“A top-five, is a good day. Obviously, we had pace to be better than that, so that’s why I’m sitting here with mixed emotions. Great effort, and if we keep bringing cars like that, hopefully it’ll be our day one of these times,” said Bell. “Yeah, I mean it was a rocket ship on the long runs. Everything I needed. I don’t know how much faster I was, but I could see the leaders, and then all of a sudden, I couldn’t see them later on. It was good on the long runs, just struggled with strategy and on the short runs.”
- Christopher Bell
Team Toyota took to battle in NASCAR’s return to Iowa Speedway, while capturing three victories in POWRi National Midget Week’s Illinois SPEEDWeek.
NASCAR
Christopher Bell led the Toyota Camry XSE contingent Sunday night in the inaugural Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway, earning a fourth-place finish. The result is Bell’s fourth consecutive top-10 and his fifth in six races.
“Yeah, thought we had a great car all day. We certainly struggled with tires early. Really didn’t think that was going to be an issue, but it proved to be kind of how the whole race went,” said Heim. “Certainly, didn’t expect that. Thought we were the best car yesterday and we were up there today. Had a couple things fall our way there at the end to get in the top five and come home with a great P3 for this small team. Super thankful for Sam Hunt Racing, Yahoo, Toyota Racing and everyone from that side of things. Great effort and going to move forward and try to win one of these things one day.”
- Corey Heim
After damaging his primary No. 20 Camry XSE on Friday, Bell and his Joe Gibbs Racing team had tremendous pace in their backup car that was a regular in the top-10 Sunday night. They battled through adversity after an ill-timed caution to reach fourth-place at the race’s end.
Toyota’s Xfinity Series GR Supras were strong through the race Saturday afternoon in Iowa where Corey Heim earned his career-best finish of third. Chandler Smith was the dominant car on the day, sweeping both stages and leading 135 laps, but fell back on a late-race restart, ultimately finishing eight. Sheldon Creed finished fifth, claiming his sixth top-five of the season.
ARCA
William Sawalich battled race winner, Connor Zilisch, all night long in the ARCA Menards Series race at Iowa. The Minnesotan led 48 laps on the night, coming home runner-up. Gio Ruggiero started the night on pole and finished third. Toni Breidinger earned her best finish of the season with an eighth-place result.
XTREME MIDGET
Toyota-powered drivers were victorious in all three events during the POWRi National Midget League's Illinois SPEEDWeek with Karter Sarff, Jacob Denney and Cannon McIntosh each taking home a win.
Kale Drake would earn the Illinois SPEEDWeek title on the strength of three podium finishes, while McIntosh continues to lead the overall POWRi standings. Sunday's scheduled finale was cancelled due to excessive heat.
NASCAR Xfinity Series |
NXS at Iowa
Toyota Top-20 Finishers
1st, Sam Mayer*
3rd, Corey Heim
5th, Sheldon Creed
8th, Chandler Smith
18th, Brett Moffitt
*non-Toyota driver
NXS Driver Standings
Toyotas in the Top-20
1st, Cole Custer* 547 points
2nd, Chandler Smith 546 points
6th, Sheldon Creed 442 points
*non-Toyota driver
NXS Manufacturer Standings
Chevrolet 570 points
Toyota 526 points
Ford 469 points
What’s Next
NASCAR is back at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend. The Xfinity Series runs on Saturday, June 22 at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network and then the Cup Series takes to the track on Sunday, June 23at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series is also on-track at Virginia Motorsports Park after a weekend off. Final eliminations are on Sunday, June 23 at 5:00 pm. ET on FS1.
FORMULA Drift hits its midpoint of the season with a race in Englishtown, NJ. Final eliminations are on Saturday, June 22 at 6:45 p.m. ET on FormulaD.com.
Finally, the ARCA Menards Series is headed to the Midwest for some road course action at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Friday, June 21 at 6:00 p.m. ET on FS2.