TOYOTA RACING – Denny Hamlin
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (October 31, 2026) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was made available to the media on Saturday prior to the NASCAR Cup Series race from Martinsville Speedway.

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 King’s Hawaiian Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

How is your shoulder and do you have surgery scheduled for the offseason?

“I don’t have it scheduled right now, the plan was to scan right after the season to kind of see where it stood. Pain tolerance has been okay. Obviously, late in the season everything just gets a little worse. But generally I’ve been able to manage it inside the race car. I will see if it hasn’t progressed. Maybe if I can nurse it just for one more year and then then do it after that.”

Is there a point total you would like to get it to before Homestead to have a chance at the championship?

“There has to be a catastrophic weekend in there somewhere. It has to start here truthfully to have a chance, and then the chance is still limited, given obviously his track record there. The only thing at Homestead is that if you do have a fighting chance, it is a place where he’s been really good on the wall, and God forbid he scraped it a little too hard and cut a tire. So you just never know. Who knows where it all goes? But again, the chance is very, very slim. I think NASCAR put out all the chances and the odds, and even them acknowledging it’s likely low.”

You have such a long history here at Martinsville. How precarious or how I guess how careful are you going to have to be with your front bumper?

“Yeah, a little bit. Certainly, the structure change is a little different with obviously taking the front bumper out to try to soften some of the low blow stuff. But I don’t know. I think you still can use it a little bit. You have to be careful, though, in my mind, to not give someone an egregious bump because then they typically brake check you, and then that’s when you can really end up doing quite a bit of damage. So you just have to be as courteous as you can with your bumps I think.”

What is on your 23XI to do list in the postseason? And where have you seen the gains? What do you think that your organization has to work on?

“I mean, the list is long. I think that that the team definitely has room to improve. I mean, Tyler’s (Reddick) had a very good year from a win standpoint. Had really strong start to the year, but it’s still just got some little deficits here and there that we got to clean up with the team. And then the other two have just got to get better. Got to win more races and that’s certainly our priorities. Have all of our cars winning on a consistent basis and contending for a championship at season’s end. And I don’t think where we’re at that spot. They’re close. They’re very close. But I still think that it needs a little tweaking here and there to get there.”

Despite the points deficit, how do you approach the next two tracks here, both places you’ve had success at in the past?

“Well, I think it’s the first weekend where there’s truthfully little pressure because I think the expectations are just so low. I think that everyone believes that it’s you know kind of a foregone conclusion, and I’m not saying that they’re wrong by any means. I said so myself on Monday, but it’s just what he got to lose at this point. What is the difference being in second in points versus fifth? Doesn’t matter to me at this point in my career, so yeah, I think it’s a low pressure, high opportunity for the 11 team to go out there and do what we need to do this weekend.”

Given your relationship with Michael Jordan, obviously has a lot of championship success and clutch moments. What do you believe he expects from you as a championship contender? And do you ever worry about falling short of those expectations?

“No, I don’t think so because I think he knows me well enough, kind of off the racetrack, and he knows my competitive spirit. He knows I never go through a period of not putting in the work or not having the drive. I think that no matter what the on-track results may be week in, week out, he knows that that we’re the standard when it comes to preparation and work, and that’s what he was really big on.”

Do you consider yourself clutch?

“Yeah, I mean I think that we’ve performed great in in certain aspects, and I think that there’s been other times where we’ve kind of stubbed our toe when it was you know a big moment. Certainly, 2010 is one that really sticks out to me, where you know patience could have been a little bit more executed there. And there’s always been races here and there. The different difficult part is you don’t know when those key moments are until they afterwards, right? And because of the sport and the formats and things like that, you just never know when those key moments are. And if you know if we come up 18 points short, it’s going to be like a lot like Phoenix, you know. What can I do about flat tire? So, it’s there’s always moments that are clutch moments, but you just don’t know until the exact moment of when that is. And I felt that last year at Phoenix, we did what we had to do, and it didn’t work out in the end, but that was what the format asked us to do and we did it. It was just a unfortunate caution at the end that changed things, and that’s our sport, this is not a one vs one situation. This is a one versus 36, and driver number 18 that has nothing to do with anything in the championship can play a factor in what your result is, and so that’s what makes it a little different and hard to define exactly what a clutch moment is.”

