TOYOTA RACING – Denny Hamlin
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

RICHMOND, Va. (August 14, 2026) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was made available to the media on Friday prior to the NASCAR Cup Series race from Richmond Raceway.

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Bob’s Discount Furniture Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing 

Were you aware of that Corey Heim wasn’t aware of Rookie of the Year next year?

“No. I wasn’t made aware of it, nor was I aware of what our what the plan was. I don’t think that we necessarily designated the certain amount of races based off of that.”

What your thoughts on the ruling that he’s no longer eligible for it?

“No, no. It’s weird because they did say, oh, it’s a case by case, which I usually, you just have a number. But it sounds like they put out a number, but it’s a new number, maybe?”

Any reason that you weren’t made aware of that? 

“I don’t know.”

This is your second-to-last race at Richmond unless plans change. Is there any thoughts or emotion knowing that?

“I just love how technical this racetrack is and certainly, how special this racetrack itself is to all of us, and so, yeah, I mean, I don’t know, there’s got to be a last time for everything. So it doesn’t really make me feel one way or another knowing that, there’s just a couple more shots at it.”

What are your thoughts moving this race back to the Chase next season? 

“Yeah, I’m excited for the racetrack to get a Chase race and certainly to kick off the Chase. So, there should be a lot of extra added excitement to this area and this race in particular for next year – the first race of the Playoffs or Chase always is. So, it’ll be a good boost for this racetrack, which, this is one that I believe is important to our schedule.”

What were your thoughts on your seats being dedicated this morning?

“Yeah, it’s awesome. For many years, and I think my mom still has her season tickets, I believe. It’s a great gesture by Lori (Collier Waran, track president) and her old staff here. Certainly, very appreciated. It’ll be a great weekend.”

How does it feel to be in sight of the regular season championship? 

“It’s been a great run and beyond that too, it’s been also equally a horrible run for the 45 (Tyler Reddick). I said from the beginning that without help, it was not going to be possible. We got the help that we needed with it with those guys. So it’s a lot different than what I thought it was going to be. Certainly, and at that time, I wasn’t that far ahead of third, fourth, fifth. So, like there was still an influx of like, I thought at one point in the season, it might have been around there. Well, before the Pocono win, and really those three wins in a row, I was like, if I don’t run great, I can fall back to sixth or seven. So that obviously is not an option now, but yeah, you just never know what can happen in the sport, but yeah, I would have never thought two months ago would be in the position that we’re in that, you know, we go out here and we have the weekend, we hope to have this weekend, we’re going to feel pretty good.”

What does the moves in points show about the point system?

“Yeah, it rewards good performance, and it rewards good performance over a sustained period of time as well. We’re seeing not only those guys, but like with the 22 (Joey Logano), the wins matter, running well, getting stage points all matters, and you can claw yourself out of the bottom when you’re there. You just got to step up in performance, and all of those teams I talked about have done that in the last six weeks and the standings are showing for it. Now, I bet they wish they didn’t have such a slow start. They would have had a much closer shot. But still, when this thing resets, short of the top four, everybody from fifth to about 16th is going to gain about 300 points on me. So, they are going to feel pretty good.”

Do you feel more optimistic this season about the championship or are you not allowing yourself to think about that at this point? 

“It’s way too soon. I mean, the short-term goal is the regular season or whatever it’s not called. So, I would say that has been the focus and like, how can I win that? That started around the winning three in a row, and so, the Chase is just different. The schedule’s different. Like we went through some tracks here lately where it’s not been our best ones and we’re still we’re still doing our thing on the weekend. So, it certainly makes me a lot more optimistic knowing that really the last 10 races where really good tracks are.”

What is your connection to your hometown? 

“Yeah, I mean, it’s the time I get to see them. It’s really time I get to see my brother and sister that still live up here that I don’t get to see quite as much, so always getting to see them during race weekend is good. I’ve seen them during the holidays, but that’s about it. So, it is all the above. Lots of high school friends, they got their own campsite out there that will be amazing if they don’t get arrested by the end of tomorrow. Travis is 26 beers in. It’s been 18 hours. They’re on quite the run right now. So it’s fun hanging out and I got in late last night, stopped by the campsite. They were still going. It’s fun to be able to kind of let those guys let loose out there at a very safe distance for me (laughter).”

Do you do anything specific when you come back home? 

“A little bit. I went back to Chesterfield after Phoenix of last year, spent some time, and, you go to your breakfast places, and certainly you have a little bit more of a warm welcome there than you probably do at any other city that I go to.”

