Toyota Racing: October Fast Forward. Toyota Drivers Are Title Contenders!

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	Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin race for the Chase championship.	Photo Credit: LAT

Toyota Racing: October Fast Forward. Toyota Drivers Are Title Contenders!

Hey Toyota Racing Fans, This month we’re into the thick of the NASCAR® Chase for the Sprint Cup and the NHRA's Countdown to the Championship and Toyota-supported racers are among the top contenders for the championship in both series! The month of October will go a long way toward determining the champions. To stay up to date on their progress, make sure you bookmark ToyotaRacing.com! COMING UP… THE CHASE IS ON AND THE COUNTDOWN HAS STARTED! Denny Hamlin. (Photo Credit: LAT) The Chase in the NASCAR® Sprint Cup Series™ is now underway and Toyota drivers Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch remain in championship contender status through the early stages. With a victory in last month's last pre-Chase race at Richmond International Raceway to boost his win total to a series-leading six, Hamlin entered the Chase as the No. 1 seed in the No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry. With three Chase races now in the rearview mirror, it looks like Hamlin (current No. 2 in points) will continue to be a factor through the remaining seven races and is a good bet to score the first Cup title for Toyota. The same can also be said for Hamlin's teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, Busch in the No. 18 M&M's Camry. Busch entered the Chase as the No. 4 seed and he remains within striking distance (currently No. 7 in points) with seven races still remaining. Of course, Busch has shown the ability to go on win streaks on several different occasions throughout his career. If he does it again now, he will take the crown. A key for Hamlin and Busch's hopes in the Chase will be their performance on the many "intermediate" tracks that populate the remaining races on the 2010 schedule. Click here for a recent report on the plan of attack for those races. We'll see back-to-back intermediate tracks this month at Auto Club Speedway on October 10 and Charlotte on October 16 before the short track at Martinsville on October 24. The month ends with the always-unpredictable fall race at Talladega Superspeedway on October 31. Shifting gears to the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series "Countdown to One", Toyota-supported racer Larry Dixon remains the clear favorite to take the Top Fuel title in the Al-Anabi Racing dragster, which would be a first for Toyota. After a dominating regular season in which he won nine races, Dixon hasn't cracked the throttle with back-to-back victories to start the six-race Countdown. As a result, Dixon continues to lead the Top Fuel standings heading into this weekend's race at Reading, Pennsylvania. This month for NHRA will also include the second-to-last round at Las Vegas on Halloween weekend. It was a double Toyota victory at Charlotte, as Cruz Pedregon scored the Funny Car victory in the Snap-on Toyota and celebrated alongside Dixon. Pedregon may have missed out on the Countdown in Funny Car, but he's still looking to score some upsets as you will see in this report. In the NASCAR® Nationwide Series™, the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team is looking good for its third straight owner's championship, and drivers Busch and Brad Coleman will aim to keep it going in this month's races at Auto Club (Oct. 9), Charlotte (Oct. 15) and Gateway International Raceway (Oct. 23). Likewise, Todd Bodine has a healthy lead in the NASCAR® Camping World Truck Series™, which he will look to grow later this month at Martinsville (Oct. 23) and Talladega (Oct. 30) in his No. 30 Germain Racing Tundra. Toyota-powered drivers are also among the top three in the USAC Silver Crown Series and the USAC Midget National Championship, as Shane Hmiel holds down third in the Silver Crown standings and Jerry Coons Jr. is third in the Midget standings. The Silver Crown Series draws to a close this month with races on back-to-back weekends at Terre Haute, Indiana on October 9 and Toledo, Ohio on October 16, while the Midget series takes the month off before closing out the year with four November races in California. ONE TO WATCH: SHAWN LANGDON Shawn Langdon. (Photo Credit: Gary Nastase) While Dixon has dominated the headlines in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series – and with good reason – another Toyota-supported Top Fuel racer is quickly establishing himself as a rising star. That driver is Shawn Langdon, who pilots the Lucas Oil/Dixie Chopper dragster. Last month at Dallas, Langdon advanced to the final round for the first time this season and the second time in his career. In the process, he moved up one position to sixth in the Countdown to One championship standings. ON THE WEB: SPONSAFIER 2 AND WIN KYLE'S TUNDRA For the 10 finalists in the Sponsafier 2 contest, it all comes down to this month and your votes, as the winner will be determined. Voting will run from October 8 through October 17 on the official Sponsafier website. Vote early and often to make sure your favorite design is the one that gets unveiled during the Kobalt Tools 500 weekend at Phoenix International Raceway on November 11-14. Congratulations to all of the finalists! Toyota enthusiasts also won't want to miss the opportunity to win Kyle Busch's Tundra, which benefits the Kyle Busch Foundation. The foundation is dedicated to providing essential tools for less fortunate children throughout the country. For more information on the Kyle Busch Foundation and for info on entering the drawing, check out WinKylesTundra.com. REWIND... TOYOTA WINS MANUFACTURER CHAMPIONSHIP, BUSCH MAKES MORE HISTORY, DIXON DOUBLES UP AND TOYOTA RACERS WIN TITLES Joey Logano clinched the 2010 Nationwide Series manufacturer's title for Toyota at Kansas. (Photo Credit: LAT) With a victory last weekend at Kansas Speedway by Joey Logano, Toyota clinched its third straight NASCAR Nationwide Series manufacturer's championship. Click here for a full report on Logano's Kansas victory. Of course, many of Kyle Busch's performances contributed to Toyota's Nationwide manufacturer’s championship this year, and he once again etched his name into the NASCAR record books last month when he set a new single-season win record in the Nationwide Series with his 11th victory of the 2010 season at Dover International Speedway. Busch set the record in dominating fashion, leading a 192 out of a possible 200 laps in the No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota. For more on Busch's history-making win, click here. Earlier in the month, Denny Hamlin established himself as the man to beat for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title with his sixth victory of the season at Richmond International Raceway. Video highlights of another magical night for Hamlin can be found Click here for highlights from Round 1 of the Countdown in Indianapolis and here for highlights of the second Countdown race at Charlotte, which also included a Funny Car victory for Cruz Pedregon. Toyota racers won two of the three NASCAR® Camping World Truck Series™ races last month, as Todd Bodine spun and won at Kentucky and Busch prevailed in an exciting duelat New Hampshire Motor Speedway. A pair of Toyota racers already picked up 2010 championship-winning hardware last month. Johnny Greaves faced down a stiff challenge from fellow Toyota racer Rick Huseman to win the Traxxas TORC Pro 4x4 championship, clinching the title in the season finale in Crandon, Wisconsin. Ryan Truex, the 18-year-old brother of Toyota-powered NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racer Martin Truex Jr. claimed his second consecutive NASCAR® K&N Pro Series East championship for Michael Waltrip Racing last month. Click here for more on Truexs second straight dream season and his plans for the future. For more exclusive insights into the 2010 racing season, check out Toyota Racing on Facebook and Twitter. NASCAR® is a registered trademark of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is a trademark owned by NASCAR, Inc., and Sprint. The NASCAR Nationwide Series logo and word mark are used under license by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc., and Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is a trademark owned by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc., and Camping World, Inc.

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