“I just didn’t quite get the restart I needed or the help on the restart that I needed,” said Truex following the race. “Just not quite good enough on the short runs all day on the restarts. It took us 10 to 15 laps to get going. A couple of those guys could get by us, so that’s kind of what happened there. The 1 (Ross Chastain) and the 24 (William Bryon) got away and then we were catching them back, but just ran out of time.”
- Martin Truex Jr.
Toyota drivers earned three wins over the weekend in racing action at Kansas Speedway.
NASCAR
Four Toyota Camry XSE drivers finished in the top-10 in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) race at Kansas Speedway with Martin Truex Jr. (third) and Ty Gibbs (fifth) leading the way with top-five results. Playoff drivers Christopher Bell (seventh) and Denny Hamlin (eighth) joined their Joe Gibbs Racing teammates in the top-10 in the first race of the ‘Round of 12’ during the NCS postseason.
“That was a blue-collar day,” said Almirola in victory lane. “Man, that was a really tough day. We had such a great car. This He Gets Us Toyota GR Supra was so fast. Just we kept putting ourselves behind and I felt like we just kept having bad luck. (Pit) gun breaking, things going wrong, but the car was fast. When you have a fast car, you can overcome a lot so just really proud of everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing. What a way to start the Playoffs to lock ourselves in the next round of the owner’s championship.”
- Aric Almirola
Bell led six times for a race-high 122 laps (of 267), but the No. 20 Camry brushed the wall around the mile-and-a-half Kansas oval and he finished seventh. He currently sits third in the Playoff standings, holding a 28-point advantage to the cutline after the first of three races in the Round of 12. Hamlin currently sits fifth in the standings (11 points to the good), while Reddick ranks ninth (four points below the cutline) after finishing 25th on Sunday.
Aric Almirola won Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) race at Kansas, passing the leaders in the closing laps to earn his second victory of the season. The win automatically advances the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 team to the Round of 8 in the NXS owner’s championship Playoffs on the strength of eight wins this season by four different drivers.
“Just a deep sigh of relief,” said Heim following the race win. “We were in the best truck all night. Just a huge thank you to my TRICON Garage guys. This is my favorite track. I love coming here. I look forward to this. I’ve had a huge smile on my face all week coming to this place. Just glad we could sweep the year here. It’s such an awesome place to come. Like I said, huge thank you to TRICON Garage, Safelite, Toyota Racing. Certainly, thought I had it lost there with the 98 (Ty Majeski) almost making it on fuel. It just shows my team made the right call.”
- Corey Heim
JGR teammates and NXS Playoff contenders Chandler Smith (third) and Sheldon Creed (fifth) earned top five results for Toyota. Smith led a race-high 36 laps (of 200) on Saturday afternoon, while Creed’s fifth-place result marked his third straight top five finish and the 14th of the 2024 season.
Corey Heim won his sixth race of the season in Friday night’s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) race at Kansas. Heim drove through the field to earn the victory after a tire issue in practice resulted in the No. 11 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro not participating in Friday’s qualifying session. He led 64 laps (of 134) en route to victory lane after also winning the NCTS race at Kansas in May.
NHRA
Steve Torrence and Ron Capps each earned runner-up finishes for Toyota in the NHRA Midwest Nationals just outside of St. Louis. Both Torrence and Capps moved up a spot in the Top Fuel and Funny Car points standings after Sunday. Antron Brown continues to lead the Top Fuel points after a second-round appearance on Sunday, leading Justin Ashley who made the semifinals.
Heim advanced to the Round of 8 in the NCTS Playoffs and is joined by TRICON Garage teammate Taylor Gray, who also clinched his spot in the next round of the postseason with an 18th-place finish at the mile-and-a-half oval. Tanner Gray also earned a sixth-place finish on Friday night for Toyota.
ARCA
Tanner Gray earned his second win of the season in Friday’s ARCA Menards Series race in Kansas. Gray led 88 laps, earning the 10th victory for the JGR No. 18 Camry in ARCA competition this season. Toyota Development Driver Isabella Robusto earned the pole for Friday’s race.
USAC
Cannon McIntosh made a pass coming to the white flag to win the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series' Driven2SaveLives BC39 at the Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday night. McIntosh held off Toyota teammate Jade Avedisian for the victory.
It marked the second Toyota win over the three-race event as Kale Drake won Friday's feature event, while McIntosh and Daison Pursley finished second and third in Thursday night's opener. With the victory, McIntosh cuts Pursley's point lead to 87 with seven races remaining.
What’s Next
NASCAR will go superspeedway racing again with all three national series set to compete at Talladega Superspeedway this wekeend. The NASCAR Truck Series kicks off the action on Friday, October 4 at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1. On Saturday, October 5, the NASCAR Xfinity Series will compete at Talladega at 4 p.m. ET and it will be broadcast live on the CW. The NASCAR Cup Series will close out the weekend on Sunday, October 6 at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.
The ARCA Menards Series will host their season finale race at Ohio’s Toledo Speedway on Saturday, October 5 at 4 p.m. ET and it will be broadcast live on FS2.