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.”
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