Toyota Kicks Off 2020 With Four Race Wins
Toyota enjoyed some of its best-ever motorsport years in 2018 and 2019, and the new decade seems to be bringing more of the same. The automaker’s 2020 motorsport season was off to an excellent start with four race wins over the second weekend of February, including two victories at Daytona International Speedway to kick off the NASCAR season.
The first win came courtesy of Erik Jones, who led teammate Denny Hamlin in the 2020 Busch Clash at Daytona race until the final restart in overtime. Though Jones managed to win the race, Hamlin fell to sixth after leading 12 laps. Martin Truex Jr and Kyle Busch finished low in the standings following incidents that took them out of the race.
“What a way to start the year,” said Jones. “I have to thank Denny. He pushed us really good there in the end. He got us the lead and got us up front. It was wild. We got in a few wrecks and tore the car up pretty bad. I didn’t know how rough it was. I knew it was still holding water and oil, so we were in okay shape. The SportClips Camry took the win, so it feels good.”
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Also at Daytona, Michael Self led 61 of 80 laps in the ARCA Menar Series before bringing the win home. It marked his second consecutive Daytona win, Venturini Motorsports’ third, and one of three top 10 results for Toyota in this year’s season opener.
Meanwhile, Doug Kalitta opened his own 2020 season by winning the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals for the third year running. The win moved him in the Top Fuel points lead and gave Toyota its 15th victory of the last 21 races at one of the sport’s most prestigious races.
Finally, Chris Windom scored his first victory with Tucker-Boat Motorsports in the USAC National Midget Dirt Winter Games at Bubba Raceway Park. His Saturday victory followed a second-place finish at the season-opener on Friday, putting him in the series point lead.
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Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.