todd Cable
Hometown: Shelby, North Carolina Transporter Co-Driver: Glenn Funderburk
Hometown: Mint Hill, North Carolina

SKITTLES Gummies Racing: Kyle Busch Atlanta Advance

KYLE BUSCH
Heating Up For The Summer

HUNTERSVILLE, North Carolina (July 7, 2021) – With the summer swing in full effect for the NASCAR Cup Series, Kyle Busch has been heating up in the NASCAR Cup Series as he heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday.

Busch, driver of the No. 18 SKITTLES Gummies Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), has posted three consecutive top-three finishes as he comes off a strong third-place run in Skittles colors this past weekend at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. In fact, Busch has posted five top-five finishes in his last seven races, including his second win of the season two weekends ago at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway.

Busch and the SKITTLES Gummies team have found the summer stretch more to their liking as the Las Vegas native continues to jell and grow with first-year crew chief Ben Beshore and a mostly new lineup. The pairing of Busch and Beshore took a huge step forward in the first stop this season at Atlanta, when they were able to overcome a speeding penalty to bring home a fifth-place finish there back in March. The team showed a lot of speed on the 1.54.-mile oval, which they used as a springboard to better finishes, including their first win together at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City in May.

Busch returns to the racetrack this weekend where the winning for him began with JGR in 2008. That was his first year with JGR, and he headed to Atlanta for the fourth Cup Series race of the season aiming to bring home the maiden victory for the team’s two new partners – Mars Wrigley and Toyota. After leading a race-high 173 laps, Busch broke through for the first time in NASCAR’s top series for Toyota, which was in its second year of Cup Series competition and its first year with JGR. Busch added an Atlanta Cup Series win in 2013 to go with seven top-five finishes and 10 top-10s at the 1.54-mile oval during his career.

The two-time Cup Series champion will have SKITTLES onboard for the second week in a row, with SKITTLES Gummies on the Cup Series car for the first time this season, but they did add a win together back in May at Circuit of Americas in Austin, Texas in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race. SKITTLES Gummies are available to fans in stores nationwide.

So, as the Cup Series heads back to Atlanta yet again this weekend, Busch and the SKITTLES Gummies team look to take lessons from their 2008 and 2013 race wins and their top-five finish this past March on the lightning-fast oval and bring home a third Cup Series win at the track. It would be extra sweet – the milestone 60th of Busch’s Cup Series career.

KYLE BUSCH, Driver of the No. 18 SKITTLES Gummies Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing:

You’ve been very strong on 1.5-mile ovals so far this year. What are your expectations this weekend?

“Our expectations are always focused on winning. I feel like we’ve been very good with the 550 (horsepower) package this year. We ran really well at Atlanta earlier this year and may have had a shot to win the race if not for a pit-road speeding penalty. Atlanta was the first weekend of the year I felt like we had a lot of speed, and Ben (Beshore, crew chief) and the team keep getting better each week. Really looking forward to this weekend at Atlanta with our SKITTLES Gummies Camry. It’s going to be hot and slick out there, so a bit different than it was there in the spring. We’ll see how it plays out and hopefully we can get another shot at a win there.”

What are your memories of racing at Atlanta?

“I’ve won a few Truck Series races there. That was fun. I won for the first time in an Xfinity race there a few years ago, so that was very cool. I finished second three or four times, so it had been an Achilles heel for me, I guess. The Cup races there, I’ve either been really good or really bad, it seems. There have been times where I’ve been really good throughout the event. I don’t know what it is, but I just can’t seem to keep the grip in my car for the long haul, as long as you need to throughout a run.”

What are your expectations going to Atlanta?

“Atlanta is one of those places where anything can happen and we’ll definitely have to be on our toes there this weekend with our SKITTLES Gummies Camry. You have to have good grip there, you have to have good (tire) fall-off – you have to be fast to start a run, yet you don’t want to fall off more than anybody else. So you have to take care of your stuff and bide your time a little bit. That lends itself to options by the driver to either push hard early (in the run) or save a little and be there late.”