As good as you guys were in the regular season, as strong as you were, and I know in the past you feel like championships have gotten away from you. Does this one feel like it got away from you? Like you lost this, or did Kyle Larson come out and win it?

“I think it’s a little bit of both. I truthfully believe it’s a little bit of both. I think about what we could have done different. I know in Las Vegas, I definitely could have done something different. I was certainly disappointed with the outcome in in Darlington when Michael (McDowell) got in the back of us and took us out of that one. And you know the flat tire. I mean, we can argue whose fault that is, but I think that it’s just one of those things. But you know you also can’t discredit what the five team has done in this eight races, right? And I think what we all under underestimated is that a greatness of eight races can really kind of change what the narrative is on your entire season, right? I think that even when you listen to Kyle and his team pre-Chase. They would have said, ‘Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t think we got what it really takes.’ And all of a sudden, eight races later, where it’s like it’s just a dominating performance. I think they certainly deserve you know all the credit and all the accolades that you know they’re likely going to have in the next few weeks, and certainly shouldn’t be discredited because it’s been, as you guys say, a historic run when you when you look at the numbers, and so that matters and we just haven’t executed as good as what we did. I don’t know that our speed was off except for maybe two races in this Chase from the regular season, but our execution has not been as good, and that that is certainly a factor of why we’re talking about him locking up at this point.”

I’m wondering when we get to the regular season next year, is that going to change the way that you guys view the seeds that the people storylines talk about the seeds?

“Let me bring it back to like Larson. I think Larson is an anomaly in the sense that he’s so talented and their team is so good. If he started 10th in the chase. I think you still believe that they can get hot. I think, generally speaking, whoever’s 15th or 16th in points in the in the Chase or leads into the regular season. Likely not a team that is good enough to get hot and go on a run like Larson has gone on. So, I think you have to judge every team individually in that sense. Does it devalue the regular season? I think it just depends on who you are. And I think that when you’re as good as they are, then then I think you can you can mount you know a massive comeback no matter where you put yourself in the regular season and they broke what we thought the mold was, but even the mold and the models said that someone in sixth or seventh could do it you know no matter who they were. I just think that you have to add in the Larson factor. That’s always going to be the ceiling is going to be a little higher.”

Brad Keselowski has made it known that he’s open for business, looking for a ride for next year. You guys have run a fourth car at times, and especially over the last few years at Daytona. Is there a potential of pairing him with 23XI in the Daytona Clash and the Daytona 500 with how good he is there”

“I don’t know. We can. We’re definitely the old guys of the group. I think that you know what’s probably difficult, truthfully, about that is that I don’t think there’s a long-term there play for us. So then, do you let someone into your part-time program and see all the things and then goes and does something else? That probably would be the challenge for us. I think that he’ll land somewhere good and certainly got enough knowledge and skills still left in them that you know I think you can still be successful.”

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
Martinsville Speedway
Team Chevy Driver Quotes
October 31, 2026

Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice qualifying session at Martinsville Speedway. The defending champion enters the penultimate race of The Chase with a 73-point lead.

Media Availability Quotes:

Coming into this weekend, what is your mindset, where are your emotions at, understanding how close you are to possibly pulling off a championship-clinching performance?

“Just continuing to do what we have been doing here throughout The Chase. We are executing at a really good level and having a solid day from start to finish. That is the hope. You never know how it is going to go. Obviously, there are some really good drivers here, so I don’t anticipate clinching anything. I just want to have a good day and not give up too much before next week.”

I think it is hard to ignore the fact of where your potency is at. How do you reconcile that, and what do you think about that when you hear that you have a 73-point lead with two races to go?

“It is tough not to look at that and see what could be done this weekend, but I think what our team does really well is staying focused on what you have to do to prepare a good racecar, have good pit practice, and for myself, studying and being ready for the race. So, not being too relaxed, but also trying not to put too much pressure on yourself either. I really think that is what has pushed us through The Chase, through the season, and other seasons in the past. Just try to stay true to who we are and go have a good day like we have been having.”

