CONCORD, N.C. — The finish to the NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway last Sunday (Sept. 28) could not have gone worse for Toyota.
After lining up 1-2-3-4-5 on the final restart, a lot of door-banging and fencing resulted in not one of them driving into victory lane at race’s end, instead giving the win to the Chevrolet of Chase Elliott. Elliott had restarted in the back half of the top 10 on the final restart and surged through to lock himself into the Round of 8.
“Taking one driver out of it, the whole accumulation of the Toyota group epically failed at Kansas,” Christopher Bell said Saturday (Oct. 4) at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL. “Line five of ‘em up in a row coming to a green-white-checkered, and none of them win — that’s not very well executed.”
”Last week was obviously unfortunate how none of us won,” added Chase Briscoe. “Green-white-checkered, we were running first through fifth. I think it’s just part of it. When you’re gonna be running up front, especially in green-white-checkereds, things are gonna happen, and we saw that last week.”
The debacle for Toyota came just one week after an incident at New Hampshire Motor Speedway between teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing, when Ty Gibbs held up Bell and Denny Hamlin for a few laps before getting spun by the former, with some heated radio transmissions to boot.
While Hamlin admitted last week he may have taken things too far at New Hampshire, Gibbs was nowhere to be found to give his side of the story. However, he appeared for his media obligations on Saturday and quickly acknowledged that the two had since spoken.
The balance between racing hard with a teammate and maximizing the performance of the organization as a whole blurs a bit more when playoff points and a ticket to the Round of 8 is on the line. Such was the case at Kansas, as all five Toyotas fighting for the win were playoff contenders.
The added wrinkle in all of it was the battle between Hamlin and Bubba Wallace — despite Hamlin being Wallace’s team owner, and the fact that they both drive Toyotas, Hamlin competes for Joe Gibbs Racing, not his own team, 23XI Racing.
After the two came together on the final lap to allow Elliott the win, Wallace didn’t mince words about what happened.
”He’s a dumbass for that move,” Wallace told USA Network. “I don’t care that he’s my boss.”
Hamlin later countered on his podcast Actions Detrimental.
“On Sunday, I am the driver,” Hamlin said. “The person in the [No.] 11 car is the driver. That’s where the disconnect, I think, comes from, is that people expect me to be a different person. They expect me to be the guy with the 23XI shirt on when I’m in the [No.] 11 car, and that’s just not possible. It’s not possible.”
So are things good between Wallace and Hamlin?
If you had asked Wallace at any point between post-race of Kansas and about 11:45 a.m. ET on Saturday, he probably wouldn’t have an answer.
”Denny and I just talked 30 minutes ago,” Wallace said.
However, he acknowledged that the conversation “went better than I thought it would.
”It was a good heart-to-heart conversation,” Wallace said. “It came from a place of peace. … He shared his side of things and I shared mine, and we had common ground.”
However, Wallace was hesitant to buy the reasoning that Hamlin’s power steering issues caused the No. 11 to fence the No. 23.
”Yeah I think my power steering went out too when something happened with [Kyle] Larson at Vegas,” Wallace said jokingly, referencing his suspension for right hooking Larson in 2023 after Larson pulled a similar move to Wallace that Hamlin did.
”95% of the garage looked at that move and was like, ‘Oof,’” he continued. “I can ask Joey.”
Joey Logano, who was sitting in the media center waiting for his turn for his press conference, was then put on the spot by Wallace.
”What’d you think, Joey?” Wallace asked.
”I’m staying out of it, bud,” Logano responded with a big laugh.
”He’s in the 95%, thanks,” Wallace joked.
Much like Bell’s frustration, Wallace said his frustration with Hamlin wasn’t in getting fenced while going for the win as much as it was with the fact that Toyota didn’t win.
”Just so we’re all clear, that’s not gonna be the last time I’m battling for a win and it doesn’t go our way in that sort of fashion — whether it’s Denny or anybody else in the field,” Wallace said. “I don’t fault Denny Hamlin for racing for a win, racing for his team and his sponsors.
”Before I left my motorhome after the race, I texted the Toyota rep to apologize that we didn’t win. We had five in the top five to take the green flag there on the last restart and none of us won. I just told Chase [Elliott], we alley-ooped that for him. He appreciated it.”
Wallace also had a role in Toyota not winning, as he ran Bell wide the lap before as they stormed toward the white flag. Bell ended up running out of room and smacking the wall — similar to the move Hamlin pulled on Wallace the next lap.
”A lot of people want to relate that move to my move to C-Bell,” Wallace said. “C-Bell got to see the other side of the corner. … I texted C-Bell before I left the bus and said, ‘Hey man, my full intentions were to use the air… my full intentions were to make you lift, not to put you in the fence, and I apologize for that.’”
“I appreciated that he acknowledged it for sure,” Bell said. “I’m a big believer in apologies. The actions afterwards matter equally as much, but apologies absolutely do matter.”
Hamlin said he emphasized listening to Wallace’s side when he and Wallace had their conversation.
”Being a racecar driver, I think what’s made me successful is continuing to evolve and try to get better,” Hamlin said. “Even as an adult, you gotta continue to try to get better, whether it be on track or off track.
”Truthfully, I didn’t even know he was upset. But I should’ve at least checked with him. That’s on me.”
As for the fifth driver involved in the Toyota disaster class, Tyler Reddick, he hasn’t had any conversations, as he was the lone driver unaffected — Hamlin, Wallace, Bell and Briscoe all either made contact with each other or the wall (or both) in the final two laps.
With four races left in the season and still five drivers left in the playoff fight, it feels like Toyota is ready to turn the corner and focus on the final stretch. Entering the Charlotte ROVAL, which is the Round of 12 cutoff race, Hamlin and Bell are the only Toyotas with some semblance of safety, sitting 48 and 44 points above the cut line, respectively. Briscoe sits 21 points above the cut line, while Wallace and Reddick are on the chopping block, 26 and 29 points back of eighth place.
So how do the Toyota drivers avoid a repeat of what happened at Kansas (and to an extent, New Hampshire) while still prioritizing their own individual races and title fight?
”I’m taking any advice,” Bell joked. “Anyone got any advice?”
Anthony Damcott joined Frontstretch in March 2022. Currently, he is an editor and co-authors Fire on Fridays (Fridays); he is also the primary Truck Series reporter/writer and serves as an at-track reporter. He has also assisted with short track content and social media, among other duties he takes/has taken on for the site. In 2025, he became an official member of the National Motorsports Press Association. A proud West Virginia Wesleyan College alum from Akron, Ohio, Anthony is now a grad student. He is a theatre actor and fight coordinator in his free time.
You can keep up with Anthony by following @AnthonyDamcott on X.