Denny Hamlin made history in Las Vegas – scoring his 60th career NASCAR Cup Series win, taking over the all-time lead in Cup Series wins for Toyota and clinching his Championship 4 berth in Phoenix.
NASCAR
Denny Hamlin made the closing laps count as the Virginia native passed his teammate Chase Briscoe late in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and claimed his sixth victory of the season. With the win, Hamlin has claimed a spot in the Championship 4 – continuing Toyota’s streak of having at least one driver make the Championship 4 in every season in the current format.
“Just an incredible team effort,” said Hamlin. “I’ve only had five minutes to think about what just happened. Certainly, didn’t expect it – I just drove as hard as I could. Huge to get ampm their first win, and huge thank you to everyone that has been a part of our team this season.”
- Denny Hamlin
It was a strong day for Team Toyota as Camry drivers filled four of the top-five finishing positions for the second straight race at a mile-and-a-half track. Christopher Bell finished third, Chase Briscoe fourth and Tyler Reddick was scored fifth. Both Bell and Briscoe moved above the cutline heading into Talladega.
Aric Almirola won both stages and claimed his third Xfinity Series victory of the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday evening. With the win, Almirola and the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team have clinched a spot in the owners’ championship 4 battle in Phoenix.
“Thank you, Coach (Joe Gibbs, owner and founder, Joe Gibbs Racing),” said Almirola. “Such an awesome honor to go race for an owner’s championship with JD Gibbs’ name on the car – the whole Gibbs family. I’m having so much fun. This is the time of my life, man. Our car was really good, but the longer I ran, the tighter I got. I was just struggling on the long run in the beginning of stage three and finally that restart there. I just took off incredibly tight, and I couldn’t get going. The No. 48 (Nick Sanchez) slowed my momentum down. Finally, I got clear of him and was able to go and chase the No. 88 (Connor Zilisch) down. He looked pretty loose, and I was able to capitalize on it.”
- Aric Almirola
Brandon Jones rallied from an early tire issue to finish 13th. He is just eight points below the cutline heading into Talladega.
NHRA
Doug Kalitta earned his fourth victory of the 2025 NHRA season with a win in the Texas Fall Nationals on Sunday. By defeating Steve Torrence in the finals, Kalitta extended his Top Fuel points lead to 141 points with the win. It’s also Toyota’s 10th Top Fuel win in the last 11 races. In Funny Car, Ron Capps made the finals on Sunday, narrowly missing out on victory.
“Yeah, we’re trying to go rounds and stay ahead of these guys! Everybody’s hungry right now,” said Kalitta. “Hats off to Toyota, Mac Tools, Mobil 1, Revchem, Kalitta Air, everybody that supports us. A huge relief to get this win here in Ennis. Really big deal for us.”
- Doug Kalitta
ARCA WEST
Thomas Annunizata led Toyota with a fourth-place finish in the rain-delayed ARCA Menards Series West from The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Friday night.
GT4
Jaxon Bell and Ford Koch earned a second-place podium result with the No. 23 Copeland Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 in Friday’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race at Road Atlanta.
VP CHALLENGE
Toyota swept the GSX class of the IMSA VP Racing Sportscar Challenge with Kiko Porto winning the GSX driver’s championship, Ian Porter securing the GSX Bronze title and Toyota earning the Manufacturers championship in the season finale at Road Atlanta. Porto won both VP Challenge races to close out a season where the GR Supra GT4 EVO2 won all 12 races in 2025.
POWRI
Three Toyota-powered drivers combined to sweep the final weekend of the 2025 POWRi National Midget League at Port City Raceway with Michael Faccinto, Cannon McIntosh and Brandon Carr all earning victories over the three-night event. In addition to the race wins, Jacob Denney clinched the POWRI championship on the strength of six wins and 14 top five finishes in 18 races this season.
WHAT’S NEXT
NASCAR holds its final superspeedway race of the season as they head to the high banks of Talladega Superspeedway. On Friday, October 17, the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series is on track at 4:00 p.m. ET on FOX. The NASCAR Xfinity Series follows on Saturday, October 18, at 4:00 p.m. ET on the CW, with the NASCAR Cup Series closing the weekend on Sunday, October 19, at 2:00 p.m. ET on NBC.
The Toyota GR Cup Series closes its season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Race one is on Saturday, October 18, at 8:50 a.m. ET, with the second race on Sunday, October 19, at 11:05 a.m. ET. Both races can be viewed live on GRCup.com.
Formula DRIFT also closes its season this weekend on the Streets of Long Beach. The final eliminations can be seen on FormulaD.com and TGRNA.com on Saturday, October 18, at 5:30 p.m. ET.