Toyota Tag

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer NEWTON, Iowa— Sam Mayer’s year started by being named to JR Motorsports’ championship-winning Late Model program and his motorsports career took the next step on Saturday at Iowa Speedway with his ARCA Racing Series debut. Mayer qualified the No. 40 MDM Motorsports Toyota in the 10th position and brought the car home with a 10th-place finish. Mayer gained a couple of positions in the early going as the first third of the race was run under green flag conditions. After the first trip down pit road,Read More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer NEWTON, Iowa— Sheldon Creed turned a lap at 131.349 mph to take the General Tire Pole Award for Saturday night’s ARCA Racing Series Fans with Benefits 150 at Iowa Speedway. It was the third consecutive pole award  for Creed and the fourth of his ARCA career. “It’s pretty cool. I think we needed a little momentum and a little confidence,” Creed said of taking the top qualifying spot for the third race in a row. “I’m actually pretty shocked; we were pretty terrible in practiceRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer JOLIET, Ill.— Erik Jones recorded his second-best finish of the 2018 season, bringing home a sixth-place result in Sunday’s Overton’s 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. It was the second straight top-10 result for the 22-year-old driver after finishing seventh at Sonoma Raceway last weekend. With Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. combining to win 13 of the first 17 races of the season, many positions in the Playoffs will go to drivers that haven’t visited victory lane this season. After Chicagoland, only nine racesRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer JOLIET, Ill. — The finish on Sunday afternoon at Chicagoland Speedway is exactly the finish that the sport needs in a day and age when declines in ratings and attendance have become a significant concern. The fans that braved the hot, humid and muggy conditions got their money’s worth as Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson put on a fantastic final lap that resulted in beat-up sheet metal and a respectful handshake between two of the best competitors in the sport today. With 20 laps to goRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer JOLIET, Ill. — The stars and cars of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will take to the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday to do battle in the Overtons’ 400. The intermediate tracks that dominate the schedule sometimes seem one and the same, but the track 50 miles outside of Chicago has begun to take on a character all of its own as the racing surface ages and bumps develop aided by the harsh Midwest winters. The 2017 MENCS Champion and defending Chicagoland race-winner Martin TruexRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer JOLIET, Ill. — What a month of June it’s been for Iowa native Brett Moffitt. The 25-year-old driver went to victory lane at his home track of Iowa Speedway and sits third in the championship standings as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series readies to compete in the Overtons 225 on Friday night at Chicagoland Speedway. But it was uncertain whether the Hattori Racing No. 16 Toyota would get loaded on the hauler and make the trek from North Carolina to Illinois all the way upRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer JOLIET, Ill. — Making just his fourth career start in the ARCA Racing Series, Todd Gilliland had another strong showing in the SCOTT 150 at Chicagoland Speedway, leading 28 laps in the second-half of the race. However, a late-race caution erased Gilliland’s large lead, sent the leaders to pit road for fresh tires and resulted in a frantic green-white-checkered finish. The end result was a third-place finish and the second straight frustrating ARCA race in the No. 54 DGR-Crosley Toyota. In May at Charlotte MotorRead More

Charles Krall, ARCA Racing Series Communications Manager After narrowly missing out on picking up the win at Chicagoland Speedway last year, Michael Self took advantage of a late-race restart and led the final two laps to score his second ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards victory of 2018 in Friday night’s SCOTT 150.   Self made a three-wide move to take the lead on the initial start of the race, and when Riley Herbst couldn’t get the power down coming to the final restart of the night, he made a carbon copyRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer JOLIET, Ill. — The month of June has been quite kind to Sheldon Creed and that continued on Thursday at Chicagoland Speedway where Creed took the top spot for the ARCA Racing Series SCOTT 150. It was the second consecutive General Tire Pole Award for the 20-year-old driver as he won from the top starting spot last weekend at Gateway Motorsports Park. Creed’s lap at 176.194 mph in the No. 28 United Rentals Toyota edged his MDM Motorsports teammate Zane Smith at 176.005 mph inRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer MADISON, Ill. — On Tuesday morning, Zane Smith had no idea that he would be running a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race any time in the near future. But a text from DGR-Crosley kicked off a whirlwind week for Smith, who had to get his NASCAR licence, a concussion test and fitted in his seat before boarding the plane to Gateway Motorsports Park. Smith has a series-leading three wins in the ARCA Racing Series in 2018 driving the No. 41 Toyota for MDM Motorsports.Read More