“We had an okay car,” said Jones. “We lacked in speed, but it drove good. Kind of lucked out in that last wreck there. Felt like the damage wasn’t bad enough that we needed to come in (to the pits). Happy to get the Dollar Tree Camry a good run. We’ve just had a rough year and struggled last two weeks, so it’s nice to finish up front.”
- Erik Jones
Toyota drivers earned seven top-10 finishes across the three races at Talladega Superspeedway over the weekend.
NASCAR
Four Toyota Camry XSEs notched top-10 finishes on Sunday at Talladega with Erik Jones (fifth), Christopher Bell (sixth), Bubba Wallace (ninth) and Denny Hamlin (10th). Tyler Reddick finished 20th.
“Overall, a pretty smooth day for us,” said Creed. “Just tried to avoid the chaos and the crashes, and kind of do what we did, get points and finish good. I lined up fourth on the restart and knew we’d have a good shot at it. I was trying to get the No. 8 (Sammy Smith) the best push I could and we kind of got too far away from the rest of the pack. I was trying to block coming to the white flag and just fell back there -- to be able to make a few moves that last lap and get myself back into contention. And then, got spun across the line. Overall, good day. I think we’re plus 25 (points) going into the ROVAL. Hopefully we can just go and have a smooth day and hopefully maybe get our first win next week.”
- Sheldon Creed
Frantic racing dominated the day, with chaos occurring in the final two stages with big accidents that affected most of the field. Most of the Team Toyota drivers managed to get through the incidents for the most part, to finish the day in solid positions. Heading into the Round of 12 cutoff race at the Roval in Charlotte, the three Camry XSE Playoff drivers sit above the points cutline – Bell +57, Hamlin +30 and Reddick +14.
Sheldon Creed and Chandler Smith claimed top-five finishes in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Talladega, earning fourth and fifth-place results, respectively. Both were towards the front all race long, including for a Stage 1 victory for Smith and accumulating 48 points by the day’s end.
“At the end of the day, can’t be too upset,” Gray said. “You're pretty lucky if you can finish second (here, Talladega). Can’t thank my TRICON Garage guys enough for sticking with me and staying with it all day. Didn't get the stage points we needed to really go anywhere in points. I don’t know, we’re living life wrong. Have come so close to winning these things and haven’t been able to do it.”
- Taylor Gray
For Creed, the finish is his 15th top-five of the season, the most in the series, and his fourth in-a-row. Smith earned his fifth consecutive top-five finish and his sixth in the last seven races. Smith’s result clinches him into the Round of 8, while Creed enters next weekend 25 points to the good.
Overcoming late-race damage, Taylor Gray finished second in Friday’s Truck Series race, coming close to his first career victory.
Corey Heim finished 11th after being collected in the last lap incident. Heim sits 30 points above the Playoff cutline, while Gray is 13 points below.
ARCA
William Sawalich earned his ninth win of the season in the ARCA Menards Series finale at Toledo Speedway. The Minnesotan led 192 of the 200 laps on Saturday to capture the victory, ending the season with nine victories in 14 starts. Gio Ruggiero, Kris Wright and Brent Crews finished second through fourth, respectively, as Toyota locked out the top-four.
GR Cup
The GR Cup wrapped up its 2024 season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway over this weekend. It was also a star-studded event with Hollywood superstar, Keanu Reeves and Dude Perfect’s Cody Jones taking part.
Gresham Wagner swept the weekend, claiming his ninth and 10th wins of the season to earn the 2024 Driver’s Championship. Reeves finished 25th and 24th in the two races. Jones finished 23rd and 25th in the two races over the weekend.
GT4
Ryan Eversley and Terry Borchellar captured victory in Indianapolis on Saturday to bring Precision Racing LA their first win with a Supra in the PRO-AM Class in Race 1. Anthony Geraci and Kevin Conway finished second in the AM class for Krugspeed.
In Race 2, Terry Borcheller and Ryan Eversley followed up Saturday’s win with a third-place finish in PRO-AM Class.
USAC
Toyota driver Gavin Miller won Saturday's Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series finale at Jacksonville (Illinois) Speedway. Teammate Cannon McIntosh secured the 2024 Driver's Championship with a runner-up finish. The 21-year-old led the series with six wins and registered 20 top-five finishes in 22 events this season. Toyota drivers have won each of the last two Xtreme titles and have earned 18 overall national midget racing championships.
What’s Next
NASCAR hits another cutoff weekend with its Xfinity and Cup Series, concluding the Round of 12 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL. On Saturday, October 12, the NASCAR Xfinity Series will compete at 4 p.m. ET live on the CW. The NASCAR Cup Series will close out the weekend on Sunday, October 13 at 2:00 p.m. ET on NBC.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series is back in action for the fourth race of the Countdown to the Championship at Texas Motorplex for the Texas FallNationals. Coverage can be seen on FS1 at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 13.