With the way the racing is on the 1.5-mile and 2-mile ovals, are you doing anything differently with the aero on those types of tracks?

“It’s the same for everybody. You’re trying to shut off the guy behind you. You’re trying to shut his air off. That’s why the blocking is so bad, even at some of these places. The guys out front, they’ll mirror drive wherever the heck you’re going to make sure they shut your air off so you have to get out of the gas and stay out of the gas and lose momentum, and they can get a gap on you so they don’t have to deal with you again. As soon as you sort of lose that lead draft, if you’re not fast enough to catch back up to that guy in front of you, then you just continually seem to lose ground.”

Event Overview:

● Event: Quaker State 400
● Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 11
● Location: Atlanta Motor Speedway
● Layout: 1.54-mile oval

● Laps/Miles: 260 laps/400 miles
● Format: Stage 1: 80 laps / Stage 2: 80 laps / Final Stage: 100 laps
● TV/Radio: NBCSN / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Meet the No. 18 SKITTLES Gummies / Joe Gibbs Racing Team
Primary Team Members: Driver: Kyle Busch Hometown: Las Vegas Crew Chief: Ben Beshore Hometown: York, Pennsylvania Car Chief: Nate BellowsHometown: Fairfax, Vermont Spotter: Tony Hirschman Hometown: Northampton, Pennsylvania 
Over-The-Wall Crew Members: Gas Man: Matt Tyrrell Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Florida Front Tire Changer: Blake Houston Hometown: Enochville, North Carolina Jackman: T.J. Ford Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina Tire Carrier: Joe Crossen Hometown: Salisbury, North Carolina Rear Tire Changer: Jeff Cordero Hometown: Salem, Connecticut 
Road Crew Members: Race Engineer: Seth Chavka Hometown: Soldotna, Alaska Truck Driver: Chris Miko Hometown: Bronx, New York Truck Driver: Tom McCrimmon Hometown: Spicer, Minnesota Mechanic/Tire Specialist: Justin Peiffer Hometown: Lebanon, Pennsylvania Mechanic: Scott Eldridge Hometown: Warsaw, Indiana

Notes of Interest:

● Well Above Average: Busch leads the way in average finish so far this season on 1.5-mile ovals. In the five races completed on 1.5-mile tracks, Busch has an average finish of 4.4, with the next-best driver Kyle Larson at a 5.4 average finish. Just six drivers have an average finish in the single digits on those tracks this season.

● Previous Playoff Points: Busch has accumulated 13 important playoff points he can take with him through each round. Busch also currently sits fifth in the point standings with 14 top-five finishes and 20 top-10s with just seven regular-season races remaining before the playoffs begin.

● Adding to 100: Busch picked up his 101st win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series last weekend at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. He’ll look to add to his win total this weekend as he’ll strap in behind the wheel of the No. 54 EXTRA Gum Supra on Saturday at Atlanta. It will be Busch’s final Xfinity Series race of the season.

● Five for Five?: With Busch entering his fifth and final Xfinity Series race of the season this weekend in Atlanta, Busch is shooting to go a perfect five-for-five in the win column. The 2009 Xfinity Series champion and all-time wins leader has won this year’s races at Circuit of the Americas in Austin Texas, Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (his milestone 100th) and Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway before last weekend’s win at Road America.

● Alone in Ninth: With his win two weekends ago at Pocono, Busch sits at 59 career wins in NASCAR’s top series as he moved past Kevin Harvick into sole possession of ninth on the all-time win list. Next up on the win list is Dale Earnhardt, the seven-time Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer who won 76 races during his storied career.

● 221 and Counting: Busch will be aiming to add to his record 221 overall wins among NASCAR’s top three series this weekend at Atlanta. In addition to his 59 Cup Series wins and 101 in the Xfinity Series, Busch has 61 wins in the Camping World Truck Series.

DiBenedetto Expecting a Memorable Quaker State 400 at Atlanta

Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Mustang will be carrying the colors of the title sponsor of Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

DiBenedetto and his Mustang, which also will be representing long-time backer Menards, will be making their final appearance on a racing surface – and a configuration – that has been in use since 1997. After Sunday’s race the track will be repaved, and the banking in the turns will be increased from 24 degrees to 28, making it the steepest of any intermediate track on the Cup Series circuit. The banking on the straightaways will remain at five degrees.

The width of the racing surface will be reduced from 55 feet to 52 feet on the frontstretch, 42 on the backstretch and 40 in the turns.

AMS officials say the changes are intended to make the racing closer and more competitive.

DiBenedetto, like most of his peers, is a fan of the current layout and its worn, abrasive asphalt.

“I’m definitely looking forward to the Quaker State 400,” he said. “It will be memorable since it’s the final race on the old, fun asphalt before the repave.

“We have had good speed at Atlanta, so this is one we are definitely looking forward to.”

DiBenedetto also is hoping to deliver a strong performance for his sponsors, which is a goal every week but a bit different this time with one of his sponsors in a dual role.

“It’s a big weekend with Menards and Quaker State,” he said.

DiBenedetto and the Menards/Quaker State team are coming off their best run in two months, a 10th-place finish after leading 10 laps at Road America. They are hoping to keep the good times rolling in Atlanta, which is hosting a second Cup race for the first time since 2010, when the track lost one of its two long-held race dates.

“We have really good momentum going as a team with [crew chief] Jonathan Hassler, myself and the team working really well together,” he said.

There will be no qualifying or practice before the start of Sunday’s race. DiBenedetto, who finished 11th at AMS in March, will line up 12th, a spot he and the team earned through their strong run at Road America.

The 260-lap Quaker State 400, which will have Stage breaks at Laps 80 and 160, is set to start just after 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time. TV coverage will be carried by NBCSN.

Menards

A family-owned and run company started in 1958, Menards is recognized as the retail home center leader of the Midwest with 236 stores in 15 states. Menards is truly a one-stop shop for all of your home improvement needs featuring a full-service lumberyard and everything you need to plan a renovation or build a home, garage, cabin, shed, deck, fence or post frame building. Menards is known for friendly Customer Service and as the place to “Save Big Money” with low prices every day, and sales too! For more information, please visit Menards.com to learn about our store locations, offerings and services.

Wood Brothers Racing

Wood Brothers Racing was formed in 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glen Wood. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active team and one of the winningest teams in NASCAR history. Since its founding, the team won 99 races (including at least one race in every decade for the last seven decades) and 120 poles in NASCAR’s top-tier series. Fielding only Ford products for its entire history, the Wood Brothers own the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. Glen’s brother, Leonard, is known for inventing the modern pit stop. The team currently runs the Ford Mustang driven by Matt DiBenedetto in the famous No. 21 racer.

Georgia Peanut Commission Returns with Alfredo

Makes Second Donation of Over 1,400 Jars of Peanut Butter to Canine Assistants

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (July 7, 2021) – The Georgia Peanut Commission will return to support Anthony Alfredo and the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports team this weekend at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. The Commission returns after running their colors with Alfredo earlier this year at the same track.

The Georgia Peanut Commission will also make a second donation to Canine Assistants, a non-profit organization, dedicated to educating people and dogs so they may enhance the lives of one another. Canine Assistants will receive 1,440 sixteen-ounce jars of creamy peanut butter with Alfredo helping to make the donation this Friday.

“It’s awesome to have the Georgia Peanut Commission back on the car this weekend,” said Alfredo. “I really enjoyed helping to make their donation to Canine Assistants earlier this year and I’m looking forward to helping make another donation this week. I also want to continue to help promote the Georgia Peanut Commission, as the Georgia farmers do so much to help better our lives.”

