BELL DRIVES THROUGH THE FIELD TO LEAD TOYOTA IN MEXICO
John Hunter Nemechek scores career-best road course finish
MEXICO CITY (June 15, 2025) – Christopher Bell drove from 31st starting spot to second to lead Toyota in the NASCAR Cup Series race in Mexico City.
John Hunter Nemechek had an impressive drive to finish sixth – his best career road-course finish, while Chase Briscoe came back from an early race incident and twice being a lap down to finish seventh.
Ty Gibbs had a strong run and led multiple laps. He was leading when the final caution came out, when he was forced to pit, and was unable to get back to the lead. Gibbs settled for 11th.
Toyota GAZOO Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
Race 16 of 36 – 241 miles, 100 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Shane van Gisbergen*
2nd, CHRISTOPHER BELL
3rd, Chase Elliott*
4th, Alex Bowman*
5th, Michael McDowell*
6th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
7th, CHASE BRISCOE
11th, TY GIBBS
12th, BUBBA WALLACE
17th, ERIK JONES
20th, TYLER REDDICK
23rd, RYAN TRUEX
29th, RILEY HERBST
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
31st to second; were there times today where you thought you could keep up with the 88?
“I don’t know. He was really good. Ultimately it was just a third-place day. I felt like Ty (Gibbs) was really good, so the yellow flag bit him and we walked away with second. Both days – in the Xfinity car, I was the third-place car, and today, I felt like I was the third-place car. I think more than anything it was just me. I need to do a little more homework and figure out where I can be better to keep up with these guys. The Joe Gibbs Racing Group brought an amazing Mobil 1 Camry, and I can’t really say that it was my car that was lacking. It was on me this weekend.”
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, No. 42 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Camry XSE, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
Finishing Position: 6th
How was your day out there?
“Hats off to this whole 42 LEGACY MOTOR CLUB team. Pye-Barker colors look really good on our Camry this weekend, and I’m super stoked on a sixth-place finish. Our road course program has not been good here at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, so solid run for us after the last three weeks we’ve had – two wrecks, and not so good run in Nashville – we needed this as a team to get back on track. Had a lot of text messages from my wife (Taylor) and had a lot of text messages from Jimmie (Johnson, co-owner, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB) yesterday – I was pretty down after qualifying, and beating myself up pretty bad, but we executed during the race. I got spun out a couple of times and still came home sixth. Hats off to Travis (Mack, crew chief) on the strategy. He called a really good race, and we were able to execute and come home sixth. Proud of the day.”
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 7th
How did you battle through everything?
“We just had a really good Bass Pro Shops Toyota. It is sickening getting torn up that early, and all the aversity we had to go through because our car was really, really good. I don’t know if I would have been good enough to beat Shane (van Gisbergen) – but certainly, probably would have run better than seventh. It is a testament to my guys. They could have given up in many points during the race, and they continued to just fight. I want to say Happy Father’s Day to my dad, and congrats to Shane too. That whole team is almost the 14 group from last year.”
TY GIBBS, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 11th
Do you feel like the timing of the caution ended your day?
“Yeah, and then I don’t know what they do on restarts where they check everybody up and then everyone just rails each other. That is where I got a little nose damage, unfortunately.”
How do you process it?
“Sometimes life just doesn’t work out for you. You just have to keep digging.”
About Toyota
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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.
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