Why is there a disconnect between qualifying and racing here? 

“Yeah, I think the average starting position for the winner is somewhere around 6.7, something like that. So yeah, you just kind of put yourself somewhere in that range. I think a lot of the reason is that qualifying here is extremely, extremely technical. I would say it’s probably the hardest to qualify to hit your marks. I spent tons of time trying to work on it this week. I never got all four (turns), not at the same time. That’s why I think that sometimes whoever’s got the best car doesn’t qualify on the pole because it’s just really, really difficult to put it all together, and sometimes someone with a decent car can just hit the marks just right, and that’s when they get the pole. So, I think the technicality of the actual line that you have to run that makes it to where you see comers and goers here.”

You’ve mentioned here just about having that quote unquote special kind of feel, can you maybe get more insight on what exactly that is?

“It’s tough to say. I mean, you can’t really even put it into words. It’s extremely hard to kind of tell you what it is. It’s all the above. You got to enter the corner as fast as you can. You got to turn the center and you got to be pointed straight off, and so, those things that seem really, really easy to do, but the way the track is laid out and the banking angle in certain parts of the corner makes it really difficult to do all those things, and that’s why you’ll see somebody hit it every now and then just dominate.”

What does being so ingrained in the track’s history now?

“I’ve seen it for so many years, but even when we were up in the stands today and I’m looking down across the track and I’m standing kind of where I used to come in to the grandstands. I remember being right by the fence and then looking at turn one, looking at turn four. It’s like the same. A friend asked me, what’s different? Nothing. It is the same Richmond that it’s been ever since I’ve known it. Now, I wasn’t around or nor did I get to see it during its Fairground days. Even that was before my time. It’s the same track that I remember, and I just remember watching some of the guys that were really, really good here, do turn four a little bit different and now the whole field does those things. All the field has gotten so smart, but I really liked that the speedway itself spent a lot of money on the infield experience for the fans, and certainly we want to get this place back to pack every single time we come here, like it used to be in the past.”

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.

NASCAR Cup Series
Richmond Raceway
Team Chevy Driver Quotes
August 14, 2026

Shane van Gisbergen, driver of the No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Camaro ZL1 and the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Silverado RST, met with the media in advance of running double duty in the NASCAR Cup and Craftsman Truck Series at Richmond Raceway.

Media Availability Quotes:

To start off, last time you came to a short-track and did the Truck and Cup race, you left with a pair of top-fives. How are you looking to accomplish that same sort of success this time around?

“Yeah, it was a good time. I think the Truck race definitely helps me, so yeah, it’s good to do that again. Thank you to Spire Motorsports for having me. Hopefully, I can get a good feel for the track first before the Cup race and have two good cars this weekend.”

Along those lines, are you very specific in what you choose to do outside of Cup, like a track that you want to get to know a little bit better? How do you decide which of these other races that you’re doing?

“It is hard to get opportunities in other things, especially for me trying to do ovals. Thankfully, my runs have been getting better, which helps. I’d love to do more, but obviously it’s hard to get good opportunities.

But yeah, selfishly, I’d love to do more tracks I struggle at… like I’d love to do Bristol more and even Iowa last week. There are a couple of other tracks that I need more laps at to get better. Hopefully, next year I can work on doing some of them. It sounds like things might be happening, so hopefully I can do that and not just go back to the tracks I’m good at. I need to work on my weaknesses.”

You’ve mentioned in the past the short-tracks for you have translated the best, but Iowa for some reason hasn’t been. Why is that?

“If I knew, I would fix it (laughs). I don’t know. I feel comfortable there, but then for whatever reason, I’ve always struggled with the car. In O’Reilly, as well, I was weak there. Every time it seems to be an adventure and I seem to have a bad result. But yeah, thankfully, all the guys I was points racing last week, I was around, so it kind of minimized the damage a little bit, which was really good. But yeah, certainly we’d love to know or I’d love to know why I’m not that great there.”

Just looking at this weekend in general, I know it’s only one race here that you’ve had the opportunity of doing, but what did you learn from last year that maybe you’re able to take into the second go this year?

“Yeah, I had a lot of fun last year. I managed to run the top lane quite a lot and made that work for me. I’s a fun race. I remember my first year here in O’Reilly, too, I really enjoyed it. It’s a fun track with how you can move around, but then you really have to be disciplined and wrap the line. It’s quite fun to hit your marks and be precise every lap. And there’s a lot of time management, too, so you have to have a good balance. I find it one of the more fun tracks. I always remember watching this on TV, especially the end of the race with everyone coming across the line sideways, is always pretty cool here too. It’s one of one of the fun tracks, I think.”

