CHASE BRISOCE LEADS LATE AT KANSAS; TOYOTA PLACES THREE CARS IN THE TOP SIX
Hamlin and Briscoe Bring Home Top Five Finishes as the Championship Battle Heats Up
KANSAS CITY (September 27, 2026) – Denny Hamlin passed Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe late in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway to lead Team Toyota with a third-place finish.
Briscoe took the lead with 29 laps to go, but eventual race winner Kyle Larson reclaimed the top spot 23 laps later, and Briscoe crossed the finish line fourth. Including Hamlin and Briscoe, four Toyota drivers finished inside the top 10 Sunday, with Christopher Bell sixth and Bubba Wallace ninth.
Hamlin and Bell continue to battle Larson for the championship points lead. Hamlin trails Larson by 26 points in second, and Bell is 50 points behind the leader in third with six races remaining in the Chase.
TOYOTA RACING Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Kansas Speedway
Race 30 of 36 – 400.5 miles, 267 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Kyle Larson*
2nd, Austin Cindric*
3rd, DENNY HAMLIN
4th, CHASE BRISCOE
6th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
9th, BUBBA WALLACE
11th, TYLER REDDICK
13th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
16th, ERIK JONES
17th, TY GIBBS
25th, RILEY HERBST
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
It was a great day, but what kept it from being exceptional?
“Winning. That’s the only difference. Just didn’t quite have it today. Just was hanging around. We could be really good in the long run, but the short run, you know, the 5 (Kyle Larson) was really good, 2 (Austin Cindric) was good. We just couldn’t quite hold those guys off or keep them close enough in the short run. Obviously at the end we ran a lot down, but just not enough time and track position. Obviously gained a few spots there at the end. Overall, just that’s kind of what we had. Third-place car, driver, and everything today.”
You’re still second, but now 26 points back. Does this feel like the first real threat to you being able to win a title?
“I mean, there’s always been a threat. I haven’t won it before, so I just feel like we’re still in it, still really close. You know, we just got to continue to put together days like this, and we also got to win. We got to win a few races between now and the end of the year.”
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
What happened the back end of the final run of the race?
“Just went really, really loose. I kind of had that the run before when we did the green flag pit stop. I got it in the wall so many times that I had a little bit of a leak. Just went really, really free ultimately. It was better for me to be in second. Just being behind him, especially with how much the aero blocking, it would just tighten me up and allow me to actually be a little bit better. And then as soon as I would get the lead, I would just go really, really free again. So, yeah, frustrating for sure. Yeah, just felt like I had a win there to stay in contention for a championship, and obviously now losing, I don’t know, 123 points back, that’s probably not going to happen We’ll keep trying for Bass Pro Shops, Tracker, Toyota. It’s nice to have a good finish in this Chase. It’s been a rough go to start. I have six more weeks to go try to win as many races as we can, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
How do you not mentally defeat yourself before you even hit the racetrack?
“I thought today, I think I was 87 out going into it, and I felt like I had to at least knock off 10 from the cut line. I didn’t get points the first stage, which I knew that was going to be hard. Ultimately, I had to win to be able to even stay somewhat around 80 or 90 back. I don’t know, it’s still possible, but you’re going to have to win five or so of the next six races. A little Tony Stewart 2011 run or something. We’ll see what we can do and yeah, go on to the next one.”
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.
