Bell falls just shy in points; Briscoe and Hamlin will represent Toyota in Championship 4 at Phoenix
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (October 26, 2025) – Christopher Bell led Toyota with a seventh-place finish Sunday afternoon at Martinsville Speedway. Bell was aiming for his fourth Championship 4 appearance and had hoped to join Toyota teammates Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin in next weekend’s Championship finale at Phoenix Raceway. But the day didn’t go his way, as he fell seven points short of making the Final 4 cutoff.
Hamlin advanced to his first Championship 4 since 2021 with his win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, while Briscoe will be making his first career Championship 4 appearance where he punched his ticket via a win at Talladega Superspeedway.
Toyota GAZOO Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Martinsville Speedway
Race 35 of 36 – 263 miles, 500 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, William Byron*
2nd, Ryan Blaney*
3rd, Chase Elliott*
4th, Ross Chastain*
5th, Kyle Larson*
7th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
11th, TYLER REDDICK
12th, TY GIBBS
18th, BUBBA WALLACE
21st, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
34th, ERIK JONES
36th, DENNY HAMLIN
36th, RILEY HERBST
37th, CHASE BRISCOE
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Coofandy Menswear Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 7th
What were you lacking with the 20 car?
“It seemed like we were just lacking a little bit of long run pace. When I got the balance close at times, I could take off on tires and do ok and make some passes and maintain my position. And then, the consistent theme of the day was just falling backwards as the tires got old. We weren’t strong enough at Martinsville this weekend. We practiced in the teens, qualified in the teens and kind of raced back there most of the day. I feel content with the results, the four who are going there are legitimate contenders and whoever the champion is will be well deserved. The 20 team just wasn’t good enough.”
Would you like to see something different next year with the points format?
“We need to worry about next year after Phoenix. This year, there’s four great drivers and all have had championship seasons. Whoever the champion is going to be well deserving, I think the format worked out this year.”
What did you need to make up the track position to fight for a spot in the Championship 4?
“I feel like I just needed a bit of long run pace. Whenever we got the balance right, I was pretty fast on the short run and I could make passes and keep up with the best cars, then I would just fall off and those guys would get back by me.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 King’s Hawaiian Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 35th
What did you feel behind the wheel?
“I felt like the car was coming to us, but I know what you are asking. I felt like we were in a good spot there where we just started to close back in on (Ryan) Blaney. We got the track position we needed. I feel bad for King’s Hawaiian, I’m not sure we have finished a race so far with these guys so I hate it for them. I didn’t feel anything, it was running and then it was just no noises, no sounds, no indication. I decelerated into turn one and it just shut off, that was it. We’ll work on it I guess and try to get them next week.”
How concerned are you about this issue for next week?
“I’m obviously concerned, but there obviously nothing I can do about it. We’ll live with it and hopefully we’ll get back next week and we are just going to have to see how it goes. I’m confident in the speed that we’ll have next week. I’m really confident in what this team is going to bring next week and we’ll bring our best, hopefully it lasts.”
Was there any indication on what happened?
“Everything was fine and then it just lost power into turn one and that was it. No noises or anything, but just silence because it wasn’t running.”
What did you expect out of Martinsville and what did you get today?
“I thought that the left side tire was a good change. It certainly makes you manage it, but also more cars have been on the track and the track is starting to rubber. It hasn’t wore as much as I would have expected and the lap time fall off was not quite as much. But a good experiment, I think it can put on good races.”
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 37th
Was there any indication whether you were having issues before?
“No indication. I was just running around there. I felt really good about coming here and where we were at and racing with (Kyle) Larson there and went to upshift and something happened. I’m not really sure, it’s unfortunate. We’ll go on to next week and that won’t matter anyways.”
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