I wanted to ask you if you feel like this season has been your greatest improvement from Daytona to where we are now, or do you feel like it’s consistent with what you’ve done before? Do you feel like you’ve really kind of raised your gain and feel much more confident after the work you’ve done this year?

“Yeah, I think so. I think the last third of last year, we really took some steps forward, and I think we’ve just continued on that. I feel like I’m a lot closer to Ross (Chastain) this year. You know, he’s a pretty good benchmark, I think as a teammate, and I feel like I’ve been able to match him a lot. Still some areas he’s really good at. He’s really good at not having bad days and dragging results out of cars that probably shouldn’t be up there. He’s someone I’m really trying to learn off and match closely. It’s been good to be around or just in front of him in the points this year Kind of pushing each other along has been really cool. So yeah, just got to keep the improvement going. I feel like every week, I’m learning stuff and still trying new things. I still have a lot to learn.”

Obviously, you’ve been dominant on the road courses, but some of your best oval finishes have been on the short-tracks. What is it about road courses and short-tracks that translate so well?

“I feel like you can have a little more influence on the car, like you can manipulate it with the brake or brake bias and whatever gear you’re running. You can vary your line a little more. I feel like there’s a little more as a driver you can do. But also, that just means on the big tracks, I’m not good enough of knowing what I want from the car yet or how to get the car to do what I want, whether that’s with feedback to my engineer or just in general. I feel like these tracks, you can kind of make up for a deficiency in the car, as well, with whatever tools you have, whereas on a big track, you’re kind of just stuck with what you got sometimes. So yeah, it seems to help me.”

Broadcast mentioned how your strength is your tire management and saving tires. Austin Dillon’s won the past two races, and he said that his biggest strength and how he’s so good here is because he’s able to save tires so well. Does that give you any confidence heading into this weekend?

“Yeah, I don’t know how it works on an oval, but it does seem to translate a little bit, like my end of run speed is a little stronger than how I start. But yeah, I don’t know why, I drive flat out the whole time (laughs). But yeah, these high tire wear tracks, I do seem to be a little stronger, and hopefully, that’s the case next couple of nights.”

With the new NASCAR points format change, what was your reaction when you initially heard about that? How do you feel like your driving style has kind of evolved a little bit to match necessarily not having the ‘win and you’re in’ style?

“I guess initially, it’s probably a good thing for the sport. I guess initially, I was brought over here for that ‘win and you’re in’ to guarantee a spot in the playoffs, so yeah, I certainly knew I had to get better at ovals, and I think we’ve done that. I don’t think my mindset has changed every race. I think, you know, maybe these couple of races, I’m points racing a little bit, but the rest of the year, you’re just driving flat out. I don’t think I’ve ever really points raced trying to stay out of trouble. I think that when you’re not driving naturally, you find yourself in trouble, I guess. So yeah, I just try and drive every race flat out.”

You came over here from New Zealand. You were a three-time champion in Supercars, and then, you come here and you are trying to master this whole new discipline of oval racing. You’re 37 years old. When you run so well in these ovals, you’re top-five and you’re racing against the best drivers in the world at oval racing, is that how rewarding or what’s it make you feel at 37 to still be accomplishing these things at such a high level? “You’re saying 37 is old? (laughs). Yeah, I don’t feel old.

Yeah, it’s been cool. I’ve had a really awesome last few years changing careers, I guess, and trying something different. It’s been rewarding, as you put it, to show glimpses and be able to show I can do it. I really was a long way away from that my first year and a half in the sport. It’s a very foreign type of driving to me. I certainly feel more comfortable and like I know what I’m doing most of the time now. So yeah, it’s been really awesome to get better. As I sort of said earlier, I know I still have a lot to learn, as well. It’s cool to see it coming along.”

This is going to be your fourth start this year in the Truck Series. What is it about the Trucks that helps you translate those skills into Cup?

“I actually think they’re a little bit closer to the Cup car than the O’Reilly car nowadays. I haven’t driven one for a little while, but yeah, the Cup car and the Truck kind of races similar with how you have to search for the air and how much it kind of moves and feels. The O’Reilly car always felt disconnected in the way the rearends were set up. So yeah, certainly has felt more relative in the few races that I’ve done, that’s for sure.”

You have another short-track next week in New Hampshire. What kind of challenges does that track pose for you?

