BELL, REDDICK EXTEND PLAYOFF ADVANTAGES WITH STRONG FINISHES IN ATLANTA
Bell scores third straight top-five and fifth top-10 in the last six races
HAMPTON, Ga. (September 8, 2024) – Christopher Bell (fourth) and Tyler Reddick (sixth) both overcame adversity on pit road to lead Toyota with strong top-10 finishes at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday evening.
Bell earned his third straight top-five finish with his fourth place run, and moved to 40 points above the Playoff cutline, while sixth-place finisher Reddick is now 33 points to the good.
Denny Hamlin is two points up on the cut line, while Ty Gibbs moved from 15th to 12th overall – one point to the good. Martin Truex Jr. was having a good race but was involved in a wreck not of his own making. The 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion is 19 points down with two races remaining in the round.
Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Race 27 of 36 – 260 Laps, 400.4 Miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Joey Logano*
2nd, Daniel Suarez*
3rd, Ryan Blaney*
4th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
5th, Alex Bowman*
6th, TYLER REDDICK
17th, TY GIBBS
24th, DENNY HAMLIN
26th, ERIK JONES
29th, BUBBA WALLACE
33rd, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
35th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
Strong finish, Christopher. Can you talk about your run today
“I’ll take it. To walk out of here with a top-five in probably our worst track on the schedule – that was really good and I’m proud of the effort on this Rheem Camry. We had a lot to overcome with a bad qualifying run, and then really bad pit stall selection. There was a lot of adversity that we had to fight through, and that was a freaking blast. It was so much fun. The whole race was super intense, and everybody did a good job not to wreck more.”
How was it to have Adam Stevens back on the pit box?
“It was nice to be back in rhythm and back with a normal voice up there.”
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
How was your car overall?
“Our Jordan Brand Toyota Camry was really, really good in certain aspects of the race, but in others – we were a little bit off. It is what it is. I think considering the highs and lows of the day, and the unfortunate circumstances of the 99 (Daniel Suarez) being behind us – and the 22 (Joey Logano) being in front of me – just being boxed in most of the day on pit road. We didn’t even have green flag stops, so getting boxed in almost every time really hurt us.”
How chaotic was pit road?
“It was a nightmare, honestly. You just don’t want to get into too much trouble on pit road, and it seems like that was all we really had.”
It was a good points day. What are your thoughts on a top-10 finish?
“Yeah, it was about surviving. It looks like some of the guys in the 16 had issues as well, so we will see how it all shakes out, but for us, we avoided disaster and that was the most important thing today.”
TY GIBBS, No. 54 He Gets Us Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 17th
Can you talk about your finish?
“I didn’t do a good job blocking, and I take responsibility of not finishing great at all. It is my fault, but I’m glad we finished the race and got some points. It is definitely frustrating. We were up there, and didn’t finish it well, but it is part of it. I’m just glad we can walk out of this place with a good points day with our He Gets Us Camry.”
How hard is it to balance that you had a car that could win, with also needing to finish?
“It is definitely hard, because you want to stay out of the wrecks and stay up front, but it is like a light switch – I just made the best of what I had and kept momentum going and got to the front. I just didn’t do the rest of the job.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Mavis Tire Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 24th
What happened in that final crash?
“Just saw cars turning sideways in front of me. Tried to avoid wrecks all day and just got in the last one.”
Were you always waiting to the end to make a move?
“I thought at the very end we got the Mavis Tire Camry kind of where it needed to be, but by then, you were kind of dealing with a log jam of a couple of lanes that are kind of blocking things and you couldn’t go much of anywhere, so I just tried to avoid the wrecks. I was trying to get 20 points out of the day. That was my goal – just get 20 however we could, obviously, starting in the back didn’t help with that. We did the best we could, and then got in a wreck that probably cost us eight to 10 spots or so.”
Does a weekend like this concern you?
“No, not really. I did what I wanted to do and that was lay in the back most of the race, and try to see what attrition came about, again – 20 points seemed really possible, but came up a little short of that today.”
About Toyota
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