If you think about the best drivers on drafting tracks in the Next Gen era, the first names that come to mind are Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Joey Logano and Chase Elliott, among others.
What do they all have in common? They don’t drive a Toyota.
Ford and Chevrolet have been the class of the NASCAR Cup Series field at the three drafting tracks since 2022, and Toyota has always been that distant third wheel.
The manufacturer started 0-for-14 on superspeedways in the Next Gen car, and it didn’t reach victory lane at one until 2024 with Tyler Reddick at Talladega Superspeedway. From 2022 to 2024, the manufacturer’s cars combined to lead less than one-sixth of the laps at Daytona International Speedway, Talladega and EchoPark Speedway.
Toyota has always been that distant third wheel … until now.
The 2026 season began with Reddick navigating a wild final lap to score his first Daytona 500 win and the first for Toyota since 2020. He followed it up a week later by leading the most laps at EchoPark and storming back from a late crash to become the first driver to win the first two races of a Cup season since Matt Kenseth in 2009.
Add in Chase Briscoe’s win at Talladega last October, and Toyota has suddenly won three drafting tracks in a row after a dismal 2-for-25 start in the Next Gen car.
Reddick has blossomed from a contender at drafting tracks to a force. He’s joined Blaney as the second driver to score wins at all three drafting tracks in the Next Gen era, and he’s now up to a 40-point lead in the standings after two races.
Reddick may be doing the heavy lifting, but he’s not carrying Toyota alone. His 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace led the most laps in the Daytona 500 and was in position to win at EchoPark before losing the lead on the final overtime restart. Briscoe was a contender in the 500 until an early crash and finished second behind Reddick last weekend. Christopher Bell was also in a position to win at Atlanta – at least until he was struck by a hurricane in overtime.
Add everything together and Toyota’s performance in the first two drafting races of 2026 looks unrecognizable compared to its performance in years past. The manufacturer has led more laps in the last two weeks than it has in any other year of drafting tracks with the Next Gen car. After leading less than one-fifth of the laps on drafting tracks in the last four years, Toyota has led more than half the laps to start the new season.
| Year | Wins | Laps Led | Total Laps | % |
| 2022 | 0 | 212 | 1322 | 16.0% |
| 2023 | 0 | 167 | 1204 | 13.9% |
| 2024 | 1 | 182 | 1273 | 14.3% |
| 2025 | 2 | 221 | 1268 | 17.4% |
| 2026 | 2 | 248 | 471 | 52.6% |
Sure, it’s early, and there are still four drafting tracks left on the schedule, but to win three drafting tracks in a row after starting 2-for-25 isn’t a fluke; it’s improvement. The Toyotas are no longer the invisible cars in the draft, and the last six months have shown that they’re more than capable of holding their own against Chevy and Ford in the packs. And with Talladega as the third-to-last race and every point mattering in the 10-race Chase, Toyota’s gains in the draft couldn’t have come at a better time.
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly column is “Stat Sheet,” and he formerly wrote "4 Burning Questions" for three years. He also writes commentaries, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Find Stephen on Twitter @stephen_stumpf