What are your thoughts on racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway?

“I love Homestead-Miami Speedway. It is a great venue, a great track, a great area, and to have championship weekend back there is really exciting. Really, as long as I remember watching NASCAR, it has always been at Homestead, so glad to be back there. But then, also, just enjoy a fun racetrack, one where you can kind of run all over the racetrack, and for me, get to run against the wall and all that. So, yeah, I’m excited to get down there and excited to celebrate the season.”

A lot of the time during the stage breaks, Cliff (Daniels, crew chief) would detail kind of where your competition is compared to you guys. How much info do you want to know tomorrow?

“I don’t know. I mean, I think it just kind of naturally happens. Obviously, I sort of know the situation that I am in and all that. So, yeah, I can kind of run some numbers in my own head, maybe not to the accuracy that he’ll have on the screen. If things were tighter, I think that’s when it really becomes crucial to know. It’s still going to be crucial, I think, knowing what’s at stake and all that. But I think maybe it will be a little bit simpler than it has been in previous playoff formats when you’re coming down to points and trying to advance.”

I don’t even know if you allow yourself to think like this, but if you won back-to-back championships, you’d be the first person since Jimmie Johnson to do that. It’s just so incredibly difficult to do that. With the format changing, this would really be quite a big accomplishment for you. Do you have any thoughts on that?

“Yeah, I think it would definitely be an amazing accomplishment, for sure. I think with repeat champions, it was obviously really tough with the previous format, so I think you’ll see more of it now as we get back to The Chase. It’s just easier to put together 10 good races than one. But I think if we happen to go back-to-back with it being two different formats, I think that also just shows the resilience of this team. So, yeah, we’ll see. I just want to go race and try and do a good job.”

Last year when you won, it was almost like, I’m not saying you felt apologetic for the way you won, but you had to explain yourself a lot, defend the format, or be part of that conversation. Now, you come back and you have a chance to have one of the most emphatic statements that we’ve seen of this generation. Does that mean anything to you, the way that you could potentially win this?

“Well, yeah, I think it would be much simpler. I remember going to New York for post-championship stuff last year, and with every news outlet, you had to explain how I’m the champion when Denny Hamlin looked like the champion. So, yeah, this year, if we happen to win, it feels much better and just easier to explain. I think we’ll be remembered for good reasons rather than last year, I feel like everybody will remember it, but not for the right reasons because in a lot of people’s eyes, it looked like we got lucky. With this Chase, there hasn’t really been much luck. I mean, sure, Talladega could be viewed as luck, but so could win superspeedway win.

So, yeah, I mean, you think back to a lot of Jimmie Johnson’s good runs, Tony Stewart’s run; those were remembered for the right reasons. I hope that, if we happen to win, this would be in that same sort of category.”

What do you have to be better at this weekend than you were here in the spring?

“Yeah, I don’t completely remember the spring. I don’t remember qualifying as well as we typically do here, so we were kind of just mired back in that position for most of the race. Looking at notes, my balance was pretty loose-in, and then it was hard to manage rear grip off. Those are probably two areas that we’ve tried to attack to be better when we come back. I think just listening to Cliff (Daniels, crew chief) talk, I think we’ve gotten our short track package just better throughout the year, so hopefully that translates to the racetrack here being a different track than those other short tracks.

We’ll see. We have two sets of tires. I think having a longer practice session, it’ll benefit everybody, but hopefully benefit me for being a guy who needs laps to get in the rhythm here. So, yeah, we’ll see, but I don’t know. I expect your normal guys to be really good. The Penske guys will be fast. Denny (Hamlin) will be really fast. William (Byron) and Chase (Elliott) are always really good here. I feel like Bubba (Wallace), as well, is good. I kind of hover around behind that, so yeah, just trying to be a little bit better.”

