Toyota NASCAR Pocono and Iowa Advance
Week of July 24 – 30, 2017
Past Pocono Performances: Pocono Raceway has been the site of four Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) victories by Camry drivers. Toyota driver Denny Hamlin leads all active drivers with four-career victories at the 2.5-mile triangular track, including Camry wins in Aug. 2009 and June 2010 after also sweeping the events in his rookie season (2006). He’s tied for most pole positions (three), has the second most laps led (670 laps) and 14 top-10 results in 23 starts at the track. Matt Kenseth drove his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Camry to Pocono’s victory lane in Aug. 2015, while former Toyota driver Joey Logano won the June 2012 race.
Second Time Around: Earlier this year, Camry driver Erik Jones earned his career-best Cup Series result with a third-place finish at Pocono in June. Toyota drivers swept the top-three starting spots after Kyle Busch earned the pole position, led 100 laps (of 160) and won the race’s first stage. Four Camry drivers finished together in the top-10 at Pocono in June with Jones (third), Martin Truex Jr. (sixth), Busch (ninth) and Kenseth (10th).
Chasing Truck Records: Last week’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) winner Matt Crafton is one top-10 away from tying the series all-time record of 234 (set by Ron Hornaday Jr.). The two-time NCWTS champion has earned 233 top-10 finishes in 395 consecutive series starts – also a series record. He has four top-10 results at Pocono in seven starts, which leads the field of current drivers. Fellow Toyota driver Busch is also quickly approaching the NCWTS all-time win record (51, Hornaday) with 48 career victories (42 in Tundra). The Kyle Busch Motorsports team owner will compete in this weekend’s race where he has finished second (2011) and won the 2015 event in his only two Pocono Truck starts.
Starting with Benjamin: Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Benjamin will compete in his fourth-career NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) race this weekend at Iowa Speedway. He has started from the second position twice and earned his first NXS pole position in only his second career start, joining an impressive list of drivers to do so. At Iowa Speedway, Benjamin has one NASCAR K&N Pro Series East win from the pole position (2016) and also started first at the 0.875-mile track in the 2016 ARCA event.
Staying Connected: You can follow Toyota Racing on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and online at www.toyotaracing.com. For media images, please visit www.toyotaracingmedia.com.
Toyota at Pocono and Iowa – Notes & Numbers:
Camry drivers need one more MENCS victory to reach 100 triumphs with the first 99 being earned by 11 different drivers … Four Toyota drivers are currently in the MENCS top-10 in points with six races to go before the playoffs – Martin Truex Jr. (first), Kyle Busch (fourth), Denny Hamlin (fifth) and Matt Kenseth (ninth) … With 12 different winners this season, Kenseth actually sits on the bubble at 16th among drivers qualifying for the playoffs … Camry driver Matt Tifft is seventh in the NXS point standings … Six Tundra drivers currently rank in the NCWTS top-10 with Christopher Bell (second), Matt Crafton (fourth), Grant Enfinger (fifth), Ben Rhodes (seventh), Ryan Truex (eighth) and Noah Gragson (ninth) … Toyota drivers have won four NXS races at Iowa Speedway … After a runner-up performance at New Hampshire, Ryan Preece returns to a Joe Gibbs Racing Camry at Iowa … Tundra drivers have two Pocono NCWTS wins.