The Georgia Peanut Commission conducts programs in the areas of promotion, research and education. Funding is derived from a $2 per ton assessment on all producers. Peanuts are a $2.2 billion industry in Georgia and a vital part of the economy. Facts about the peanut industry in Georgia include:

  • Georgia farmers produced 53% of the United States’ peanuts in 2020 – more than 1.64 million tons
  • Georgia farmers harvested 800,000 acres, yielding an average of 4,100 pounds per acre
  • Georgia farmers planted peanuts in 76 counties in Georgia
  • Georgia has approximately 4,500 peanut farmers
  • Georgia peanuts accounted for 25.5% of the state’s row and forage crops income
  • Peanuts are Georgia’s Official State Crop

“The Atlanta Motor Speedway, Front Row Motorsports and Anthony Alfredo help us spread the message of the work we do,” said Joe Boddiford, Promotion Committee chairman for the Georgia Peanut Commission. “We are proud to continue our partnership with Anthony and the Front Row Motorsports team this weekend and will be cheering them on the track and supporting our community with our donation to Canine Assistants.”

Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET. The race will be televised live on NBCSN.

About Georgia Peanut Commission
The Georgia Peanut Commission was established in 1961 under the state’s Commodities Promotion Act. Today, the commission represents Georgia’s 4,500 peanut farmers and conducts programs in the areas of promotion, research and education. To learn more, visit gapeanuts.com or follow @gapeanuts on Facebook and Instagram or @GeorgiaPeanuts on Twitter.

About Front Row Motorsports
Front Row Motorsports (FRM) is a winning organization in the NASCAR Cup and Camping World Truck Series and the 2021 Daytona 500 champions. The team was founded in 2004 and is owned by successful entrepreneur, Bob Jenkins. FRM fields the No. 34 and the No. 38 NASCAR Cup Series teams along with the No. 38 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team– from its Mooresville, N.C. headquarters. Visit teamfrm.com and follow FRM on social media: Twitter at @Team_FRM, Instagram at @team_frm and Facebook at facebook.com/FrontRowMotorsports.

Chastain to achieve 100th Cup start at Atlanta

Photo by Don Dunn for SpeedwayMedia.com.

A significant milestone start is in the making for Ross Chastain, driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE in the NASCAR Cup Series. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Chastain will accomplish 100 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series. 

A native of Alva, Florida, Chastain made his Cup Series debut at Dover International Speedway in June 2017. By then, he was a full-time Xfinity Series competitor for JD Motorsports. Driving the No. 15 Chevrolet for Premium Motorsports, Chastain finished 20th in his Cup debut. He returned for the Cup Playoff race at Dover in October, where he finished 38th while driving for Premium Motorsports.

The following season, Chastain competed in 34 of the 36-race Cup schedule, making all of his starts with Premium Motorsports. Throughout the season, he earned two top-20 results, including a season-best 18th-place result at Texas Motor Speedway in April.

In 2019, Chastain campaigned in all but one of the 36-race Cup schedule with Premium Motorsports. He also competed the entire Truck Series schedule with Niece Motorsports and on a part-time basis in the Xfinity Series between JD Motorsports and Kaulig Racing. During his Cup tenure, Chastain earned a 10th-place result in the season-opening Daytona 500 and a 12th-place result at Talladega Superspeedway in October. He also led a total of 11 laps and averaged a finishing result of 28.2.

While competing as a full-time Xfinity Series competitor for Kaulig Racing in 2020, Chastain also made a total of eight Cup starts, starting with the season-opening Daytona 500 in February. Driving the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE in a partnership between Spire Motorsports and Chip Ganassi Racing, Chastain was in position to win the 500 until he was involved in a late multi-car wreck that relegated him to 25th in the final running order.

Two days after the 2020 Daytona 500, Chastain was named a substitute competitor for Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 6 Ford Mustang driven by Ryan Newman, with Newman hospitalized after suffering non-life threatening injuries from a final lap accident during the 500. Making his first Cup start with RFR at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in February, Chastain finished 27th after being involved in a late spin. He went on to finish 17th and 23rd during the following two race weekends at Auto Club Speedway and Phoenix Raceway in March before the COVID-19 pandemic put a hiatus to all racing activities.

