NHRA
Steve Torrence went back-to-back at the NHRA Northwest Nationals near Seattle, defeating Shawn Langdon for the Wally Trophy Sunday afternoon. The triumph is the first for Torrence this season and the 55th in his historic career. The win also marks the 11th in 12 races for Toyota. With the finals appearances by Torrence and Langdon, Toyota has now reached the final round in 34 consecutive NHRA events in either Top Fuel and/or Funny Car.
In Funny Car, J.R. Todd had another strong weekend with two round wins and a close semi-final loss to points leader and race winner Austin Prock.
Steve Torrence took home his second consecutive win at Pacific Raceways after claiming the No. 1 qualifier.
“I mean me and Kyle (Larson) just, were the first few cars on that alternate strategy,” said Reddick. “We had that issue on pit road. I think he had some issue on pit road as well that put him back there. Just didn’t have anything to lose. A great effort by all of us, the car went through the field. Unfortunately, when Kyle got to me and passed me like he did, I wasn’t expecting it. It was really creative, and he continued to catch the rest of the field and pass cars. I wish I could’ve seen that one coming and maybe defended that better. It was a great way to make a pass. It unfortunately means we bring home our Beast Unleashed Toyota Camry second, but a good points day. Didn’t score as many as the 5 (Larson), but nonetheless, a fairly-solid points day.”
- Tyler Reddick
NASCAR
Tyler Reddick continued his stellar performance as he came home second to Brickyard 400 winner Kyle Larson. Reddick won the pole and led the most laps before multiple late cautions diced up the running order. Christopher Bell (fourth) and Bubba Wallace (fifth) made it three Toyota’s in the top-five on Sunday. Reddick’s result is his series-leading 15th top-five of the season and fifth top-10 in a row.
“I thought that was our only chance if we were going to steal one,” Almirola said. “The Stewart-Haas (Racing) cars were the class of the field all weekend. I thought that was my chance to try, when they (Riley Herbst and Cole Custer) got side-by-side and make something happen. I thought it was going to work out. I thought I was going to get clean air and was going to be okay, but Riley’s car was so good, and he got to my left rear and got me tight. It happened earlier in that run. I'd get so tight when he’d get to my left rear. Hats off to those guys, they did a great job. Proud of everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing. Tyler (Allen, crew chief) and the all the guys on this 20 team. They just did as great job. Proud of the effort and dang, that hurts.”
- Aric Almirola
Saturday afternoon, during the Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Aric Almirola and Sheldon Creed earned top-fives, finishing third and fifth, respectively. Riley Herbst was the winner. Almirola nearly missed out on a marquee win, leading on the last lap, before coming home third for his fourth straight top-five.
“We are really piecing it together here at TRICON,” said Thompson. “All of my guys and me are clicking and firing on all cylinders, so these next few races are going to be pretty strong. Hopefully, we get a win here soon – we need to get one at Richmond. I think we have a good enough team, and a good enough Thompson Pipe Group Tundra. Hopefully we get it done.”
- Dean Thompson
In NASCAR Truck Series action on Friday night at Indianapolis Raceway Park, Dean Thompson led Toyota with a ninth-place finish – his second straight top-10 run. Ty Majeski was the race winner. With one race remaining in the regular season, Corey Heim, Taylor Gray and Tanner Gray all currently hold Playoff berths.
GR CUP
The Toyota GR Cup competed in their fourth race weekend of the season at Virginia Internation Raceway (VIR). On Saturday, Spike Kohlbecker picked up the win, with Toyota Development Driver Westin Workman finishing fourth. On Sunday, Gresham Wagner extended his points lead with a race win, with Workman continuing his strong performance with a runner-up finish.
ARCA
William Sawalich won the pole and led Toyota with a third-place finish in the ARCA race at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Connor Zilisch was the race winner. Sawalich has finished inside the top-five in now all but one of his ARCA Menards Series starts this season.
FORMULA DRIFT
Fredric Aasbo earned a podium finish in St. Louis over the weekend to lead Team Toyota, while Ken Gushi and Ryan Tuerck scored opening round wins. James Deane was the event winner. With three races remaining in the season, Toyota continues to hold the lead in the Auto Cup.
XTREME MIDGET
Toyota-powered drivers swept a pair of Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series events at Spoon River Speedway in Lewiston, Illinois. Ryan Timms led Cannon McIntosh and Gavin Miller in a Toyota one-two-three finish on Friday night, while McIntosh charged from eighth to first to win Saturday's feature event. With the victory, McIntosh now has a series-high five wins and has finished in the top five at all 16 Xtreme events this season. He currently leads the Xtreme standings by 153 points over Timms. McIntosh also leads the POWRi championship.
What’s Next
With NASCAR taking two weeks off, the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series takes center stage with racing action at Sonoma Raceway. Final eliminations are on Sunday, July 28 at 4:00 p.m. ET on FOX.
The ARCA Menards Series is also on track at Salem Speedway. Coverage is on Saturday, July 27 at 4:00 p.m. ET on FS1.