In another chaotic Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, four Toyota Camry XSEs notched top-10 finishes on Sunday with Erik Jones (fifth), Christopher Bell (sixth), Bubba Wallace (ninth) and Denny Hamlin (10th). Additionally, just outside the top-10, were Martin Truex Jr. in 11th and Ty Gibbs in 13th. Tyler Reddick, the third Toyota Playoff driver with Bell and Hamlin, finished 20th.
The pace was frantic from the beginning around the 2.66-mile superspeedway, as cars were three, and sometimes, four-wide lap-after-lap. Driving his way through the field after starting at the rear for a pre-race penalty, Bell was able to make his way to the top-five by the end of Stage 1 to gather valuable stage points. Reddick joined him inside the top-10 by placing sixth.
Chaos truly began in Stage 2 with a multi-car incident at the stage’s end, to which Hamlin collected minor damage to the hood of his No. 11 Camry XSE. The team kept him out to avoid losing valuable track position while sacrificing some performance of the machine. Mayhem struck again with five laps to go as “The Big One” happened, collecting more than 20 cars, that included damage to Jones and Reddick, while Bell and Hamlin were of the few that made it through unscathed. This set up another overtime finish at Talladega, where the above listed Team Toyota drivers were able to complete their solid finishes.
The top-five finish today for Jones is his first of the 2024 season, as well as marking his seventh top-10 in the last 10 Talladega races. For Bell, the sixth-place result is his third consecutive top-10 on a drafting track after finishing fourth at Atlanta in September and third at Daytona in August.
Heading to next weekend’s Round of 12 cutoff race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, the three Camry XSE Playoff drivers sit above the points cutline – Bell +57, Hamlin +30 and Reddick +14. Coverage of the Bank of America ROVAL 400 can be seen next Sunday, October 13, on NBC at 2 p.m. EST, as well as be heard on PRN and SiriusXM Channel 90.
Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Talladega Superspeedway
Race 31 of 36 – 188 Laps, 500.08 Miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.*
2nd, Brad Keselowski*
3rd, William Byron*
4th, Kyle Larson*
5th, ERIK JONES
6th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
9th, BUBBA WALLACE
10th, DENNY HAMLIN
11th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
13th, TY GIBBS
20th, TYLER REDDICK
31st, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
ERIK JONES, No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
Finishing Position: 5th
How were you able to finish where you did amid that chaos today?
“Yeah, we had an okay car. We lacked in speed, but it drove good. Kind of lucked out in that last wreck there. Felt like the damage wasn’t bad enough that we needed to come in (to the pits). Happy to get the Dollar Tree Camry a good run. We’ve just had a rough year and struggled last two weeks, so it’s nice to finish up front.”
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 DEWALT Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
Take us through that wild race today from your vantage point.
“Yeah, I’m excited about the points standings. We came out of here as good as we ever have, so that’s awesome. Hopefully, we can have a (good) day next week at the ROVAL. I think we’re going to have pace, and we can open up the strategy a little to hopefully race for the win.”
This is your third consecutive top-10 on a drafting track. What’s been the secret to the recent success?
“We’re just getting fortunate, and you know, we’re making it through the wrecks when they happen and that’s leading to good finishes.”
BUBBA WALLACE, No. 23 U.S. Air Force Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 9th
Take us through your day today.
“Just an average day here at Talladega. Obviously, wish we could’ve been in victory lane, but just didn’t have the speed in our U.S. Air Force Toyota Camry, so we just kind of tried to dodge all the wrecks – didn’t manage to do that some. Got caught up in the big one which hurt our chances at the end, but a good rebound by the team to get a top-10. Onto the ROVAL.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 10th
Was your strategy similar to what you did in Atlanta a few weeks ago or did your car just not have the speed today?
“I just got big damage here (on the hood). It happened on that (Ryan) Blaney wreck. We just figured the best option was to race and not fix it. Just, you know, I didn’t have the speed after that wreck I needed to contend.”
Michael Jordan came up to you after the race and talked about how he was glad to see you finish.
“Yeah, me too. If you would’ve asked me about a top-10 before (the race), I would’ve taken it just because of how this round is. But, either way, we need to go to the ROVAL and have a solid effort.”
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 Nasty Beast Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 20th
How was your race today and what are you looking forward to heading to next weekend’s cutoff race?
“Yeah, you know, it was a really solid points day, considering all of the carnage. Yeah, to gain points on the cut (line), considering the damage and the 20th-place finish, I’ll take that every single time. It was a hard race, I thought we had a lot of potential for points. Things just didn’t work out on the final lap, a few times.”
Golin for Toyota Racing PR