When NASCAR resumed the 2020 season in May at Darlington Raceway, Newman was medically cleared to return to racing. Chastain, meanwhile, returned the following week at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600. Driving for Spire Motorsports, he finished 21st. He made three more Cup starts for the remainder of the season, all for Spire Motorsports, beginning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July, where he finished 17th. He also competed at Daytona in August, where he finished 16th, and at Darlington Raceway for the Southern 500 in September, where he finished 29th.

Prior to the 2021 season, Chastain was selected by Chip Ganassi Racing to drive the team’s No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE on a full-time basis. The move fulfilled the fruition of Chastain competing with CGR following sponsor DC Solar’s fallout and FBI raid in December 2018, an event that cost Chastain an opportunity to compete with CGR for the 2019 Xfinity Series season due to sponsorship woes and resulted with CGR’s Xfinity team ceasing operations.

Commencing this season with a seventh-place result in the Daytona 500, Chastain has achieved two top-five results, five top-10 results, 40 laps led and an average-finishing result of 18.1 through the first 20 Cup races of the schedule. This includes a career-best runner-up result achieved at Nashville Superspeedway in June along with a strong fourth-place finish at the Circuit of the Americas in May. He and Ganassi’s No. 42 Chevrolet team are currently ranked in 18th place in the regular-season standings.

Through 99 previous Cup starts, Chastain has achieved two top-five results, six top-10 results, 53 laps led and an average-finishing result of 25.7.

Chastain is primed to make his 100th Cup career start at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 11, with the race scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. on NBCSN.

Chris Gayle to call 150th Xfinity race as crew chief at Atlanta

Photo by Ted Seminara for SpeedwayMedia.com.

A significant milestone start is in the making for Chris Gayle, crew chief for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 54 Toyota Supra team piloted by multiple competitors in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. By participating in this weekend’s event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Gayle will call his 150th Xfinity career race as a crew chief.

A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, Gayle spent two years as a student at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville before transferring to the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering in 2002. Not long after, he joined Joe Gibbs Racing to work as a race engineer.

Eleven years later, Gayle, who was a senior engineer for Kyle Busch in the NASCAR Cup Series, was promoted to the crew chief role, where he was paired with veteran Elliott Sadler and JGR’s No. 11 Toyota Camry team for the 2013 NASCAR Xfinity Series season. Throughout the 33-race Xfinity schedule, Gayle and Sadler earned nine top-five results and 20 top-10 results before finishing in fourth place in the final standings.

Eight races into the 2014 Xfinity season, Gayle earned his first NASCAR career victory as a crew chief at Talladega Superspeedway in April, where Sadler held off the field in a three-lap shootout to return to Victory Lane following a one-year winless season. They went on to earn a pole, seven top-five results and 25 top-10 results before settling in third place in the final standings.

Prior to the 2015 season, Sadler departed JGR and the team shuffled its crew chief lineup, placing Gayle as crew chief for the team’s No. 54 Toyota Camry piloted by multiple competitors, starting with Kyle Busch for the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway in February. The season, however, started off on a harrowing note when Busch was involved in a late multi-car accident that saw his car make head-on contact into a concrete wall installed with no SAFER barriers and the driver being transported to a local hospital, where he suffered a massive compound fracture to his right leg and a fractured left foot.

With Busch absent and recovering from his injuries, Gayle spent the following 11 Xfinity events working with Erik Jones, Denny Hamlin and Boris Said. When Busch returned at Michigan International Speedway in June, he and Gayle went to Victory Lane after Busch completed a late pass on Chase Elliott en route to his first win of the season and in his first Xfinity start since the Daytona accident. A week later, Gayle went to Victory Lane with Erik Jones at Chicagoland Speedway. 

In total, Gayle achieved seven Xfinity victories in 2015, six with Kyle Busch and one with Erik Jones. In addition, he notched five poles, 17 top-five results and 23 top-10 results throughout the 33-race schedule for JGR’s No. 54 Toyota team, which settled in the runner-up position behind Team Penske’s No. 22 Ford Mustang team in the final Xfinity owners’ standings.

