BELL CLAIMS VICTORY IN ATLANTA
Christopher Bell leads just the final lap on his way to his 10th career Cup Series victory
HAMPTON, Ga. (February 23, 2025) – Christopher Bell drove his Toyota Camry XSE to the front when it counted – as the Oklahoma-native was scored the leader on the final lap when the caution fell, giving Bell his first Atlanta Motor Speedway victory and 10th victory of his young career. Bell drove through the field after starting 32nd and earned his first superspeedway win.
Bell led four Toyotas in the top-10 finishers as Denny Hamlin finished sixth, Bubba Wallace was scored ninth and John Hunter Nemechek finished 10th. Nemechek is one of two drivers (Ryan Blaney) to finish in the top-10 in both of the first two races this season.
Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Race 2 of 36 – 400.4 miles, 260 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, CHRISTOPHER BELL
2nd, Carson Hocevar*
3rd, Kyle Larson*
4th, Ryan Blaney*
5th, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.*
6th, DENNY HAMLIN
9th, BUBBA WALLACE
10th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
17th, RILEY HERBST
19th, TYLER REDDICK
21st, CHASE BRISCOE
31st, ERIK JONES
32nd, TY GIBBS
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
It took a couple of seconds, but you are the official winner here. What are the emotions like?
“I definitely wasn’t going to start a burnout till they told me for sure that I won. I felt like I had it because I was gauging off the guys besides me – whenever I saw the yellow flag. I don’t know – for the last lap or so, I kept seeing smoke in my rear-view mirror, and I was like, oh my gosh, please don’t crash, please don’t crash. This place is just bonkers. Every time we come here, it gets wilder and wilder, and I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I would have won a superspeedway race.”
Why was it so important to you to start in the high lane?
“You just have to keep the momentum. I can be risky to be on the top or the bottom, because sometimes it forms in the middle, sometimes it forms on the top. It forms on the top, you don’t want to be on the bottom. If it forms in the middle, you don’t want to be on the top. I don’t know – you can kind of pick wrong either way. It seemed like the first half of the race, I couldn’t do anything right, and I was just mired back in the pack, and then these boys got the DeWalt Camry tuned up. They got it going really well where I could drive it hard. The DeWalt Camry was fastest when it needed to be at the end.”
What momentum does this give your team?
“We are just getting started. We are going to our bread-and-butter next week. I’m super excited about it.”
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, No. 42 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
Finishing Position: 10th
How was your race?
“I’m not sure where we officially got scored, but looks like p10. Solid day. Really proud of Hayden (Reeves, spotter), he worked hard today. Way more intense than Daytona. Hats off to all of the men and women at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB. Road crew, pit crew – everyone did a solid job all day. We were able to keep it straight all day and salvaged another top-10. Two really good runs to start the season and looking forward to COTA next week.”
TY GIBBS, No. 54 SAIA LTL Freight Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 32nd
Can you tell us what happened?
“I think I just got really squeezed there. I feel like I was in position to run three wide and make up some positions that I lost. I don’t know. I haven’t seen a replay. I feel like I got squeezed there.”
How was it before the incident?
“Before I got wrecked, I felt like our SAIA Camry was really good. I felt like I could make really good charges and my balance was good. I felt like we were really fast, and I could charge through the field and make really good passes.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 49 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In spring 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 31 electrified options.
For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.
