Toyota last won a NASCAR Cup championship in 2019 when Kyle Busch won for Joe Gibbs Racing. While they are on a 7-year drought, things are looking up for JGR and Toyota. 

In the last few years, it has been the Chevrolet in the hands of Kyle Larson and the Ford in the hands of Joey Logano that have been the most dominant cars, with Ryan Blaney winning in 2023. But after 15 races this season, it’s clear Toyota is the one to beat this season. 

After Hamlin’s second consecutive win, Joe Gibbs was asked whether he thinks the rest will catch up. He said (via Cup Scene on YouTube):

“Yeah, this sport is so hard. I think the hardest thing you can do in any pro sport, what I’ve learned anyway, is to stay up there. And that’s the goal because you know everybody else is working so hard. And if you happen to be out in front for a little while, they’re after you.”

Hamlin took back-to-back wins in Michigan. Being a track where Ford and Chevrolet tried to come back hard, and so did home hero Carson Hocevar in the No. 77 Spire Chevrolet, getting the win for JGR seemed even more crucial. But coach Gibbs knows that the dominance isn’t a given.

“We know it’s not gonna last. Everybody’s working extremely hard. These are the best race teams and the race cars. We just want to stay up there as long as we can. And, instead of being happy and what have you, work hard. Cause everybody else is coming,” the 85-year-old added.

With that said, Gibbs remains confident for the rest of the season with Hamlin already having taken three wins, as well as a fourth at the All-Star. Hamlin’s wins have shown that he can win the race from the front as well as the back of the pack. 

Toyota’s Massive Margin over Ford and Chevrolet

Ford has a solitary win in Phoenix courtesy of a stellar drive from Ryan Blaney, which put Tyler Reddick’s winning streak to an end after three consecutive wins to start the season.

But the fact that Blaney has one win while the only Ford driver with multiple championships, Joey Logano, has had a NASCAR season unbecoming of his pedigree, is troubling. Logano sits 17th in the leaderboard with 11 races till the Chase. 

Chevrolet, too, will be worried. Chase Elliott has picked up two wins; they have three wins from Trackhouse Racing’s SVG, and Spire’s Daniel Suarez and Carson Hocevar. But not having a win from reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson feels odd.

But compared to Ford, Chevrolet will be a bit more relaxed as Larson is sixth in the standings, having led the second most laps, proving he can run at the front despite not winning since Kansas in 2025. Chase Elliott sits fourth within 30 points of third-placed Ryan Blaney. 

And then there is the OEM they are catching. Toyota has nine wins in 15 races, with Tyler Reddick leading the championship from the very beginning, picking up five of those nine wins. Ty Gibbs won his first Cup race in Bristol and is currently fifth.

Denny Hamlin winning three points races and leading a whopping 796 laps will be what Toyota looks at as a sign of their dominance, and the hope for the Japanese OEM would be that the Championship battle is a Toyota battle to the very end.

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Debrup Chaudhuri

Edited by

Yash Kotak