TOYOTA RACING – Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
HAMPTON, Ga. (July 11, 2026) – Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell were made available to the media on Saturday prior to the NASCAR Cup Series race from EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta. Hamlin and Bell and facing off Sunday night in the In-Season Challenge.
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
How do you plan on beating each other tomorrow?
HAMLIN: “I certainly feel like we will probably be the underdog against Christopher, he’s got some pretty strong track record here. We were basically just saying whoever doesn’t wreck, that’s pretty much what it’s going to come down to is who is going to get swept up in they likely didn’t cause.”
BELL: “I’m not sure what is more exciting or less exciting that Atlanta was the first race of this deal. I’m happy to be alive and made it a lot further than last year, that’s for sure.”
Christopher, it looks like you have nothing on your wrist. What is the update there?
BELL: “I’m gaining on it. I do have a wrap around my wrist, but nothing in the palm of my hand, so I guess that’s awesome. I’m really close for sure, I’m optimistic that North Wilkesboro next week will be close if not 100% or right there at it. I’m still planning on putting a cast on it tomorrow for the race just in case something happens. I will be in a cast tomorrow, but hopefully this wrap or nothing at Wilkesboro.”
Is the sting of not winning last week subsided for you at all?
BELL: “I still haven’t won yet, but I know we are going to win at some point and we are going to keep putting ourselves in position. I’m fine and we’re going to keep doing what we are doing and put ourselves in position.
What makes Riley Herbst so likeable?
HAMLIN: “I just think he’s someone for everyone. He just kind of stays in the middle of the road and when it comes to opinions he just kind of sits back and listens to stuff. What I like about him really is how humble he is as a person. I really admire his work ethic, he doesn’t let tough weeks drag him down, he’s right back to work on Monday. I know him more professionally than I do personally, but that’s what I like about him is his ability to not get down, especially after the year that he had it’s easy to lose confidence. If anything, it was a good self-reflection for him to just go work on where he needed to improve, and he did that.”
Were you surprised at NASCAR’s decision not to penalize drivers this week?
HAMLIN: “I can see where it can be mixed messaging, but I just found it interesting that if they didn’t consider an intentional wreck, why are they insisting that it stops if it was a accident then it would just be organic. If you are ruling that it’s not intentional, but saying it has to stop then you are saying they had the choice to wreck each other. I got a little confused on that one.”
Since you won the most recent All-Star race at North Wilkesboro, how confident are you going back?
BELL: “It’s certainly one we had circled, and especially after my injury at Michigan, we knew it was six week out and it was the race I was looking forward to this summer and I’m very excited about being healthy and getting back to what really I think our strength is. Going into 2026 I would have said short tracks are our bread and butter, but it seems like it’s kind of flipped to intermediates. It’s one I’m very excited for, it races really, really good and I think you can run all the way from the white line and the wall and everywhere in between. With us never having a full field race there, I think we don’t really know what to expect. I love those kind of races where there’s no books on it and everyone is learning on the fly.”
With the history of Indianapolis, what would winning either race mean to you?
HAMLIN: “I’ve just been so close there that it certainly makes me hungry going there. But it’s a track anywhere we are going over 150 mph in speed that’s where our cars have excelled this year. I feel very optimistic about it. It’s such an execution kind of weekend. It starts with practice and all the way through. It’s tough because if you don’t qualify well there your odds really dramatically sink of your opportunity to win the race unless there’s some weird cautions and fuel mileage and that stuff, which there has been. So, I wish you could control your fate a little bit more, but it’s still prestigious no matter what and it would certainly mean a ton to me.”
Going to North Wilkesboro next week for the first points race in 30 years. Where do you think Dale Earnhardt Jr’ contributions have been to push getting a points race there?
HAMLIN: “He has such a huge influence in our sport, probably the most I would say. And even over current drivers, he’s still the most popular within our sport, certainly the most influential. When he went on a journey to revive the racetrack it just seems like he made it happen. There were several steps along the way that also helped. There was COVID money and stuff that factored into it, but Marcus (Smith, CEO Speedway Motorsports) and that group getting together, it feels like a full time Cup Series track when you go there. The atmosphere is fantastic, it’s great for our sport. It’s like Martinsville, one of those grassroots tracks that’s definitely part our history and needs to be part of our future as well.”
The next speedway race is going to be in Daytona in August. What changes do you expect for that race?
HAMLIN: “There’s definitely going to be a change. And it definitely going to be in the right direction, I just don’t know how much. You are trying to play with the parts and pieces that you have right now to make it better, but from the numbers I’ve seen of what It’s going to do to the car when it pulls out of line it roughly cuts that into two thirds from what it is currently. So I think that’s going to make the drivers feel like they have a fighting opportunity when the get in the middle of the pack to go start that third line and not just shove the person in front of them, go make your own line. Those numbers are encouraging from my standpoint. Certainly it’s going to create a little more space within the cars from what I see. That also allows you to get back in line when you do make a move. Will it be a total gamechanger back to 1995? Absolutely not, but I think it gets us more in a direction of where we were seven to 10 years ago.”
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