One only needs to take a quick mental inventory of the 19 race trophies and big shiny championship hardware that Joe Gibbs Racing organization earned in 2019 to see the realized potential of Toyota in the NASCAR Cup Series.
It remains great motivation in 2020 for Toyota teams that represent a smaller group of drivers than the Cup Series’ other two car manufacturers but have certainly proven themselves up for the challenge.
Quality over quantity has served Toyota well.
Not only did Toyota have three drivers in the four-driver championship finale field, it won the manufacturer’s title before the last green flag of 2019 even flew.
“I’ll start by saying that the hardest thing in pro sports is to stay up there because there’s so many obviously great teams, competitors and so for our team, like tomorrow (Daytona 500), we’ll be the smallest group out there and so we really need to work together,” Gibbs said of Toyota’s efforts. “It’s a huge deal for us.
“Last year was phenomenal. I have learned that for sure, in pro sports, when you start the next year, last year didn’t buy you anything and so we’re going to be going after it as hard as we can. It was a thrill last year, but we realize the challenge in front of us.”
Not only is Gibbs’ driver Kyle Busch the reigning series champion, but teammate Denny Hamlin is the defending Daytona 500 winner – giving Toyota plenty of good feelings heading into Sunday’s race and into the season. Their teammate, Martin Truex Jr., won the 2017 championship. And the fourth JGR teammate, Erik Jones, earned his first Cup victory at Daytona in the 2018 summer race and then won the exhibition Busch Clash race here last weekend.
Leavine Family Racing has a new driver behind the wheel of its No. 95 Toyota – highly-touted rookie Christopher Bell, who put up an impressive eight NASCAR Xfinity Series wins in 2019 – he won 15 races in just the last two seasons. And the 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion, Daniel Suarez, will drive a third Toyota team car, the No. 96 Gaunt Bros. Racing Toyota Camry—although an accident in Thursday’s 150-mile Duel qualifying race eliminated him from this year’s Daytona 500 field.
The three teams represent different levels of Toyota involvement—from long-time success of Gibbs to Leavine, who has fielded Toyotas for three years now, and the newcomer, Gaunt.
“We have gradually progressed and last year with Toyota and TRD and Coach Gibbs, we raised our level with Matt (DiBenedetto) driving the car (in 2019) and this year we feel like we’ve done it again,” Leavine said. “So, you know, expectations I don’t like to put out there, but yeah, we do have higher expectations and it’s enjoyable.”
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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