When Cliff was in here a little bit ago, he was talking about your preparation and dedication this year, specifically, stood out to him. In your eyes, have you done anything different, as far as your routine, your regimen, that maybe has really shown off this year? “Yeah, I mean, not that I purposely didn’t dedicate time to the Cup Series in the past, but this year, I’ve tried to buy in a lot more to the sim. I’ve done that once a week for a while now. We have a new fitness facility at Hendrick Motorsports, so I’m there three or four times a week. And then, because of that, you’re in the shop more, so you get to be around the guys more. I’ve raced less dirt races this year, so I’m just in town more and naturally just able to spend more time around the NASCAR stuff. I don’t know if it’s benefited or not, but I don’t think it’s hurt by any means. I’ve just enjoyed it. I’ve enjoyed having more time. I think cutting a lot of the dirt stuff out has just given me more time to be around my family. Just kind of shifting priorities; being around my family and being around the NASCAR stuff a bit more. I’ve enjoyed it, too.”

If you look at the 51-race drought you had, all of a sudden, it was just like something switched. It was like a light bulb came on. Is there anything you can point to directly that said, hey, that was the past and this particular thing happened and look at me now?

“Well, I mean, I don’t think it’s just one thing. I think there’s a number of things that stack to be ready for that point. I’ve said all along, even during the winless drought that we were on, I was like, our team is there. Our team is really, really good, and when things come together, we’re going to be ready, and I think we’ve proven that. We didn’t know exactly when that time was going to be, but we were going to be ready whenever it came. Thankfully, it came when The Chase started. So, I think just the process of building, and then also, our racecars got a little bit better. I did say kind of all along, as well, that I didn’t feel like we’re that far off on a lot of areas. And again, when it comes together, it’s going to be great and we’re going to be ready. And yeah, that’s just kind of how it’s been. I think it starts with Cliff (Daniels), for sure. He’s the guy that leads us all down the path.”

Looking from afar, Cliff (Daniels) seems like he’s the serious, head down person. And knowing you, you’re a little lighter. How does that relationship kind of vibe so that you have been as successful as you’ve been?

“Yeah, I think we complement each other well. I think Cliff (Daniels) has really progressed throughout his years as a crew chief, even probably before me, where he’s always kind of developing his style of leadership, especially. And then yeah, like I said, us balancing each other. I am a little bit lighter, and I think it allows him to be a little lighter. But then, he also like makes me be a little bit more serious, as well. You need good chemistry and we have that, as well as everybody on our race team. I feel like we just all vibe really well. I think when we made the pit crew swap last year, it brought a whole new level of energy to the whole group. We’ve had a lot of new mechanics and new engineers throughout the last couple years, as well. We’ve all just meshed well.

But again, it starts with Cliff and how he leads everybody. He could have neutered the pit crew, neutered everybody, to be serious and all this. But I think he’s developed and learned to understand that people need to be themselves, and it’s just brought a really good energy and vibe to the No. 5 team.”

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 cus

TOYOTA RACING – Chris Gayle, Adam Stevens and James Small
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (October 31, 2026) – Joe Gibbs Racing crew chiefs Chris Gayle, Adam Stevens and James Small were made available to the media on Saturday prior to the NASCAR Cup Series race from Martinsville Speedway. All three crew chiefs are part of top contenders in this year’s Chase with two races remaining in the season.

CHRIS GAYLE, Crew Chief of No. 11 Kings Hawaiian Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

ADAM STEVENS, Crew Chief of the No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

JAMES SMALL, Crew Chief of the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

For Chris, what have you learned about Denny (Hamlin) and what he likes in a car here at Martinsville?

GAYLE: When I came over in 2025, he thought he was in a spot where he didn’t have exactly what he needs. It was an opportunity to kind of experiment with something a little different, which we obviously did out of the gate. And I think we’ve just kind of exploited what we’ve done there more each time, you know. And I think that directionally has been correct for us. From our perspective, it’s a really clear go get all the points, be as aggressive as possible to stay in contention going into next week.”

Do you still consider this year a success considering all Denny has gone through in the past year?

