Toyota Racing
This Week in Motorsports – April 22-28, 2019
Toyota Racing On-Track this Week
MENCS/NXS: Talladega Superspeedway (Lincoln, Alabama) – April 26-28
NHRA: zMax Dragway (Concord, North Carolina) – April 26-28
Formula Drift: Orlando Speed World (Orlando, Florida) – April 26-27
ARCA: Talladega Superspeedway (Lincoln, Alabama) – April 25-26
POWRi: Belle-Clair Speedway (Belleville, Illinois) – April 26
Federated Auto Parts I-55 Raceway (Pevely, Missouri) – April 27
Jacksonville Speedway (Jacksonville, Illinois) – April 28
NASCAR National Series – MENCS | NXS
Starting 2019 Strong… Toyota drivers have earned six victories in the first nine Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) races of the season, including a streak of three straight wins. Martin Truex Jr. is the most recent Camry driver to win, which he did at Richmond Raceway’s Toyota Owners 400. Kyle Busch was victorious at ISM Raceway, Auto Club Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway while Denny Hamlin started the season with a Daytona 500 win and was triumphant again at Texas Motor Speedway in March. Should a Camry driver win at Talladega, he would also tie Toyota’s consecutive wins record (four) in the MENCS, marking the fifth time in Toyota MENCS history that drivers have posted four-consecutive wins in a single season.
Earnhardt on Double-Duty… Jeffrey Earnhardt will compete in both the MENCS and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) events for the first time this season. He starts the weekend aboard the Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR). In his first restrictor plate start for the team at Daytona International Speedway in February, Earnhardt led a career-high 29 laps before an on-track incident relegated him to 15th. In the MENCS on Sunday, Earnhardt will compete for XCI Racing as the team makes its premier series debut. Between the two series, Earnhardt has a combined eight career starts at Talladega Superspeedway.
First Toyota Weekend Sweep… Toyota has swept the spring Talladega weekend twice with Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), including scoring its first sweep (MENCS/NXS) in 2008. JGR scored the wins with former Toyota driver Tony Stewart in NXS and Kyle Busch in MENCS. JGR also swept the 2014 weekend with former Toyota driver Elliott Sadler (NXS) and Denny Hamlin (MENCS). This season alone, Toyota drivers have swept two weekends already, including wins at ISM Raceway and Texas Motor Speedway.
NHRA – Top Fuel | Funny Car
Kalitta Takes Points Lead to Charlotte… Doug Kalitta will take a 23-point lead into this weekend’s NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway. Kalitta won the season-opening Winternationals and has advanced to the semifinals at both Gainesville Raceway and The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He’s been the Top Fuel points leader after four of the five NHRA events this season.
Todd Looks for Third Four-Wide Win… J.R. Todd will look for his third win in the last four NHRA Four-Wide events this weekend. Todd drove his Toyota Camry to victory lane in the Four-Wide event in Las Vegas earlier this season and also won last year’s Las Vegas event. The reigning Funny Car world champion has won five of the last 12 NHRA events.
Brown Set to Continue Winning Ways at Charlotte… No Top Fuel driver has won more at zMax Dragway than Antron Brown. The three-time world champion looks for his sixth win at the track since 2011 – earning Four-Wide victories in 2014 and 2015 and taking top honors in the Fall event in 2011, 2015 and 2016. Brown is coming off his first final round appearance of the season at Houston Raceway.
Formula Drift
Aasbø Leads Toyota in Season Debut… Fredric Aasbø advanced to the final four in the first Formula Drift event of the season in Long Beach, California, finishing fourth after a spark plug issue ended his day early. Now, Aasbø turns his sights to Orlando Speed World where he earned back-to-back victories in 2016 and 2017 and captured a podium finish last season with a third-place finish at the track.
Regional Stock Car Racing – ARCA
Self Looks for Three-Straight Wins… Michael Self is looking for his third-straight ARCA Menards Series win this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway after claiming victories in Pensacola, Florida and Salem, Indiana. Last season, Self earned his first career pole aboard his Toyota Camry in his Talladega debut before finishing third. He leads Toyota with two wins this season as Camry drivers have won all three ARCA events in 2019.
Toyota Ready to Claim Another Talladega Crown… If a Toyota Camry crosses the finish line first, it would be the third-consecutive Talladega ARCA win for the manufacturer. Former Toyota driver Justin Haley scored the victory in 2017, and last year, Zane Smith earned his second career ARCA win at the Alabama superspeedway. Toyota drivers have five total Talladega ARCA victories.
Midget Racing – POWRi
POWRi Back on Track… The POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League heads to the Midwest for a three-night triple-header this weekend. Toyota drivers have won three of the series’ first four races, with 2017 POWRi champion Logan Seavey leading the way with two victories. The series will race at Belle-Clair Speedway on Friday, I-55 Raceway on Saturday and conclude the weekend at Jacksonville Speedway on Sunday.
