TWO TOYOTA TOP-FIVES IN TEXAS
Seven Camry drivers lead laps at 1.5-mile Texas oval
FORT WORTH (May 3, 2026) – Denny Hamlin led Toyota in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race with a second-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway. Tyler Reddick also earned a top five result at the 1.5-mile Texas oval with a fourth-place result on Sunday. The points leader continued his streak of finishing every race in the top 15 this season.
Seven Toyota Camry XSE drivers took turns leading 131 laps (of 267) at the front of the field with Corey Heim leading 69 laps in Sunday’s race. Christopher Bell led 22 laps early before being clipped by another competitor while leading the field, ending his day early.
TOYOTA RACING Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Texas Motor Speedway
Race 11 of 36 – 400.5 miles, 267 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Chase Elliott*
2nd, DENNY HAMLIN
3rd, Alex Bowman*
4th, TYLER REDDICK
5th, Chris Buescher*
9th, BUBBA WALLACE
11th, RILEY HERBST
12th, ERIK JONES
21st, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
23rd, CHASE BRISCOE
31st, COREY HEIM
36th, TY GIBBS
38th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Progressive Insurance Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
Was there anything you could’ve done to get past Chase Elliott?
“I could’ve risked it off of (turn) 2 and crashed both of us. I thought had I hung onto his quarter panel anymore, I just thought that I was going to end up hitting the fence. Just not quite what I needed. I got the first part of the restart really well just he got that push from the 48 (Alex Bowman) right there right entering turn 1 and it was just enough to slow my momentum and pick his momentum up. Really close – just not quite enough.”
What positives can you take from today’s second place finish?
“These mile-and-a-halves have been really, really good for us on this 11 team and all of the Toyotas really. We’re doing a great job with what we’ve got, and I wish we’d get the wins with as fast as we are but we’re still putting together good races.”
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
What did you tell your crew chief you needed late in the race to be able to get upfront?
“I was just giving him feedback on what I’m feeling. We were hoping that as it played out there on the restart behind the 9 (Chase Elliott) that we’d have a little something left to be able to close the gap and maybe be close enough to pass for the cycle or after and unfortunately for us and our Rockstar Energy Camry, it didn’t play out that way. We were all very close with the 9 and the 11 (Denny Hamlin). Just kind of spread out a little bit there. I was hoping I was going to have a little bit of speed late in the run to close and it didn’t really happen for us. All in all, it was a solid day. It was nice to go for it there with two tires. Just had a couple passes that took a little longer than they needed to and that was the difference. I don’t know if we would’ve got back to the lead, but I think if we played it perfectly, we could’ve got second. All in all, it was a good day.”
TY GIBBS, No. 54 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 35th
“I haven’t seen the replay. It broke one of the little welds on the front clip, so it probably wasn’t the best decision to go back out. We weren’t going to be fast, so we’ll go racing next week.”
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 38th
What happened to take you out of the race early?
“It was another one of those 50-50 calls. Me and Denny (Hamlin) were side by side and I saw him (Todd Gilliland) spinning and Denny lifted and I thought that I could shoot the gap on the bottom. And I thought I did shoot the gap on the bottom, but I got clipped.”
What does your team need to do to turn your luck around?
“We don’t need to do anything. I’m really thankful to have fast cars to drive, thankful to be driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, to be able to carry the Rheem colors and thankful I get another opportunity next week. It’s going to turn around at some point.”
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.