“Yeah, that’s a very different track. I was going pretty decent there last year until I wasn’t. But it’s tough; long straights and short corners. It is a little bit like a road course, the way you approach the corners, trying to make them shorter and straights longer, I guess, so that theory kind of works. But yeah, I enjoy it. It’s a weird oval being so flat. But yeah, that’s a pretty decent track.”

With three races left in the regular season and a 47 point margin over the over the cutline right now, are you starting to pay attention specifically to certain drivers that are maybe a threat?

“Yeah, 100 percent, especially last week. As I said earlier, I was having a pretty subpar day, to put it nicely, and all the guys around me were points racing guys or guys close to me in the points. So yeah, that was nice, but I can’t afford to have another day like that. But certainly, you have your eyes on those three or four guys who are around us. It’s a pretty tight battle, really. Ross (Chastain) had a pretty good day last week, and he’s sort of clawing his way back into it, so it’s going to be an interesting battle. We just need to not make mistakes the next three weeks.”

Do you expect the racing to get any different the next three weeks, in terms of people doing things you might not expect them to do?

“I don’t really know how it’s going to play out. I feel like Daytona will be a weird one, especially with the new format with no practice and not knowing how the cars are going to drive. And if it’s a close battle there, you know, you have to decide if you’re going for stage points or not, so that one’s pretty intriguing. But hopefully, the next two weeks are kind of standard and we don’t have to worry about it as much at Daytona. But yeah, I guess the big unknown is why people watch, which is cool.”

About General Motors

General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future.

GM Motorsports, including the Cadillac Formula 1® Team develops and proves advanced technologies in the most demanding environments, accelerating innovation in performance, safety, efficiency, and electrification for its production vehicles. Cadillac Racing is one of the leading manufacturers in the IMSA and FIA World Endurance Championships (WEC). Chevrolet competes in single seaters in the US IndyCar series, and in NASCAR with multiple team partners and drivers. Corvette customer teams compete in GT series across the globe including IMSA and WEC. Learn more at GM.com.

TOYOTA RACING – Christopher Bell
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

RICHMOND, Va. (August 14, 2026) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to the media on Friday prior to the NASCAR Cup Series race from Richmond Raceway.

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 DEWALT Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

How much confidence can you take into the latter stretch of the season with all of the second-place finishes?

“Yeah, I mean, certainly all of the second-place finishes – they’re trying and, in the moment, it really kind of feels like just a kick to the gut. But then whenever Monday, Tuesday rolls around, you’re like, ah, it was a pretty darn good day. So, ultimately, the results that we’ve gotten have meant a lot more this year than what they have in my entire Cup career with the format change. So, it’s been nice to stack some good results together and we’re performing really well right now. I certainly feel like we’re in the mix.”

What can you take from North Wilkesboro and Iowa for the race tomorrow?

“(North) Wilkesboro was a perplexing one. We had a great practice at (North) Wilkesboro, and we expected to have a really good race, and then our race was just littered with a bunch of issues. So that was disappointing, but we were able to rebound and obviously have a great showing at Iowa. This has kind of been one that’s got away from us for a number of years. I’ve been really strong here, looked like I was in position to win several of them, and just, yeah, it just hasn’t happened yet. I enjoy Richmond. Obviously, have a great resume in the O’Reilly Series cars here, and still looking for that first win of the year and at Richmond. Maybe it’ll happen this weekend.”

What are your thoughts a week removed from the Iowa pit call?

“After seeing the whole thing back, I understand his thought process and do believe that he made the right decision. Ultimately, he told me, he said, I thought that the 54 (Ty Gibbs) would take two tires. I expected the 54 to take two tires and we had 60 laps to pass them. I didn’t think that there was any way that I wasn’t going to get them in 60 laps. So, ultimately, it just didn’t work out, and, we’ll chalk it up to another second-place finish.”

Is it easier to look at the bigger picture this year?

“Yeah, definitely. I mean, going back to what I just said earlier, these results have – they mean more today in this year than they have for the previous format, my entire Cup career and NASCAR career for that matter. I mean, the point standings and where you’re running at in points is super important, but the entire previous championship format was very much win or bust. I think that mentality is still engraved in at least my mind and probably most of the industry’s mind, but in all reality, it’s not win or bust anymore. You have to have good, consistent, strong runs every single week and that’s what we’re doing. Unfortunately, we haven’t got to Victory Lane, but we’ve we have been running really well.”

Do you expect the racing to be less crazy heading into the Chase under the new format?