GAYLE: “It’s a tough scenario for he and the team, right? Coming off last year, all the things he went through in the off season. So, for him to reset himself coming into it, I think you saw that in Daytona. He was asking to give him a few weeks to get into this fully, right? But I think it speaks volumes for him, volumes for our team. Right? There’s lots of things that could have gone awry and let yourself have a hangover from a bad experience the previous year, and none of us did that. It’s also really easy to get focused right now. We live week to week. And everything we can to have the best run next week. And sometimes you punish yourself more harshly one week when it’s a bad week, and then you don’t back away and look at the whole season. We wait till the end of it and do that. But I think four wins, an All-Star race win. We’ve led points for a long time. There are great things we’ve done this year and the majority of the teams in the garage would look at that and would love to have that position. It’s a successful year, no matter what happens. Obviously, we’re still focused on this week, and it’s not over yet. And if we can close the gap, then we have a shot next week.”

For Adam and James, how much of this is trying to keep the 5 (Kyle Larson) honest over the next two weeks?

STEVENS: “That’s a big part of it. This is a 10-race playoff. It’s not a not a nine-race playoff. So, you got to bring your best every week. It’s going to be tough for anybody to make up 70 or however many points we have to make up, but it’s not mathematically impossible. I think it’s going to take some special circumstances, but we’ve been a victim to special circumstances plenty this year. Stuff like that can happen. But you don’t want to put them in a position where all I have to do is show up, and I don’t think they’re quite there yet. But another weekend like last and they certainly will be.”

SMALL: “I think objective for us is just to come out of here and give ourselves a chance next week. So that’s all we can ask for, given the lead they have.”

For Adam, what have you learned about Christopher Bell this year through the injury and kind of the a guy who hates to lose finishing second a lot?

STEVENS: “I think just the resilience has really impressed me. It’s been a very odd year for us to be as competitive as we’ve been and really not have a lot of show for it. And he still brings his best every single weekend, and has done a much better job, I think, focusing forward. He doesn’t get too distracted by whatever happened last week or the week before that, and that’s a big part of the sport. You race a lot of times every year. It’s 38 times we show up, and even these guys beside me that have had outstanding years, 30 times they go home disappointed. And it’s been a few more than 30 for us, but having a season like this is something that we can certainly build off of. We’ve been bringing competitive cars, and he’s been doing a fantastic job. And sometimes that’s just not enough. And I think it’s shown a lot of growth in for Bell, especially through his injury and some of the trials and tribulations we’ve had this year. And I think that’s something that’s going to pay dividends in his future.”

How was any more difficult you feel for him to put this past weekend behind him and look forward?

STEVENS: “He’s driving the race car that we prepared, so it’s not all on him by any means. And we haven’t had green flag stops with this new package, and it’s a pretty small box that we’re in setup wise to make these things do what they need to do on the racetrack and it’s on all of us, it’s not just on him. It’s whoever does the best over these 10 and Talladega is one of those 10 and we didn’t do our best last week and that’s the situation we put ourselves in.”

For James, what has the process been like behind the scenes with him working in the simulator, and how do you approach that on race day as far as you know as giving him cues over the radio?

SMALL: “Really just drive like Denny. As the years have gone here and you know the tires have gotten softer, you’ve lost rear downforce, you’ve got more power. It really goes further away from his natural style, and he’s done a great job this year. He’s taken a huge step forward. You saw it at North Wilkesboro and Richmond, and then this is another beast again. Just the patience you need, all starting from the braking area through the corner back to the gas, we worked really hard on the simulator this week, just trying to work purely on technique and just trying to get him in the zone. It’s what practice is going to be about today, just going out there and running as many laps and just trying to get into a rhythm. It’s very, very different to how he’s typically driven here. I think if he can accomplish that, then we stand a chance because a long run here has really not been our friend in the past.”

What have you guys learned about this year’s Chase that maybe you didn’t think about going into this?

STEVENS: “I think we’re all going to have the same answer. Just the amount of volatility is not something that I would say most of the models would have predicted. But with the winner getting such a bump in the points, it really moves the needle quickly. And a lot of places if you don’t qualify well or you have an issue early and you’re not able to score stage points, it can really compound your weekend. And we’ve seen pretty enormous jumps in one-week spans, but certainly over two week spans of cars going forward. I think that’s something that none of us really expected.”

