Chase Briscoe and Team Toyota delivered a dominant showing in the Labor Day Classic Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
NASCAR
Briscoe made it count in the Playoff opener as the Indiana-native won both stages and led 309 of 367 laps to win his second consecutive Southern 500. With the win, Briscoe advanced to the Round of 12.
“There at the end, that was way harder than it needed to be,” Briscoe said. “Man, just what an incredible Bass Pro Shops Toyota. As a fan, I have watched Martin (Truex Jr.) dominate a lot of races, and it was fun to finally be behind the wheel of it. It is so cool to win two Southern 500s in a row. This is my favorite race of the year because of the race fans. You come here and it is sold out. The atmosphere is unlike anything else. Great way to start our Playoffs and man, that was a lot of fun.”
- Chase Briscoe
It was a dominant and historic race for Toyota as six of the top-seven finishers were Camry drivers for the first time ever. With Joe Gibbs Racing’s Briscoe winning, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick finishing second and LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’s Erik Jones in third – it is the first time that Toyota has had three different teams finish in the podium positions. Briscoe is the points leader for the first time in his career.
Corey Heim won the NASCAR Truck Series race at Darlington Raceway on Saturday. It was the Toyota Development Driver’s third consecutive victory, eighth of the season and 19th of his career. With the win, Heim has clinched his spot in the Round of 8 in the Playoffs.
“We had that tire going down at the end of stage two,” said Heim. “I felt it swing tight quick. Luckily it wasn’t a blowout or obviously we would have been in trouble. We held on with it. I felt like the No. 34 (Layne Riggs) and the No. 38 (Chandler Smith) were really good all day. I could make a little speed on the wall, but it was such a high-risk play. If you screw up – I mean you saw so many people have those right front issues. If you scrub the wall, you are in bad shape. So proud of these guys. It feels like I’m in a dream. Eight wins is phenomenal. Crazy to look back on but so much to look forward to. Just really speechless as far as effort. Toyota and Safelite – it’s been an awesome ride and we are going to keep going.”
- Corey Heim
It was a strong day for TRICON Garage, with Trevor Bayne (fifth) and Tanner Gray (sixth) also earning top 10 finishes.
William Sawalich finished a career-best second to lead Toyota in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Portland International Raceway on Saturday evening.
“Not too bad. It is a career-best and the team had a good day. We had a good SoundGear GR Supra – it was as fast as Xfinity Mobile,” said Sawalich. “Just kind back-and-forth all day. We didn’t have the fire off speed that we wanted, but our long run speed was on par with the No. 88 (Connor Zilisch) – from what I know. I’m not sure if he was taking it easy or what, but we had a good day. We finished P2, so I’m pretty happy.”
- William Sawalich
NHRA
Justin Ashley captured his first career U.S. Nationals victory at Indianapolis Raceway Park on Monday. The victory by Ashley is his third of the season, 18th of his career and the seventh consecutive Top Fuel win for Toyota.
“In a lot of ways, reaction time is a team statistic. And this trophy right here is a complete team effort,” said Ashley. “I’ve dreamed of this very moment, over and over – and to be actually living it, right now, is incredible. Thank you to Randy (Gloede, CEO, SCAG Power Equipment), Maria (Oldenburg, President of SCAG Power Equipment) and the SCAG Racing team. Toyota, Mobil 1, Mac Tools. It takes a group and takes an incredible group of incredible individuals that work collectively as a team and a family. To win the U.S. Nationals, that’s career-defining and very special.”
- Justin Ashley
FORMULA DRIFT
Jhonnattan Castro and Ryan Tuerck delivered opening round wins and were Toyota’s top finishers at Formula DRIFT’s seventh round of the season at Utah Motorsports Park on Saturday.
ARCA
William Sawalich earned a second consecutive ARCA West road course win as he drove to victory on Friday afternoon at Portland International Raceway. In ARCA national competition, Lawless Alan won the pole and finished second at DuQuion State Fairgrounds to lead Toyota.
TRANS AM
Sam Corry (second) and Tyler Gonzalez (third) placed two Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camrys on the podium on Saturday afternoon at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.
OFF ROAD
Johnny Greaves led Toyota with a runner-up finish on Saturday afternoon at Crandon International Speedway. Johnny’s son, CJ, continues to hold a commanding lead in the championship heading into the season finale in California, next month.
USAC
Toyota driver Gavin Miller swept both USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series events. The 18-year-old Pennsylvania native has now won three of the last four USAC events. Miller's Keith Kunz Motorsports teammate Cannon McIntosh earned top three finishes in both races with a third on Friday and a runner-up showing on Sunday. He continues to lead the USAC point standings.
WHAT’S NEXT
NASCAR’s Cup and Xfinity Series head to World Wide Technology Raceway outside St. Louis for race two of the Cup Series Playoffs, as well as the regular season finale for the Xfinity Series. The Xfinity Series takes to the 1.25-mile oval on Saturday, September 6, at 7:30 p.m. EST on the CW. On Sunday, September 7, Cup Series race coverage can be found on USA Network at 3 p.m. EST.
The GR Cup Series heads to Barber Motorsports Park outside Birmingham, Alabama, for its penultimate race weekend of 2025, with two races on the 2.38-mile road course. Race 1 is at 2:40 p.m. EST on Saturday, September 6, and Race 2 is at 11:05 a.m. EST on Sunday, September 7 – both streamed live on TGRNA.com.