“I don’t know. Certainly, the number of guys that feel the pressure of making into the Playoffs or the Chase is probably less. In years past, under the different format, everybody on the outside still had an opportunity to get in. Where now, it’s kind of dwindled down to a couple guys that are fighting for the spots. Ultimately, they know that a bad day is extremely detrimental, where under the previous system, it was win or bust. If you finished second or 36th, it paid the same discipline and the same consequences. So, the reward of trying to push and do those egregious moves was worth it. Where now, in this new format, you have to be really calculated. You have to be really smart and understand the consequences of doing the stuff that we’ve seen in the past. I very much enjoyed this style of racing of like every single stage, every race matters, and I think the detriment of making a mistake if you’re going for the win and spin out or something like that is much higher than what it was in previous years.”

Are you making a moral choice with how you raced Ty Gibbs or was it the struggles with the car?

“I mean, whenever I’m out there racing, whether it’s Ty (Gibbs), Denny (Hamlin), or Joey Logano, or Kyle Larson, or whoever it is, it’s just the leader of the race at that point. Honestly, the one thing that we’re, myself and my team, I think, are kicking themselves was my car just got loose at the end of the race. The second to last run whenever I was able to pass Ryan (Blaney), I wasn’t slipping, and I was able to get to Ryan’s bumper and then try different lanes and try the bottom. I got beside him a couple times on the bottom. I was able to pass them on the outside. Whenever Ty was leading the race, I was just sliding around. I was like 10 car lengths back and then there were a couple times that I pushed really hard to try and make up ground on them and I was able to get there. But the moment that I got there, I started sliding around and would fall back again. There wasn’t really going to be any way for me to even move him out of the way without seriously jeopardizing both of us. I was so loose that if I would have tried to make any sort of contact, it was going to make my car jump sideways. I wasn’t able to do it.”

Would you have been comfortable moving him if you would have gotten there?

“We all have a driver code, and I’ve been around the sport long enough that I think I’ve shown my driver code. There’s been several late race finishes that, yeah, I think my driver code is spelled pretty clearly.”

Do you think it’s the best strategy to take the points?

“Depending on the situation, yes, but under race situation that I had last week, I can promise you that that was not on the back of my mind. I wasn’t sitting here, thinking about, I was trying doing everything that I could to win. Running second was not on my brain or my agenda for sure. I promise you that.”

How encouraging is it coming here and New Hampshire with your short track program?

“I mean, I don’t know. You mentioned our short track program being really good. I don’t know that I share that same sentiment. I think that we’re competitive.”

Chase Briscoe and Ryan Blaney pointed to you as having the best car last weekend.

“Yeah, I mean, that’s good to hear. I think my team did a really good job last weekend at Iowa to bring probably the best car in the field. But honestly, our strength right now, I would say, are the downforce tracks. Like, I feel more confident that we’re going to be the best cars going to intermediates, going to the faster tracks. Whenever I think of like Richmond and Loudon, the Penske cars, who seem like they aren’t as good on the intermediates, they kicked our butts at Loudon last year and at Phoenix last year. I think we’re going to be in the mix and our cars are good, but I don’t think that we’re the clear-cut favorites whenever we come to these tracks. I think the field’s really tight at Richmond and Loudon. So, my confidence is not as high at these tracks as it is at some of our bigger strengths on the schedule.”

What is the biggest challenge for you at New Hampshire?

“So, New Hampshire is generally trying to get the car in the corner in turn three. It’s really rough over there, and these cars really like to be low to the ground. So, turn one and really the rest of the racetrack is smooth. So, you want to get it down to optimize the car performance for those smooth parts of the racetrack, and then you have to manage the bumpy entry to turn three, which can become really difficult if you get the car too low. So, it’s just a compromise there. The car has to be loose, which makes the bumps even harder. You have to be turning good. You have to be loose, have to be free, and then you have to manage the bumps and turn three at Loudon. So, it does become a very tricky track for the crew chiefs and the drivers.”

Can you talk about your involvement with Halmar-Friesen Racing?

Yeah, it’s just been a lot of fun to do something new for me. My entire NASCAR career has been full of being in powerhouse organizations that are proven and, it’s been a lot of fun to go to HFR (Halmar-Friesen Racing) who’s a relatively new organization trying to kind of get their footing in the door or get their footing and they’re standing in the in the series. I love Stewart (Friesen). I’ve always had a lot of respect for Stewart since well, even before NASCAR, like I would watch him and watch him dirt racing and stuff like that. I was excited about the opportunity. It kind of, I don’t know, it matured after I ran or I subbed in for him last year at Walkins Glen. Then their involvement with Toyota kind of took a next step forward in the 2026 season. I’ve enjoyed going to a different level team and I think they’re well on their way to becoming a powerhouse organization.”

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.