NASCAR
Camry drivers Martin Truex Jr. (second) and Kyle Busch (fourth) came up just short of clinching another Toyota title in Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Homestead-Miami Speedway where race-winner Joey Logano was crowned the 2018 MENCS champion.
 
Truex and Busch both led laps in the winner-take-all race with Truex leading 20 laps (of 267) and Busch paced the field for 21 laps. Camry drivers won 13 races and earned 14 pole positions during the 2018 MENCS season.
 
“I just needed time,” said Truex, following the race. “They (Joey Logano) were faster than us for 15 or 20 laps all day long. It was like a reverse scenario from last year. Last year we took advantage of the short run car at the end – the 18 (Kyle Busch) car should’ve won the race, and tonight we should’ve won the race and they (Joey Logano) took advantage of the short-run car. I don’t know what else we could’ve done. We worked our guts out all weekend and just to get here. To come here and almost upset the field and almost win it back-to-back was really awesome. I just wish that last caution hadn’t come out. Other than that, I don’t know what we could’ve done.”
 
Toyota Championship 4 contender Christopher Bell finished 11th in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series season-finale race at Homestead, closing the season as the winningest rookie in the Xfinity Series with seven victories. Tyler Reddick went on to win the race and the 2018 NXS championship. Bell finishes the season fourth in the standings.
 
“Not the night we wanted for the GameStop Camry, that for sure,” said Bell, following Saturday’s race. “But overall, the season was excellent. We had really fast Camrys week in and week out. Hats off to everyone on this team 20 for Joe Gibbs Racing and everyone at the shop. Thank you for building fast race cars.”
 
Ryan Preece (sixth) and Brandon Jones (eighth) finished in the top-10 at Miami. In 2018, Camry drivers won nine events and earned six pole positions. 
 
In Friday’s NCWTS race at Homestead, Moffitt won his sixth race of the season to capture the 2018 NCWTS driver’s championship. The title is Moffitt’s first NASCAR championship in his first full-time season competing in the Truck Series. Six Tundra drivers have won eight NCWTS driver championships since 2004.
 
“(Crew chief Scott Zipadelli) ‘Zippy’ and everybody at HRE (Hattori Racing Enterprises) gave me a really fast Tundra and I think we made the bottom work a heck of a lot better than anybody,” said Moffitt following his win. “That gave me the opportunity to get down there, but doing that it’s really harsh on the tires. I just can’t speak enough about everybody on this race team and how hard they work. Our pit crew did an amazing job. Man, those were a long last 20 laps.”
Fellow Championship 4 contender and Tundra driver Noah Gragson finished the race in third, closing out the season runner-up in the point standings.
 
Tundra drivers won nine events and 14 pole positions during the 2018 season.
 
USAC
Seavey passed Toyota teammate Rico Abreu coming off the final corner to win the USAC P1 Insurance National Midget November Classic at Bakersfield Speedway on Saturday night to clinch the 2018 USAC national midget championship with one race remaining on Thursday at the Turkey Night Grand Prix in Ventura, California.
 
The win was Seavey’s series-leading third USAC victory of the season and his ninth national midget feature win of the year. He will officially be crowned the USAC champion after Thursday’s Turkey Night Grand Prix. His win was the 39th for a Toyota-powered driver this season.
 
What’s Next
The Turkey Night Grand Prix for the USA National Series is set to take place at California’s Ventura Raceway on Thursday, Nov. 22.