Corey Heim led the way for Toyota at Martinsville Speedway, as he extended his Truck Series single-season record with his 11th victory. Taylor Gray continued Toyota’s winning ways on Saturday by claiming his first career Xfinity Series win.
NASCAR
Heim inched by TRICON Garage teammate Brent Crews with less than 20 laps to go enroute to victory in Friday night’s Truck Series race at Martinsville. In the process, Toyota captured its 14th Truck Series manufacturers’ championship.
“We’ve got a big race next week and a lot of momentum heading into Phoenix and keep our guys with their heads held high and you know what they are working on going to Phoenix,” said Heim. “I feel like it was a rocky race there getting behind on track position. We wanted to capitalize on our day and make the most of it. I really think we had the truck we had in the spring, but once we got out front it really showed that we had something to work with here. I’m just really grateful to everyone at TRICON Garage, Toyota, Safelite, Mobil 1, Celsius, and just everyone that’s gotten me to this point so far. It feels sweet to close it out. It’s going to be tough, but I’m confident we can do it.”
- Corey Heim
The Georgia-native added to his Truck Series single season win record with his 11th victory this season and 22nd victory of his career. It is the third straight year that Heim will be a Championship 4 participant.
Heim crossed the finish line ahead of Toyota teammate Kaden Honeycutt (second) and fellow Toyota Development Driver Crews (fourth), who recorded his second career top-five in just nine career starts. Honeycutt became the second Toyota Tundra TRD Pro driver locked into the Championship 4 via a tiebreaker.
In Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Martinsville, rookie Taylor Gray held on in a two-lap overtime shootout to capture his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory.
“Whenever the caution came out with five laps to go, I was like, this is my luck every time I come to this dang place,” said Gray following his victory. “I was able to get a really good restart and able to drive away with it. I can’t thank Jason Ratcliff (crew chief) enough, and everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing for bringing awesome race cars, especially this race. They give me an opportunity to come here and win every time I show up to this race.”
- Taylor Gray
His teammate Brandon Jones, who was vying to move onto the Championship 4, ended up just four points shy of a Championship 4 appearance.
Christopher Bell led Toyota with a seventh-place finish in Sunday’s Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway. Bell came up just short of his fourth career Championship 4 appearance.
“It seemed like we were just lacking a little bit of long-run pace,” said Bell. “When I got the balance close at times, I could take off on tires and do okay and make some passes and maintain my position. And then, the consistent theme of the day was just falling backwards as the tires got old. We weren’t strong enough at Martinsville this weekend. We practiced in the teens, qualified in the teens and kind of raced back there most of the day. I feel content with the results, the four who are going there are legitimate contenders and whoever the champion is will be well-deserved. The No. 20 team just wasn’t good enough.”
- Christopher Bell
His teammates Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe advanced to the Championship 4 for Toyota. This will be Hamlin’s fifth career appearance, while Briscoe makes his first.
WHAT’S NEXT
The NASCAR season comes to a close this weekend at Phoenix Raceway for Cup, Xfinity, and Trucks. The Truck Series opens the trio of championship races on Friday, October 31, on FS1 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The Xfinity Series finale will be on Saturday, November 1, on the CW at 7:30 p.m. ET and the Cup Series closes out their season and the weekend on Sunday, November 2, at 3:00 p.m. ET on NBC.
The ARCA Menards Series West also ends its season at Phoenix Raceway with their race on Saturday, November 1 at 12:30 p.m. ET on FloRacing.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series enters the penultimate weekend of its season at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Eliminations coverage can be seen on Sunday, November 2, at 5:00 p.m. EST on FS1.