Gayle remained as JGR’s Xfinity “all-star” crew chief in 2016, where he worked with Dakoda Armstrong, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Drew Herring, Sam Hornish Jr., Owen Kelly, Bobby Labonte, David Ragan and Matt Tifft, all of whom took turns piloting the No. 18 Toyota Camry throughout the season. Throughout the 33-race schedule, Gayle earned 11 victories (10 with Kyle Busch and one with Hornish), 11 poles (nine with Kyle Busch, one with Ragan and one with Tifft), 19 top-five results and 23 top-10 results. When the final checkered flag of the season flew, JGR’s No. 18 Toyota team ended up in fourth place in the owners’ standings.

Following the 2016 Xfinity season, Gayle moved up to the NASCAR Cup Series, where he worked as a crew chief for Erik Jones and the No. 77 Furniture Row Racing Toyota Camry team. After a four-year run in the Cup Series, where Gayle earned two career victories between 2018 and 2019 with Erik Jones, Gayle returned to the Xfinity Series for the 2021 season, where he was assigned to JGR’s No. 54 Toyota Supra team piloted by multiple competitors, starting with Ty Dillon for the season-opening event at Daytona in February. 

Following a 14th-place result with Dillon at Daytona, Gayle returned to Victory Lane the following weekend at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course with Ty Gibbs, grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs, winning his first Xfinity race in his series’ debut. Since then, Gayle has achieved four additional victories this season, three with Kyle Busch and another with Ty Gibbs. Currently, with seventeen races of the 2021 season complete, JGR’s No. 54 team led by Gayle is ranked in second place in the owners’ standings.

Through 149 previous Xfinity appearances, Gayle has achieved 25 victories, 20 poles, 63 top-five results and 102 top-10 results while working with 15 different competitors.

Gayle is primed to call his 150th Xfinity race as a crew chief at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 10, with Kyle Busch scheduled to drive the No. 54 JGR Toyota Supra and with the race scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

Gilliland Goes Dirt Racing with Frontline Enterprises

Team Ready to Sling Dirt at Historic Knoxville Raceway

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (July 7, 2021) – Todd Gilliland and the No. 38 Frontline Enterprises team will race at the famed Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway this Friday night. It’s the first race at the track for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Knoxville Raceway hosts the annual Knoxville Nationals for winged sprint cars each season and the facility is the one of the premier dirt tracks in America. Gilliland comes to the track knowing all its history.

“It’s pretty cool that we’re going to be racing at Knoxville,” said Gilliland. “The is one of the best dirt tracks in the country and it’s great for us to have the opportunity to race there. Fans in Iowa, they love racing, dirt racing, sprint cars and now we’re going to show them some truck racing on the dirt, too.”

Gilliland finished fourth earlier this season on the dirt at the Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and is looking for another top-five or better on Friday night in the Frontline Enterprises Ford F-150.

“I love racing on the dirt,” continued Gilliland. “I mean, I haven’t done much racing on dirt, but it’s pretty fun. I think you need to have a good attitude about it, go out there and have fun. Then, it’s been easier to see the good results come. We did that at Bristol and it worked out for us. So, hopefully we can do the same for Frontline Enterprises with us on Friday night.”

Gilliland and the Frontline Enterprises team will practice on Thursday before lining up for heat races on Friday and the feature Friday night under the lights. The race will be televised live on FS1 at 9:00 p.m. ET.

ABOUT FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS
Front Row Motorsports (FRM) is a winning organization in the NASCAR Cup and Camping World Truck Series and the 2021 Daytona 500 champions. The team was founded in 2004 and is owned by successful entrepreneur, Bob Jenkins. FRM fields the No. 34 and the No. 38 NASCAR Cup Series teams along with the No. 38 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team– from its Mooresville, N.C. headquarters. Visit teamfrm.com and follow FRM on social media: Twitter at @Team_FRM, Instagram at @team_frm and Facebook at facebook.com/FrontRowMotorsports.

