Bell Leads Team Toyota with a Runner-Up Finish with Gibbs and Jones Also Scoring Top Five Finishes
HAMPTON, Ga. (July 12, 2026) – Christopher Bell led Team Toyota with a runner-up finish in Sunday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta.
Ty Gibbs and Erik Jones also recorded top-five finishes in a race that was delayed by rain for more than three hours and concluded just before 2 a.m. ET on Monday.
Tyler Reddick, who spent much of the night running near the front, finished eighth to give Toyota four Camry XSE drivers in the top 10.
In the In-Season Tournament, Bell advanced to next week’s semifinal round at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
TOYOTA RACING Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta
Race 20 of 36 – 400 miles, 260 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Ryan Blaney*
2nd, CHRISTOPHER BELL
3rd, Carson Hocevar*
4th, TY GIBBS
5th, ERIK JONES
8th, TYLER REDDICK
12th, DENNY HAMLIN
18th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
29th, BUBBA WALLACE
35th, RILEY HERBST
36th, CHASE BRISCOE
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
What did you need there at the end?
“It was a pretty good finish for us. I just felt like I didn’t quite have the speed to be up there with Ryan (Blaney). I could be up there in second or third but it seemed like a couple of guys with faster cars could always get by me. Great finish with our Rheem Camry.”
How is your wrist feeling?
“Ready to get this cast off, that’s for sure.”
TY GIBBS, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
Was it a long wild night from the drivers seat?
“Wild long night sums it up honestly. Glad that we could get this No. 54 Monster Energy Camry in contention there at the end, trying to help my teammate out (Christopher) Bell and that was pretty fun. Going to move onto next week and looking forward to it. Thank you to Monster Energy, thank you to SAIA, Oakley and everyone who helps us out. Had a lot of fun there, and lets move on.”
ERIK JONES, No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
Finishing Position: 5th
What was the evening like?
“It was good, we were kind of in it all night other than the first stage. The Dollar Tree Camry had top-five speed, it just didn’t quite have top 2 speed. A lot of times when we were up there I felt like it was really tough to pull out of line and make a pass and maybe we were a little draggy, I’m not sure. It handled ok, we just needed a bit more speed. Either way I’m glad to make it through clean and have a decent points day and stay in this hunt for the Chase. It’s still super tight, I wish it was not as close as it is, but we got room here to keep working at it and some more traditional tracks so we will see where it goes.”
You scored 35 points today and you are eight points above the cutline. How do you feel about your position in the standings?
“I feel good, I’m glad we’re in it. It’s been a long time since we’ve been this deep in the season and been in the Chase, so I’m happy about that but wish it was more. Makes you look back early in the season and so many points we gave away, but we just have to keep working hard. We’ve done such a good job of grinding with this group in just every race getting the best finish I feel like we can that day and we did it again today and we’ve got to do that the rest of the season to try to get in.”
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 over 50 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina began to assemble automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.
For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.