GAYLE: “It’s the same answer. Although you try to look at it ahead of times and how is this going to play out. You go back and you look historically. But what’s not fair with that historically is you’re applying the points to a different set of rules, right? And people would have probably made different decisions in those circumstances. So it really doesn’t show you. We came into it thinking if we just do what we’ve done the regular season or more, which we haven’t, we’ll be in a good spot. And I think technically we would have been, but you always know that the one thing, like you talk about the points for winning, if someone goes on a stretch like the five did at the beginning of these playoffs, it eliminates all of that head start you might have had and then you necessarily can’t overcome that without a little bit of volatility. If they hadn’t had Phoenix, we wouldn’t be talking here about what’s going to happen next week. The ups and downs of all that over 10 races definitely changes things.”

SMALL: “It’s come down to a series of execution. Like we’ve all had fast cars every week, but some of us haven’t executed perfectly on a week, and that swung the points a lot. And then the rainouts and not qualifying, and not you know guys starting at the back and not getting stage points in the first stage. It’s made small differences, but it all adds up in the end.”

For Chris, for as good as you guys were here in the spring, how much more do you after being so you know close to such a perfect weekend?

GAYLE: “If you bring back the exact same thing, typically that doesn’t work well for you. You know, regardless of how many laps you led, we didn’t win the race, and there were things we could still improve on. And so you’re always looking to find setup changes, tweaks that improve those things that you still needed help with. And I think that’s kind of been our big focus.”

One of the big talking points in the regular season was the seeding, and everybody was thinking that a top six seed was going to be the way to go. Given the volatility that we’ve all seen with how quickly you can gain or lose points, does that does the gap between seeds need to be adjusted at all?

GAYLE: I’ll speak since I’m the one that’s the points. I would like to see that larger, but I’m subjectively playing to my situation currently. I feel like 25 points you saw was pretty small of an advantage and it went away pretty quickly, right? Is that the intent? Is that what NASCAR wants? To me, I feel like you know for 26 races the reward should be a little more than that for the regular season. Just even if it’s proportioned a little more, I don’t know how to exactly look at it, but it feels small for sure to me.”

Suppose the cautions fall tomorrow in a way that the field is able to flip the stages, would you guys pit? Do you feel forced to have to take the points and then try and make it back up later?

STEVENS: “That’s a fantastic question. I think I’m going to need a lot more details to answer that one. Depends on a lot of things. It depends on how our day’s going, right? How competitive our car is, how many points we’re going to score, or giving up scoring. In the type of day that the five is having, so there’s a lot of variables that go into those game time decisions. But certainly that’s on the table, and we’ll all be paying attention to each other in that regard and assessing your risk and reward versus everybody else’s.”

I know you don’t know because you’ve never run the format, but how intense is it to be a crew chief in the NASCAR Cup Series?

STEVENS: “I guess I’ll pipe up and say something. I think a big difference between our sport and a lot of other sports is we’re not playing head-to-head, right? We’re playing against a lot of competitors. Now the list of people that you need to beat and outrun gets a little bit shorter as we go, but with this format, you really have to elevate your game and really eliminate the mistakes as well. And I think you’ve seen that with the five (Larson). You know, much credit to Cliff and his bunch. They’ve been able to elevate from their regular season performance, all the while minimizing those mistakes. Now they haven’t got through all 10 clean. Phoenix didn’t go great, but on average, they’re doing better than the rest of us, and that’s not an easy task and it’s not enough to you can beat another team because they had a bad day, but if you have to beat 16 other guys or whittle it down to five or six or seven, they’re not all going to have bad days. So you have to have an elevated program, and you have to reduce those mistakes. That’s what this playoff format is about. And I would say that we all quite prefer this one compared to the old one. But that’s what we’re up against now.”

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
Martinsville Speedway
Team Chevy Crew Chief Quotes
October 31, 2026

Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team, met with the media in a panel with fellow Chase-contending crew chiefs – Adam Stevens, James Small and Chris Gayle – in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice qualifying session at Martinsville Speedway.

Cliff Daniels Media Availability Quotes:

As the team leading entering this weekend, this stretch, what is the number one objective for you guys? Is there any plan to go on defensive or is it all out to maximize?

