TYLER REDDICK LEADS TOYOTA WITH SIXTH VICTORY OF THE YEAR AT PHOENIX
Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick Gain Ground in Championship Battle
AVONDALE, Ariz. (October 18, 2026) – Tyler Reddick used a key two-tire stop by crew chief Billy Scott late in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway and held off several other front-runners to earn his series-leading sixth win of the season.
The victory was Toyota’s 18th of the season so far, second only to the 19 wins it recorded in 2019.
Toyota placed three drivers in the top five, led by Reddick, with Christopher Bell finishing fourth and Toyota development driver Corey Heim fifth. Chase Briscoe (eighth) and Ty Gibbs (10th) gave Toyota five cars in the top 10 on Sunday afternoon in the desert.
Toyota teams also gained ground in the championship battle. Seven drivers, including four in Toyota Camry XSEs, are now within 56 points of the leader with three races remaining. Bell sits second, five points out of first, followed by Briscoe in third (24 points back) and Denny Hamlin in fourth (31 points back). Reddick cut his deficit to 56 points and is seventh.
TOYOTA RACING Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Phoenix Raceway
Race 33 of 36 – 312 miles, 312 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, TYLER REDDICK
2nd, Ryan Blaney*
3rd, Chase Elliott*
4th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
5th, COREY HEIM
8th, CHASE BRISCOE
10th, TY GIBBS
17th, BUBBA WALLACE
25th, ERIK JONES
28th, DENNY HAMLIN
32nd, RILEY HERBST
33rd, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK Toyota Camry XSE, 23 XI Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
Was your sixth win of the year worth the wait?
“That’s way too long. Man, the way we worked there, I mean, thinking of Phoenix, we wanted to be a lot better when we came back here. I think we checked that box. For us, this group never lost motivation, never lost the drive to keep searching and keep trying to find ways to make ourselves better, just be an all-around better team. I don’t know, something about today. It didn’t really start right. Just something about today, I had a really good feeling. Practice was amazing. Yeah, we’re back to Victory Lane. First victory for Rockstar Energy, too.”
How did you get from fifth to first on the last restart?
“Good strategy. I think Billy had a really good idea what we needed to do there, going off what our balance was. Yeah, just got really fortunate. I didn’t have a good launch. There was a hole. I was able to get through it. I thought the 19 was going to be able to cover the move into three. I got him loose. We checked out.”
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 DEWALT Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
You had the second-most stage points earned today. Five points within the lead. Striking distance. Knowing that, how much does it energize the rest of the Chase for you?
It’s going to be a battle, that’s for sure. We’re right there in it. Really proud of our team. They’ve been doing a really good job of bringing fast race cars, executing races. We’ve been able to qualify well and run up front in stages. I felt like our performance probably tapered off a little bit as the day went on. We had the strategy to put tires there at the end, had good restarts to get some track position. We’re in the hunt.”
COREY HEIM, No. 67 Mobil 1/O’Reilly Auto Parts Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
How would you describe your day?
“Definitely overall a good day. I grinded for sure. It was tough in Stage 1, I was pretty much trapped back there in dirty air so really couldn’t go anywhere, but knew we had speed. Every time we had clean air a pit cycle happened and I got a little bit of space just to see what I could do, we had a lot of speed compared to the leaders. I’m just really proud of these 23XI guys, Mobil 1, this Camry was really good all day. Two tire call there at the end to put us in position to do some damage and I think I was a couple of mistakes away from ending up third there. I felt like my car had a lot of potential. I’m happy with fifth, we qualified almost last, so I will take it.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Progressive Insurance Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
It all went way south with the tire going down. Did you have any warning?
“No, just a corner before I felt the car bottom out. I knew at that point definitely had a tire. At that point trying to hang on and somehow try to get to pit road. Obviously had no idea where I was on speed with the right rear tire on it.”
Throughout the day, how much fight was there in the 11 car?
“The beginning was not great, and once we got back in traffic, I thought the second half of the race we were really strong. Could contend for the win. Just right there with the 19 when the tire blew for third. Definitely not ideal. But, yeah, what can you do?”
The 5 (Kyle Larson) had a rough day. 31 points behind the lead going to the head-scratcher Talladega. How do you feel?
“I mean, I feel like just need, when we got a good car, like the second half of the race today, to finish well. We just haven’t finished.”
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.
