Denny Hamlin scored his series-best fourth win of the season at Dover, while Shawn Langdon continued his strong season with a victory in Seattle.
NASCAR
Denny Hamlin survived a rain delay and multiple late-race restarts to win his second-straight Dover race and the 58th victory of his Cup Series career. Hamlin led his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe to the line, as the Indiana-native finished in the runner-up spot for the second-straight race, while Ty Gibbs scored a top-five in fifth. With the fifth-place finish, Gibbs advanced to the final round of the In-Season Challenge where he will face Ty Dillon for an opportunity to win $1 million.
“It is awesome,” said Hamlin. “That is what is so gratifying, is you struggle at it, and you put in work, and you see results from it. That is what motivates me every day, but it wouldn’t be possible without our great partners – Progressive, Toyota, Sport Clips, National Debt Relief, King’s Hawaiian, Bob’s Discount Furniture, Coca-Cola, Jordan Brand, Shady Rays and Logitech G.”
-Denny Hamlin
In the rain-shortened NASCAR Xfinity Series race, Aric Almirola (second) and Brandon Jones (third) chased race winner Connor Zilisch to the line. It was a strong day for Joe Gibbs Racing as all four of their GR Supras – Almirola, Jones, Taylor Gray (seventh) and William Sawalich (ninth) – finished in the top-10.
“It is fun to get back in the race car and compete,” said Almirola. “I felt really good about my car; I thought our Young Life Toyota GR Supra just needed clean air. Such a good car and felt like we were able to match Connor (Zilisch) on lap times for a while, and the longer it went, we were certainly better than he was and better in traffic than he was. Very disappointed that we didn’t get to finish that one.”
-Aric Almirola
NHRA
Shawn Langdon continued his stellar season and took over the Top Fuel points lead with his third win of the season. In Funny Car, Ron Capps advanced to the final round, falling to Matt Hagan in the end.
“Great job to my team! Very proud of them,” said Langdon. “Facing a little bit of adversity. We know moving forward, we have to be perfect, and no mistakes and they showed that. I have a great group of guys behind me, led by Brian (Husen, crew chief) and Connie (Kalitta, team owner). For me, it’s hold on straight and hit the gas on time. Have a little motivation. Like I said, have to be perfect for the rest of the year and we have one goal in mind, heart’s on the target. Thank you to all our sponsors – Kalitta Air, Toyota, Revchem, Mac Tools, DHL. It’s a great group effort. Really proud of my team and my guys!”
-Shawn Langdon
FORMULA DRIFT
Fredric Aasbo earned his fourth podium in five races this season at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway Saturday evening to lead Team Toyota. Aasbo is now tied for the championship lead, while Toyota holds a slim one-point advantage in the Auto Cup.
ARCA
Camden Murphy (second) and Toyota Development Driver Isabella Robusto (third) led Toyota with strong finishes in Friday’s ARCA Menards Series race at Dover, which was won by Brenden Queen.
GR CUP
The GR Cup Series hit the midpoint of their season with two races at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR). On Saturday, Ethan Goulart scored the win, with Toyota Development Driver Westin Workman finishing on the podium in third. On Sunday, Workman extended his championship advantage with his third career victory.
GT4
In a weather and caution filled race at VIR, Gresham Wagner and Tyler Gonzalez were able to deliver a podium finish in the Silver class, with Anthony Geraci and Kenny Schmied coming home in the runner-up slot in AM. The Geraci and Schmied duo added another AM runner-up on Sunday.
TC AMERICA
Jonathan Neudorf delivered the first ever win for the Toyota GR Corolla TC in Friday’s TC America race at VIR. He started from the front row and steadily built an advantage to win the caution-free race.
XTREME MIDGET
Chase McDermand placed second, with Jacob Denney coming home in third to lead Toyota in the Xtreme Outlaw Series Friday night feature at Spoon River Speedway. The second night of the weekend’s scheduled double-header on Saturday was cancelled due to inclement weather.
WHAT’S NEXT
NASCAR goes to one of its Crown Jewel races – the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway next weekend. Before the Cup Series race, the ARCA Menards Series and NASCAR Truck Series compete at Indianapolis Raceway Park on Friday, July 25. The ARCA Series kicks off the action at 5:30 p.m. ET, followed by Truck racing at 8:00 p.m. ET, with both on FS1. On Saturday, July 26, the NASCAR Xfinity Series competes at Indianapolis Motor Speedway at 4:30 p.m. ET on the CW with the Brickyard 400 on Sunday, July 27 at 2:00 p.m. ET on TNT.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series closes its Western Swing at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday, July 27. FOX has the final eliminations starting at 4:30 p.m. ET.