Four Toyota Camry XSE drivers finished in the top-10 in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) race at Kansas Speedway with Martin Truex Jr. (third) and Ty Gibbs (fifth) leading the way with top-five results. Playoff drivers Christopher Bell (seventh) and Denny Hamlin (eighth) joined their Joe Gibbs Racing teammates in the top-10 in the first race of the ‘Round of 12’ during the NCS postseason.
Bell led six times for a race-high 122 laps (of 267), but the No. 20 Camry brushed the wall around the mile-and-a-half Kansas oval and he finished seventh. He currently sits third in the Playoff standings, holding a 28-point advantage to the cutline after the first of three races in the Round of 12. Hamlin currently sits fifth in the standings (11 points to the good), while Reddick ranks ninth, and is four points below the cutline, after finishing 25th on Sunday.
Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Kansas Speedway
Race 30 of 36 – 267 Laps, 400.5 Miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Ross Chastain*
2nd, William Bryon*
3rd, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
4th, Ryan Blaney*
5th, TY GIBBS
7th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
8th, DENNY HAMLIN
17th, BUBBA WALLACE
25th, TYLER REDDICK
30th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
35th, ERIK JONES
36th, JIMMIE JOHNSON
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
What was the difference at the end of today’s race?
“I just didn’t quite get the restart I needed or the help on the restart that I needed. Just not quite good enough on the short runs all day on the restarts. It took us 10 to 15 laps to get going. A couple of those guys could get by us, so that’s kind of what happened there. The 1 (Ross Chastain) and the 24 (William Bryon) got away and then we were catching them back, but just ran out of time.”
TY GIBBS, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
How would you describe today’s performance?
“We had a really fast Monster Energy Camry. I feel like we were pretty solid and in the top five most of the day. Just needed a little bit more to compete up front for the win and have the strategy kind of go our way. I feel like we were pretty solid and just needed a little bit more.”
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 7th
How was your race today?
“They brought the heat, that’s for sure. I don’t know. Just obviously wish I had a couple corners back because there were a couple of them where I made mistakes and let a lot of track position go. Yeah, to come back and finish seventh after getting mired back in the back is something that is good but definitely left what could’ve been.”
Can you talk about the aero games that were going on during the race?
“It’s just normal procedure. The cars have become so aero dependent that blocking is a huge part of the game. Whenever you don’t have the lead, you’re just at the mercy of where the guys in front of you and it’s such a big advantage to have clean air that you get blocked and then you lose all of your momentum.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 8th
What set your No. 11 team back today?
“It was just a crappy day on pit road, and we didn’t get the finish that we deserved. This is a great opportunity to lock ourselves in and instead we’re scraping and clawing to finish in the top 10.”
What more did you need in today’s race?
“We lost 15 spots on pit road and had the fastest car. We came in fourth and came out 15th or 20th or something like that and you can only pass so many.”
What can you do to fix the issues on pit road moving forward?
“I can’t do anything. I think they’ve got to get some reps and get in a rhythm and peak when it really counts here in the next couple weeks.”
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 DraftKings Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 25th
What did you struggle with on track today?
“I guess for me it comes to just performance. For a month straight, we haven’t been that great, but we have two weeks to figure it out.”
Did you feel like you had an opportunity to make up some spots on the final restarts?
“That restart was a lot of it. That’s just part of it. When you have really good cars you can make incredible moves on restarts and when things aren’t just going the way you want them to inside the race car it’s really easy to have a big mistake and that’s what ultimately cost us our finish.”
Golin for Toyota Racing PR
