Five Toyota Camry XSE’s fill Top-Seven Finishing Positions
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (September 28, 2025) – Denny Hamlin was the highest-finishing Toyota driver as he brought home a runner-up finish in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) race at Kansas Speedway. Hamlin lead a race-high 159 laps. Hamlin’s Toyota teammates filled the rest of the top-five with Christopher Bell (third), Chase Briscoe (fourth), and Bubba Wallace (fifth) rounding out the top-five and fellow Toyota driver Tyler Reddick posting a seventh-place finish.
The 2-3-4-5 result marks just the 14th time four Toyota Camrys have finished inside the top five in a Cup Series race.
Hamlin leads all Toyota drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series playoff standings, currently sitting second overall. Bell is third, Briscoe seventh, Wallace 10th and Reddick 11th with one race remaining in the Round of 12.
Toyota GAZOO Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Kansas Speedway
Race 31 of 36 – 400.5 miles, 267 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Chase Elliott*
2nd, DENNY HAMLIN
3rd, CHRISTOPHER BELL
4th, CHASE BRISCOE
5th, BUBBA WALLACE
7th, TYLER REDDICK
16th, ERIK JONES
22nd, RILEY HERBST
25th, TY GIBBS
32nd, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
How would you describe this day?
“It’s super disappointing. Obviously I wanted it bad. It would have been 60 (wins) for me. The team just did an amazing job with the car. It was really, really fast. They gave me everything I needed. Got the restart I needed, I just couldn’t finish there on the last corner. I got really, really, tight with the 23 (Bubba Wallace) and let the 9 (Chase Elliott) win.”
This place seems to be tough to solve for you?
“Just mechanical failures and different things have really hindered us in years past. We had no power steering on the last run and low voltage, just a lot of things. I’m just disappointed because I’ve never had a car that good to the competition. I wanted it for my dad, I wanted it for everybody. I wanted it a little too hard.”
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
How would you have done the last restart any differently?
“I honestly don’t know what I could have done. I’m leaving here feeling pretty satisfied. That was a bummer when I lost the lead on the restart when I caught the wrong timing line. Looking back, it was such a 50/50 call on those restarts whether you wanted to be on the outside or the inside. I don’t know what I would have done differently. I felt like we left it all on the table.”
Does being 24 points above the cutline going to the Roval give you enough breathing room?
“It was rewarding to be restarting on that front row and knowing that if I win I advance, and I get out of here and don’t win, that we are in a really good spot. I’m proud of our team. We are doing a really good job of controlling what we can control and getting good finishes out of it and we are running well too. I’m excited about the Roval, we’ve been really excited about the road courses and we have some breathing room, so it should be a lot of fun.”
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
How much of your job was to push Christopher Bell and how much was get what you could for the 19 team?
“It was tough. I’ve never really been in a situation like that, where I needed really anybody but Bubba to win in that situation. I wanted to still put it in a position where I could still win the race too. It was just tough with those restarts. They’re so circumstantial. One thing goes your way, and you can end up winning the race. One bad thing goes your way, and you end up running fifth to seventh. Just crazy the runs and how fast they develop. I thought I was going to still have a really good shot to win the race and when Bell got in the fence off of (turn) four, I had to all but stop, and it just ruined my momentum. Scrappy day for our Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota. Would have loved to be obviously a little bit better today. Crazy, I think we’re averaging a top-five finish in the playoffs and we’re only 20 points above. Never feel safe at the Roval, but go there and try to do our job. Our road course stuff is pretty good there. See what we can do.”
Were you thinking you had to do whatever you could do gain points?
“That was the hard thing. That second-to-last restart, I had a huge run out of the back straightaway, and I thought I could clear, potentially. So I tried to make it three wide, but looking back on it, maybe it would have been better to hit the 20 (Christopher Bell) as hard as I could and try to get him to the lead. But it is so crazy on those restarts. You’re making split-second decisions. One variable can change, and what you thought was the right move is the wrong move. Crazy race. I’m sure it was fun to watch and go on to the next one.”
BUBBA WALLACE, No. 23 U.S Air Force Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
What do you think of the racing there at the end?
“To say we had a shot at the win with the way we started, you could have fooled me. We were not good. We missed it on the fire-off speed. I just really appreciate the team. Two years ago I’d probably say something dumb. Or say he’s a dumbass for that move. I don’t care if he’s my boss or not. But we’re going for the win. I hate that we gave it away there. Toyotas were super-fast, and proud to be driving one. I thought it was meant to be, and then it wasn’t. All in all the positives were we are minus 26 coming in — or minus 27 coming in. We’re minus 26 leaving. We gained a point.”
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 The Beast Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 7th
Would you have done anything different on the final restart?
“I just tried to give him the best push I could. I was really fortunate the previous restart that he was able to hold the lead. I don’t know, I tried to push him and we just got separated. Obviously I want to push him out, try to help him win and then obviously keep the gap closed up to try to be in second and have a shot at it myself.
It was a tough day. I really thought our Beast Toyota Camry was really fast. We just had struggles on pit road. That’s part of racing. It’s tough. Obviously, there’s only one thing we can do at Charlotte and that’s what we’ll be focused on.”
About Toyota
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