For the second straight season, NASCAR heads to Wisconsin for July 4th weekend at the picturesque Road America.
NASCAR National Series – NCS | NXS
Last season at Road America… Toyota drivers were very strong last season in the Cup Series debut at Road America with Christopher Bell coming home in second, and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch (third), Denny Hamlin (fifth) and Martin Truex Jr. (ninth) also having strong runs. Toyota’s Kurt Busch also had a solid result for his previous team, coming home in fourth.
Bell plans to be one spot better… Bell finished second last season and looks to earn his first victory of the season at Road America to clinch his Playoff berth. The Oklahoma-native finished eighth in Nashville – his sixth top-10 finish in the last seven races – to move up to a season-best eighth in the overall point standings.
Gibbs looks to rebound from first Road America start… Ty Gibbs impressive rookie season showed once again a season ago at Road America as he earned his first pole position and led laps early before a mechanical failure ended his day early. Gibbs – who has earned three straight top-10 finishes – is looking for a solid finish on Saturday.
Smith debuts… Sammy Smith will make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut on Saturday at Road America. The Toyota Racing development driver is scheduled to make eight starts in the No. 18 Toyota GR Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) through the balance of the season. The 18-year-old has been impressive across all of his ARCA starts this season. He leads both the ARCA East and Sioux Chief Showdown championship standings and has two wins and four top-three finishes in four starts on the national ARCA tour this season.
Nemechek returns… John Hunter Nemechek makes his return to the NASCAR Xfinity Series this weekend aboard the No.26 Toyota GR Supra for Sam Hunt Racing (SHR). His last start with the team turned heads as he was catching the leader in Darlington before a late-race caution led to a fourth-place finish. SHR is coming off a strong run in Nashville as Jeffrey Earnhardt drove the car to a seventh-place finish. Nemechek has several planned Xfinity starts through the balance of the season with both of Toyota’s Xfinity teams – SHR and JGR.
TRD PR