“Yeah, I mean, really, our game plan hasn’t changed a lot the last handful of weeks, even with the ups and downs, and I think that that’s probably true for all of us sitting here. We’ve all seen and we’re all very aware of how quickly the points can swing, so every week you’ve just got to be focused on maximizing your day and whatever that’s going to take. This is certainly a race where the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) could go lead all 500 laps and we’ve still got to have a strong day, so our game plan really hasn’t changed much.”

Going into this Chase, there was kind of some preconceived notions of how we thought this was going to go, what we thought was going to be important, that kind of thing. As we now are in race nine, what have you guys learned about this format that maybe you didn’t think about going into this?

“I think it’s been a bit eye-opening to see the swing of the points, when earlier in the season, you had the No. 45 (Tyler Reddick) hot, and then consistently hot to start, and then the same thing with the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) through the summer. I don’t know that we all quite had the picture or the window into what that could look like. And then, when everybody shows up and brings their best in The Chase and then you have some tumultuous weeks where unexpected things happen, it certainly shows that the points can be very dynamic and very unpredictable every week. So, from our perspective, it’s been exciting and it’s been fun to see that, just not knowing every week what can happen and what can unfold with how the points outlook moves along each week.”

With Richmond, New Hampshire, the last couple of races with this tire; do you feel like maybe it helps you guys be better this weekend than you were in the spring?

“Yeah, they’ve been solid steps for us at both of those tracks on this tire. Phoenix was such a bad miss for us that you still always have that asterisk of the short track package on this tire. We’ve certainly had a decent notebook here at Martinsville for a while. Our teammates have been strong. The No. 9 (Chase Elliott) and the No. 24 (William Byron) have been really strong here, historically and consistently, and we’ve also consistently been a top-10 car, so we’re not straying too far from home. We still have to evolve as the sport does, as the field does, of things that you learn and apply. So, yeah, we’ll see, but certainly trying to put it all together this weekend.”

One of the big talking points in the regular season, obviously, was the seeding and everybody was thinking that a top-six seed was going to be the way to go. Given the volatility that we’ve all seen with how quickly you can gain or lose points, does the gap between seeds need to be adjusted at all?

“Yeah, I don’t have a great answer. Tell us what the format is, and you’ve got to play to it. There’s always going to be unknowns. You know, from what Chris (Gayle) had alluded to earlier, you used to think of how you would strategize your final 10 races, but it was three races at a time. So, even when you look at history and how people play through those races, those decisions are predicated on the points format and what you had to do to advance. Even how we call a race now is a little bit new, just with the territory of having 10 races over a stretch.

I don’t know how you need to have it seeded. Whatever it is, we’re going to make our pit strategy, we’re going to make our pit calls, we’re going to make our play calls based on whatever that is.”

This isn’t easy, so don’t take that the wrong way, but is it almost easier to have all the resources of Hendrick Motorsports behind one driver as opposed to these three guys splitting everything on their level with each of their teams?

“My answer to that comes back at Charlotte when we had the unfortunate crash with the No. 24 (William Byron) and the No. 48 (Alex Bowman). We lined up on one of those restarts with three Toyota’s ahead of us, three Toyota’s behind us, the No. 12 (Ryan Blaney) was in the mix, and there were no friendlies that were going to help us out. I think it would be a little short-sighted for us to just completely turn the tables lopsided to the No. 5 team and where all of our resources go.

At the end of the day, for Hendrick Motorsports, we’re still focused on preparing four fast racecars and try to keep them up front because the more that we have ourselves up there, theoretically, the more points we can take from these guys and keep ourselves in a good spot.

So, no, all of the focus of Hendrick Motorsports is not solely on the No. 5 team. Of course, we’ve put the proper amount that needs to be there, but we still have three teams that have a responsibility to their sponsors, their teams, their seasons for what they need to accomplish, and we need to have all four Hendrick cars up front.”

Tyler Monn (spotter) said he’s seen Kyle rededicate himself this year, just pour his full focus into NASCAR as opposed to the sprint car racing, and Kyle addressed that himself. How have you seen Kyle just go completely invested in what needs to be done?

“Yeah, he’s done a great job, and that’s across many fronts; from his workout regimen to how he meets with the team, the time and effort that he’s put into the sim. And, oh, by the way, he still had a really good sprint car season, too, so he was able to do a lot of great things. The way he’s applying himself, of course, professionally to his craft, but he’s also spent a lot of time with his kids. You know, he’s been at Millbridge when they’ve been racing, been very supportive of them. I’m super proud of the growth that he’s shown in all of those areas, and I think it’s just part of the journey of him pushing himself to be better and to continue to hone his skills.

When you see a guy like Denny (Hamlin), who’s above the age of 40 and still be operating at such a high physical and mental racer IQ level, that’s a really good benchmark to look at. I think Kyle wants to hold himself to a really high standard in that regard, and hopefully, we continue it not only for the next two races, but I think he’s going to for quite some time.”

The 51-race drought that Kyle had, it’s just almost like a switch got flipped. I know you talked about Kyle’s dedication back to racing and focus, but what about the technology in the car and some of the things that you’ve done? What has your input been, as far as turning this whole thing around almost like on a dime?

“Yeah, I mean, just in general, we certainly got off to a slow start at Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet, at large, just trying to get our arms around the new body and the balance difference of that. But I would also argue, during the month of May and I think early June, we had a lot of top-fives in a row. The Toyota’s were still ahead of us, but we were kind of the best of the rest. And even in the summer, when you look at our finishes that weren’t great, we were probably going to have a really good day in Indy. We had a few other races that we were up front, or at least in the mix, that got away from us.

So, from our lens, I don’t think it looks quite so digital, you know, because of the change of the course of our season. As you go through the year and you learn little things to balance out your car, find a little speed, tune your setups and just get into the rhythm that we started to find; that’s what anyone hopes for down the stretch of a Cup season. We’ve certainly been able to dig into that a bit just with our prep and how it’s all coming together. It’s been not one big thing, but a lot of little things over time. I’m proud of our team for the effort to get us here. Like I said, now we’ve got two more that we’ve got to stay strong.”

What does it take in this day, in this format, in general, to win the championship, to earn it?

“I don’t think any of us have done it yet in this format, so I look forward to answering your question, hopefully, in a couple weeks.

I mean, just in general, everyone knows we have a long season; 36 competitive events with a lot of great teams, and certainly, the four teams at this table. But there’s more out there that we’ve been competing against every week. It’s a grind. It’s a physical and mental challenge on your team and on the people that support you back at home at the shop. It takes a lot of great people to be dedicated to a car or to an organization to see it through for how long our season is. That’s probably a common answer that they would all give. We still don’t know yet what it looks like to win in this format, none of us do, so we’ll find out.”

This marks 10 years since Jimmie Johnson won his seventh championship. You were their lead race engineer on that team. Are there things that you remember from that run that you still apply in your position now? I believe Jimmie won at Martinsville that year, and then went on to win his seventh championship. Are there things that you still use today in your role now as the crew chief?

“Yeah, certainly. Any chance you have an opportunity to work with or be around Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus, Rick Hendrick; those guys know how to operate at such a high level. To see it and experience it in person, just their dedication to the details week in and week out. Kind of like Adam (Stevens) was just alluding to, you have to elevate your game so much during this 10-week stretch. It’s not just this great burst of energy and preparation that you can take for a week or two. You have to sustain it across 10 weeks. You know, back then, it was still the round-style playoffs, but getting to see the way that they were so focused and so intense on their preparation every week was a really cool experience for me. I certainly learned a lot working with somebody like Chad. You learn how much all the little details of the team – the team culture, chemistry and preparation – matter more than just building the racecar. It’s pit stops, behind-the-wall pit support, so many different aspects that you have to have buttoned up. Even working with other guys in our company like Alan Gustafson, who’s been around for a long time. Alan is great with perspective in these types of situations. And also, Jeff Andrews and Jeff Gordon that have done it and lived it.

Yes, it was super special, of course, to work with Chad and Jimmie during that year, but we’re surrounded by a lot of good people that set a very high bar for what it takes to be prepared and compete at a high level.”

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