Toyota Racing – Weekly Preview – 07.07.21

This Week in Motorsports: July 5-11, 2021

· NCS/NXS: Atlanta Motor Speedway – July 10-11
· NCWTS: Knoxville Raceway – July 9
· ARCA: Elko Speedway – July 10

PLANO, Texas (July 7, 2021) – The NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series make their second stop in Atlanta this season, while the Truck Series returns to the dirt as the series races at Knoxville Raceway for the first time. The ARCA Menards Series is also back in action as they begin five consecutive weekends of racing at Elko Speedway.

NASCAR National Series – NCS| NXS| NCWTS

Hamlin holds the lead… After driving to his 11th top-five finish of the season, Denny Hamlin continues to hold the series points lead – a position he has held most of the year. Atlanta Motor Speedway would be a great place to cross off his first victory of the year. The Virginia-native previously won at the track in 2012.

Bell ready to add another Atlanta milestone… Christopher Bell had a stellar weekend in Road America as he showcased his road course racing skills on his way to a second-place finish in the NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday. Bell looks for the successful runs to continue this weekend, at a place he already delivered a win for Toyota. Bell drove the Toyota Supra to Victory Lane for the first time in 2019 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and in dominating fashion by leading 142 of 163 laps.

Busch wants to go five-for-five… After scoring his 200th Toyota win last weekend at Road America, Kyle Busch looks to close out his 2021 Xfinity Series schedule with his fifth consecutive victory. The all-time win leader in the Xfinity Series scored Toyota’s first Cup Series win at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2008 and scored back-to-back Xfinity Series wins there in 2016 and 2017.

Georgia-native looking for a big win… Atlanta-native Brandon Jones is back at his home track looking for a big victory. The four-time Xfinity winner has never visited Victory Lane at Atlanta Motor Speedway but scored a track-best finish of fourth in 2019.

Back to the dirt for the Trucks… For the first time in series history, the Truck Series will have two races on dirt in a single season as they make their debut at Knoxville Raceway on Friday. Cup Series regular Martin Truex Jr. won in the No. 51 Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) at the other race on dirt this season – Bristol – and that team will look for another good run with dirt veteran Brian Brown making his series debut this weekend.

Two Friesens this weekend… After impressing in practice at the Bristol dirt race before inclement weather took away her chance to qualify, Jessica Friesen will return behind the wheel of her No. 62 Toyota Tundra this weekend. Her and husband, Stewart Friesen, will look to become the first husband and wife duo to compete in the same Truck Series race on Friday evening.

Playoffs closing in… With just two races remaining in the regular season for the NASCAR Truck Series, Toyota drivers currently hold the majority of the 10-truck field. John Hunter Nemechek can clinch the regular season championship by leaving Knoxville Raceway with a 60-point lead over fellow Toyota driver Ben Rhodes. Nemechek, Rhodes and Austin Hill have all clinched spots in the post-season, while Matt Crafton, Stewart Friesen and rookie Chandler Smith are currently all in Playoff positions.

NASCAR Regional Series – ARCA

Heim and Gibbs battle for title… It has become a two-driver race for this year’s ARCA Menards Series title as Toyota drivers Corey Heim and Ty Gibbs have battled throughout the season. After his third win of the season at Pocono, Heim retained the points lead by three markers heading into Elko Speedway in Minnesota. Gibbs, who has won the other five races this season, is looking to improve on a track-best second-place run from 2019.

Love and Trotter return… Venturini Motorsports will welcome back both Jesse Love and Gracie Trotter to Camrys this weekend. Love is coming off a victory in last weekend’s ARCA West event at Irwindale Speedway, while Trotter was a season-best seventh in her last ARCA start at Toledo.

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About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands plus our 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota has created a tremendous value chain and directly employs more than 47,000 in North America. The company has contributed world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 40 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama that begins production in 2021.

Through its Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.