Toyota NASCAR Sonoma Iowa Advance

Toyota NASCAR Sonoma & Iowa Advance
Week of June 19 – 25, 2017

CALIFORNIA CRUSIN’: As the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) heads out West, the 2018 Camry will make its road course race debut at this weekend’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. has already given the new 2018 Camry race car two Cup wins this season (Las Vegas and Kansas). At Sonoma, Camry drivers have made four trips to victory lane in 10 races since 2007. Kyle Busch claimed Toyota’s first MENCS road course win in 2008 at Sonoma and he won again at the track in 2015 – his first victory on the road to his championship-winning season. Former Toyota driver Clint Bowyer finished first in 2012 while Truex claimed the 2013 Sonoma victory in a Camry.

DECADE DOWN: The 2017 season marks Toyota’s 10th anniversary competing with the Camry in the MENCS and the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS), where Camry drivers have combined for more than 225 victories. This year also marks the 10th anniversary of the co-sponsorship of the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma, which is a collaboration between the San Francisco Toyota Dealers Association and Toyota Motor North America. The Toyota Camry will serve as the pace car for Sunday’s 110-lap road course event. Toyota PitPass and the Toyota Fan Zone offer fans two unique areas to explore Toyota vehicles and other interactive activities, like a virtual reality experience (PitPass) and Ferris wheel (Fan Zone).

HAWKEYE PIT STOP: While the Cup Series heads to California, the NXS and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) will visit Iowa Speedway for a doubleheader event. Toyota drivers have earned 10 victories in the Hawkeye state, with four NXS and six NCWTS wins. Camry drivers swept both XFINITY Series Iowa events last year with Sam Hornish Jr. and Erik Jones while Tundra drivers have been victorious three straight Truck Series events with two by Jones and last year’s win by former Toyota driver William Byron.

TWICE THE BELL: Many eyes will be on Toyota driver Christopher Bell this weekend as he competes in both the NXS and NCWTS races at Iowa. Winner of two Truck Series races this year (Atlanta and Texas), Bell will campaign his usual Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 4 JBL Tundra in Friday night’s race. He’ll also make his second-career NXS start for Joe Gibbs Racing after finishing fourth in his series debut at Charlotte last month.

Staying Connected: You can follow Toyota Racing on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter by using #ToyotaNation and online at www.toyotaracing.com. For media images, please visit www.toyotaracingmedia.com.

Toyota at Sonoma & Iowa – Notes & Numbers:

Toyota drivers have won 17 (of 31) MENCS stages this season, more than any other manufacturer … Martin Truex Jr. (10), Kyle Busch (four), Denny Hamlin (two) and Matt Kenseth (one) have all won stages this year … Camry drivers have also led 2,023 laps (of 4,666), comprising 43 percent of the 15 races so far this season … Last weekend, Toyota drivers earned their 350th NASCAR pole when Busch started first in the Michigan NXS event … Since 2007, Camry drivers have earned 93 MENCS and 134 NXS poles while Tundra drivers have collected 123 NCWTS poles … Kyle Benjamin will pilot a JGR Camry at Iowa after earning the pole position in only his second career NXS start at Pocono … Harrison Burton will make his fourth series start at Iowa … Daniel Suárez will compete in Saturday’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Sonoma as he prepares for his first Cup road course event … Sacramento-based Bill McAnally Racing looks for their eighth consecutive NKNPSW victory of the year Saturday with five Camry entries in Sonoma as drivers Todd Gilliland, Chris Eggleston and Derek Kraus sit first through third in the points, respectively.

Toyota 2017 Statistics: