Why does NASCAR Cup drivers’ championship continue to elude Toyota?
HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Denny Hamlin raised the issue during his media availability on Friday, indicating that Toyota teams will spend the offseason examining data in an effort to determine why NASCAR Cup Series drivers’ championships have been so elusive.
Since the manufacturer’s debut in NASCAR’s top division in 2007, Toyota drivers have won three Cup championships, with Kyle Busch in 2015 and 2019 and Martin Truex Jr. in 2017.
Though both Christopher Bell and Hamlin are mathematically alive in the race for the 2026 title—trailing Kyle Larson by 67 and 70 points, respectively, entering Sunday’s Championship Race—their hopes are roughly equivalent to winning the lottery, as Hamlin put it.
Hamlin has contributed four of Toyota’s 18 victories this season, but he and his team have not executed at the same level during the Chase presented by Mobil 1.
“I think it needs to be looked at personally, internally with Toyota and JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) and LEGACY (Motor Club) and 23XI (Racing),” Hamlin said. “I think we have to figure out that the win ratio to the championship ratio has just not been as good as it needs to be.
“So, I think that that needs to be a deep dive and honestly figure out what needs to be changed. I don’t think we should just rinse and repeat and let’s just do this all again next year.
“I think we really should think about what it’s going to take to win the big prize at the end, because our cars are too fast for there to be just a few, I think, two, and Martin (Truex Jr) is in there. It’s three championships in 20 years. We’ve got to fix that.”
Toyota Racing Development president Tyler Gibbs responded to Hamlin’s comments on Friday night, after Kaden Honeycutt won the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series championship in a Toyota Tundra at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“The car changes to the Next Gen car (in 2022),” Gibbs said. “We see some challenges there, candidly. You look at last year, we won 14 races. This year we won 18 races. It feels like we are getting back to a little bit of where we were in ’17, ’18, ’19. Not that we were far off.
“But this is a really tough garage. They’re going to take advantage of every single weakness, whether it’s a mistake you make or whether it’s them just excelling in the given moment, as we saw a number of times in the championship race itself (under the elimination format).
“I don’t think there’s a fundamental flaw, if you will.”
Gibbs also pointed out that, with its 18 victories, Toyota claimed the Cup Series manufacturers’ title this season.
“For us, the manufacturers’ championship is a big deal,” he said. “We recognize that the drivers’ championship gets more exposure, and it should. We want that in our sport.
“So, to have won 18 and not won the drivers’ is disappointing. We still have a shot. We’ve got two shots. We’ve got a lot of work to do, and we’re going to need some help.
“But anything’s possible. We’re going to give it all we’ve got on Sunday.”
Ross Chastain explodes mythology of Hendrick phone call
Ever since team owner Rick Hendrick and driver Ross Chastain talked on the phone after the Darlington race in May of 2023, conventional wisdom has become accepted truth—that a tongue-lashing from Hendrick somehow neutered Chastain’s aggressive driving style.
Make no mistake. Hendrick was incensed that Chastain wrecked one of his drivers—Kyle Larson—at the Lady in Black.
“I don’t care if he’s driving a Chevy,” Hendrick said after the race. “I don’t care. I’ve told Chevrolet that. If you wreck us, you’re going to get it back.”
The assumption has always been that the phone call between Hendrick and Chastain took the same tenor, but Chastain said that simply isn’t true.
“There’s a lot that’s always, ever since then, that’s been made about Hendrick, like Rick Hendrick, and the phone call we had,” Chastain said. “I laughed because there was only two people on that phone call. And the way it went was so inspiring to me, because he could have said anything.
“But the fact that he encouraged me to race, and, like, we had a meaningful conversation that, honestly, it was in the morning, and I remember walking outside, and it was right after Darlington, and I was like, ‘Wow, I can run through a brick wall right now.’”
Adding credence to the conventional wisdom, Chastain’s Trackhouse Racing cars have sustained a dip in performance since then. In 2026, Chastain has suffered through a winless season he’d prefer to forget.
“It’s just so unfortunate that the timing lined up that way, because people, they truly believe,” Chastain said. “I have people come up to me all the time and believe that I purposely am driving in a way to drive slower and to drive cautiously.
“And I’m like, I don’t know how you think that’s possible in the Cup Series. I mean, I am driving into the corner, through the center of the corner, off the corner as fast as I can.”
John Hunter Nemechek brings valuable intangibles to Haas Factory Team
When Joe Custer had the opportunity to hire John Hunter Nemechek for the Haas Factory Team, he saw the 29-year-old as more than just a talented driver to fill an empty seat in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
“John Hunter—I’ve challenged him with being our leader,” said the Hass Factory Team president. “And what does that mean? It’s more than ‘Rah, rah.’ It’s actually helping us make sure that, when we work on development on different things in the car, we directionally correct.
“Is the tire model right in the simulator? What about our affiliates? How are we communicating and helping their program? So, it takes a little bit more, and I think he’s at a point in his career—and I told him this—this experience with us can make him a better overall driver if he embraces it, and I think he is and will.”
Nemechek has been driving for LEGACY Motor Club in the NASCAR Cup Series this season but lost his ride for 2027 suddenly and unexpectedly when Wood Brothers Racing driver Josh Berry became available.
For its part, Haas Factory Team is experiencing total turnover on the O’Reilly Series side with Sheldon Creed departing for Sam Hunt Racing and Sam Mayer returning to JR Motorsports.
Nemechek will join new teammate Dean Thompson, who already has been announced as an HFT hire for next season.
Nemechek acknowledged he had discussions with Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing in the wake of co-owner/driver Brad Keselowski’s announced departure at the end of the season. Keselowski’s exit leaves a Cup Series seat open under uncertain circumstances.
“We did have a few discussions over there,” Nemechek said. “It’s debatable how many races they’re going to run. At the time of the discussions, no one really knew if it was going to be part-time, full-time or what that situation was going to be.
“But for me, I wanted to go win races. I wanted to go have fun and be in contending, winning equipment every single week and know that I can show up and make a difference internally and also make a difference on the race track. We felt like this was the right fit.”
Short Strokes…
Casey Mears is making his 500th NASCAR Cup Series start in Sunday’s Championship Race (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)… For J.J. Yeley, the Cup start will be his 400th, adding the Arizona driver to an exclusive club. Yeley also has 404 starts in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Morgan Shepherd and Joe Nemechek are the only other drivers to have 400 or more starts to their credit in each series.
— NASCAR Wire Service —