NASCAR: Toyota drivers sweep race weekend

Toyota swept the NASCAR race weekend. Kyle Busch won the Truck and Cup Series races at Pocono while Christopher Bell won the Xfinity Series race at Iowa.

Toyota dominated this past NASCAR race weekend. For the first time since the opening weekend at Daytona, a single manufacturer won all three races across NASCAR’s three major series. The NASCAR Truck Series and NASCAR Cup Series both raced at Pocono Raceway, and Gander Outdoors sponsored both races.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series raced at Iowa Speedway, which is 979 miles away from Pocono Raceway. Yet Toyota, specifically Joe Gibbs Racing and Kyle Busch Motorsports, did not let that  distance stop their drivers from winning all three NASCAR races.

The other time that a single manufacturer won all three races across NASCAR’s three major series in the same weekend this season was back on the season opening weekend in mid-February at Daytona International Speedway when three different teams and drivers went to victory lane for Chevrolet.

Johnny Sauter won the Truck Series race, the 2018 NextEra Energy Resources 250, driving the #21 GMS Racing Chevrolet. Tyler Reddick won the Xfinity Series race, the 2018 PowerShares QQQ 300, driving the #9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Finally, Austin Dillon won the Cup Series race, the Daytona 500, driving the #3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

Over five months later, Toyota swept a NASCAR race weekend as well. Toyota took notice of this, and David Wilson, the president of Toyota Racing Development (TRD), celebrated their first two victories with this tweet.

The winning weekend for Toyota began at Pocono Raceway when Kyle Busch won the 2018 Gander Outdoors 150 pole driving the #51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota. Driving the #4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota, Todd Gilliland won the first stage, earning his first playoff point of the season as well.

When the checkered flag flew, Kyle Busch Motorsports drivers finished in first and second place. Busch won and Erik Jones finished in second as the substitute for the ill Noah Gragson. He finished 1.429 seconds behind Busch.

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Newton, Iowa saw Christopher Bell lead four times for 94 laps. He took the lead on the final restart in overtime and held off other challengers. For the third straight week, he won an Xfinity Series race.

Bell’s victory in the U.S. Cellular 250 added to his victories at Richmond Raceway, Kentucky Speedway, and New Hampshire Motor Speedway earlier this season. With four wins, Bell is first in both the Xfinity Series championship standings and playoff standings.

Busch capped off a winning weekend for Toyota with his victory in the Gander Outdoors 400. He outlasted his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Daniel Suarez and led the final 42 laps of the race.He is the leader of the championship standings, playoff points and playoff picture.

These are all impressive, but specifically, Busch’s positions on top of the playoff points and the playoff picture make him an overwhelming favorite to advance to the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in mid-November.

To cap off the sweep of the NASCAR race weekend, David Wilson also tweeted this message.

With Chevrolet and Toyota sweeping NASCAR race weekends already in 2018, will Ford join the party? The next weekend during which all three series will be racing will be the weekend of August 11 and 12. The Truck Series and Cup Series drivers will race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan and the Xfinity Series drivers will race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.

This upcoming weekend will feature the NASCAR Xfinity Series and Cup Series drivers racing at Watkins Glen International. The Truck Series drivers will next race at Michigan International Speedway next weekend. Watkins Glen will host the Xfinity Series race on Saturday, August 4. On that day, the Xfinity Series drivers will turn right and left at the Zippo 200 at The Glen, which can be seen live on NBC at 3:00 p.m. ET. The following day, Sunday, August 5, the Cup Series will race in the Go Bowling at the Glen. That race can also be seen live on NBC beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET.