“This is everything,” said Bell. “We had TK on the windshield – Thomas Kennedy. Unfortunately, the Kennedy family just left, so that is disappointing that they couldn’t stay for victory lane, but I was very proud and honored to carry their name on the windshield. Memorial Day weekend – it is not about racing. It is about honoring and remembering. I am just thankful for those who have served and have allowed us to do what we love to do on this Sunday evening. I can’t thank all of the guys at Rheem enough – all of our partners at Rheem, DeWalt, Toyota, Yahoo – they deserve this. It has been a heck of a trying eight weeks or so, so to get our second win means a lot.”
- Christopher Bell
Christopher Bell was the leader when the rain and lightning came after 249 of 400 laps to score his first Coke 600 win.
NASCAR
Bell put on a show most of the night – leading the most laps (90) and scoring a victory in the second stage. He battled to keep the lead and scored the victory – his second of the season.
Ty Gibbs was battling for the win late in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race before he was involved in a late race incident. He was able to rally back to finish ninth to lead Toyota. Chase Elliott was the race winner.
Chandler Smith (18th) moved up to second in the NXS standings – just four points out of the lead leaving Charlotte.
Stewart Friesen had a season-best finish as the Canadian was scored second in the NASCAR Truck Series race to winner Nick Sanchez on Friday. Dean Thompson (ninth) had a strong run as well in Charlotte.
It was a strong night for Team Toyota as four Camry XSE drivers finished in the top six spots – Bell, Tyler Reddick (fourth), Denny Hamlin (fifth) and first-time Cup pole sitter Ty Gibbs (sixth).
With the top-five, Hamlin is the new points leader heading into Gateway.
“Jimmy (Villeneuve) made a good call to pit there, and pit early and then we had that quick caution,” said Friesen. “I’m like, man, we will see how good we really are. We’ve been fighting dirty air all year. We got some clean air on this Halmar Tundra TRD Pro, and this thing runs pretty good – just sucks in the pack. We will keep building our notebook, and see if we can make our stuff better.”
Corey Heim was the dominant truck as he won both stages and led 72 of 134 laps. The Toyota Development Driver encountered many issues on pit road and was originally scored second. However, post-race inspection found three lugnuts not secure, which disqualified him from the race.
“Jimmy (Villeneuve) made a good call to pit there, and pit early and then we had that quick caution,” said Friesen. “I’m like, man, we will see how good we really are. We’ve been fighting dirty air all year. We got some clean air on this Halmar Tundra TRD Pro, and this thing runs pretty good – just sucks in the pack. We will keep building our notebook, and see if we can make our stuff better.”
ARCA
Tanner Gray drove back from a flat tire that put his Camry a lap down to win his first ARCA Menards Series race. Gray took the lead late and held off drivers with fresh tires to score the victory.
XTREME MIDGET
Toyota drivers captured three wins in four races in the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series this past week with Cannon McIntosh leading the way with one victory and four top-three podium finishes.
Karter Sarff kicked off the week's activities with a win at Millbridge Speedway on Tuesday night with McIntosh finishing third. The two Toyota drivers were back on the podium in Wednesday's Millbridge event as Sarff placed second, one spot ahead of McIntosh. The series moved to Atomic Speedway in Chillicothe, Ohio, for a pair of races with Ryan Timms taking home top honors on Friday, ahead of Jade Avedisian and McIntosh. After three straight third-place finishes, McIntosh closed out the week with a Saturday night win as Toyota drivers again swept the podium with Timms placing second and Kale Drake in third.
McIntosh continues to lead the points championship on the strength of three wins and 12 top-five finishes in 12 events this season - 127 points ahead of Timms.
What’s Next
It is an extremely busy weekend of racing for Team Toyota across the country. The ARCA Menards Series West kicks off the racing action at Portland International Raceway with racing action on Friday, May 31 at 8:00 p.m. ET on FloRacing, while the NASCAR Xfinity Series runs on the same road course on Saturday, June 1 at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Formula DRIFT has its third race of the season at Orlando Speedworld with final eliminations on Saturday, June 1 at 2:30 p.m. ET.
The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series is the first of two races at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway on Saturday, June 1 at 1:30 p.m. ET on FOX, while the NASCAR Cup Series competes on Sunday, June 2 at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
Finally, the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series competes at the New England Dragway with final eliminations on Sunday, June 2 at 7:00 p.m. ET on FS1.