Team Toyota earned strong finishes in NASCAR, ARCA and Formula DRIFT competition, while continuing to score wins on dirt.
NASCAR
Christopher Bell (second) and Chase Briscoe (fourth) led Toyota in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway. Bell’s finish is his fifth top-10 in the last six races, while Briscoe earned his fourth top-five in the first 12 races of the year. Kyle Larson was the race winner.
“I didn’t feel like we were very good today,” said Bell. “We qualified well, had good pit stops – never really had any issues to set us back, but on the track, we were constantly going the wrong direction instead of going forward, but everyone fought hard on this Reser’s Camry and got us a good finish. I’m sure I will be a lot happier about it tomorrow and later in the week, but just didn’t feel like we were very good, and we were still right there, so I think that is a testament to how good this team is.”
- Christopher Bell
John Hunter Nemechek (10th) continued his strong season as he delivered back-to-back top-10s for the second time this season, while Corey Heim (13th) was also impressive as he earned a career-best top-15 finish in his first Cup race of the season and fourth series start of his career.
On Saturday, Heim overcame adversity throughout the Truck Series race, driving from 21st to third in the final 23 laps to lead Toyota. Carson Hocevar was the race winner. Heim continues to lead the point standings, now holding a 64-point advantage with nine races remaining in the regular season.
“Started out with that pit gun breaking – no fault to my pit crew there,” said Heim. “They did an awesome job all night. It seemed like a situational kind of deal there and then caught on the exact wrong time on the green flag cycle – had to take the wave and start from the back again and got out of line for a penalty on my part. A roller coaster kind of day. Very proud of everyone at TRICON Garage and Toyota. This Safelite, Foster Love Tundra was really fast today. I feel like we made a lot of gains on it throughout the race. We kind of struggled more in dirty air than I thought we would coming into this race, but regardless, I think we were still the best truck today. Certainly, disappointing after being able to sweep the year last year (at Kansas), but we will move forward.”
- Corey Heim
It was a strong night for Team Toyota as rookie Gio Ruggiero (fourth), Stewart Friesen (fifth) and Brandon Jones (sixth) helped put four Tundras in the top six finishing positions.
FORMULA DRIFT
Fredric Aasbo continued his strong start to the season as he advanced to the finale at Road Atlanta on Saturday. He had a fierce battle with James Deane, with two one-more-time runs, before finishing second. Aasbo leaves the second race of the year tied for the points lead.
It was also a career night for Jhonnattan Castro as he finished in fourth – his best-ever finish in Formula DRIFT competition. With the strong performance, Castro now sits in the top-five in the overall standings.
ARCA
William Sawalich, Mason Mitchell and Lawless Alan followed race winner Brenden Queen to the finish line on Friday night at Kansas Speedway. Alan’s third top-five finish of the season allowed him to close to just one point out of the ARCA championship standings lead heading into Charlotte.
GT4
Thiago Camilo and Caio Chaves crossed the line in third and earned their first podium in the Panam Motorsoprt GR Supra GT4 on Saturday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
XTREME MIDGET
Toyota driver Jacob Denney won both nights of the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Showdown in Kansas this weekend as Toyota drivers swept the top three podium positions each night.
In Friday’s 30-lap feature at Humboldt Speedway, Denney would make a late race pass on Chase McDermand for the win with Gavin Miller finishing second and McDermand placing third. On Saturday, Denney would top the field at 81 Speedway, with Miller again earning runner-up honors one spot ahead of Cannon McIntosh. With three wins and four top-five finishes in the opening four races, Denney has opened up a 47-point lead in the championship race.
WHAT’S NEXT
The annual NASCAR All Star race leads another exciting racing weekend for Team Toyota. The NASCAR Truck Series will kick off the action at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Saturday, May 17 at 1:30 p.m. ET, with the All Star Open and then the All Star Race for the NASCAR Cup Series takes place on Sunday, May 18 with coverage beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET. Both are on FS1.
The Toyota GR Cup has its third race weekend of the year, this time at Florida’s historic Sebring International Raceway. Race one is on Saturday, May 17 at 1:40 p.m. ET, and race two follows on Sunday, May 18 at 10:05 a.m. ET.
The ARCA Menards Series East runs at Flat Rock Speedway on Saturday, May 17. FloRacing will have the coverage at 7:45 p.m. ET.
Finally, the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series is back to traditional two-wide competition at Route 66 Raceway, just outside of Chicago. Final eliminations are on Sunday, May 18 at 2:00 p.m. ET on FS1.