“I couldn’t be happier. The boys gave me a car to drive this weekend!” said Tuerck. “We showed up this weekend, threw our whole playbook away, and basically started from scratch. It’s been a dogfight all the way through this weekend, but I knew from the jump we were going to be a contender.”
- Ryan Tuerck
Ryan Tuerck earned his first victory in over two years in Seattle over the weekend.
FORMULA DRIFT
Ryan Tuerck put Toyota back on the top step of the podium at the Formula DRIFT race at Evergreen Speedway – just outside of Seattle – on Saturday evening. Tuerck had a solo run in the final round as Hiroya Minowa couldn’t make the call. It is Tuerck’s first win since 2022, which moved him into the top-10 in the point standings. It was also a stellar night for Jhonnattan Castro as he scored his first ‘Great 8’ appearance of the season. Multi-time Formula DRIFT champion Fredric Aasbo continues to lead Toyota in the point standings in fourth overall, while Tuerck’s win helped Toyota to move to a commanding 146-point lead in the Auto Cup with two races remaining.
“It’s obviously foul, but it is fair in NASCAR,” said Hamlin. “It is a different league. There are no penalties for rough driving or anything like that, so it opens up the opportunity for Austin (Dillon) to just do whatever he wants. The problem that I have is I got hooked in the right rear again. I’m just minding my own business, and he turned left, and he hooked me in the right rear. I don’t know. The record book won’t care about what happened. He is going to be credited with a win. He is just not going to go far because you have to pay your dues back on stuff like that, but it is worth it because they jumped 20 positions in points, so I understand all that. There is no ill will there. I get it. I just hate that I was a part of it. It would have been fun if I was not one of the two guys that got taken out on the last corner, but I understand it. It doesn’t mean I have to agree with it. We will talk about it tomorrow.”
- Denny Hamlin
NASCAR
In a wild finish at Richmond Raceway, Toyota finished second (Denny Hamlin), third (Tyler Reddick) and fourth (Bubba Wallace) to cap off a strong night. During an overtime finish, it appeared Hamlin might make it to the finish to score a hometown win before the eventual winner Austin Dillon made contact with Hamlin’s car, sending it into the wall. However, with the run, Hamlin closed in on the points lead – just 21 out of the top spot.
“I can’t thank all of my TRICON guys enough and Jeff Hensley (crew chief) on top of the box bringing me a really fast JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro,” said Gray. “Just, honestly, I think I kind of ruined our chances of winning the race on that one restart where I fell back to 10th or so and it kind of just snow-balled from there. We got into the wall on the backstretch and got a little bit of a fender on the right front and it just caused us to get super tight there. The caution saved us, came down, got tires and Jeff made a good adjustment and we were able to drive back to third so can’t hang my head too much. It was a good points day for us and we’re running for a championship.”
- Taylor Gray
For the 23XI Racing teammates, Reddick and Wallace, it was a strong performance. Reddick earned his fourth podium finish in the last five races and moved to a career-best second in the standings – five points out of the lead, while Wallace moved above the Playoff cut line by three points.
Taylor Gray delivered his fifth top-five finish of the season with a strong third-place run to race winner Ty Majeski on Saturday evening at Richmond Raceway to close the regular season. The 19-year-old, who clinched his Playoff berth early in the race, will be the eighth seed in the Playoffs. He will be joined in the Playoffs by teammate Corey Heim. Heim, who attempted a different pit strategy before finishing 16th on Saturday, is the number one seed in the Truck Series Playoffs, on the strength of a series-leading five victories.
Tanner Gray, who came into the race five points above the cutline, struggled throughout the night before bouncing back to finish 12th, and missed the 10-driver Playoff field by a mere 12 points.
ARCA WEST
Tyler Reif drove a Toyota Camry to victory in the ARCA West race at Tri-City Speedway in Washington.
What’s Next
It is a busy motorsports weekend with NASCAR at Michigan International Speedway. On Friday, August 16, the ARCA Menards Series starts the weekend at 6:00 p.m. ET on FS1. The NASCAR Xfinity Series competes on Saturday, August 17 at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, while the NASCAR Cup Series closes the weekend on Sunday, August 18 at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.
The ARCA Menards Series has a second race this weekend as they run on the dirt at the Illinois State Fairgrounds on Sunday, August 18 at 2:00 p.m. ET on FS1.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota. Final eliminations are on FOX on Sunday, August 18 at 3:00 p.m. ET.
Finally, the Toyota GR Cup Series has two races this weekend at Road America. Race 1 is on Saturday, August 17 at 1:55 p.m. ET, while Race 2 is on Sunday, August 18 at 12:15 p.m. ET.