DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Toyota’s status as the smallest NASCAR Cup Series manufacturer hasn’t stopped it from bringing home hardware on NASCAR’s biggest tracks. Look no further than Denny Hamlin, who has won three of last eight editions of the Great American Race.
Toyota only had six full-time entries in the 2023 season, and only seven in last year’s Daytona 500 when accounting for Travis Pastrana’s one-off start with 23XI Racing. But with Legacy Motor Club’s switch from Chevrolet to Toyota this offseason, Toyota has a small, but significant, boost to its numbers on superspeedways this season.
Instead of having six full-time cars to work with, Toyota will now have eight cars for Sunday’s (Feb. 18) Daytona 500 with the additions of Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek. Toyota can potentially add a ninth car if LMC co-owner Jimmie Johnson is able to race his way into the 500 during Thursday’s (Feb. 15) Daytona Duel races.
With an influx of new teams, names and faces, both Martin Truex Jr. and Christopher Bell cited LMC’s addition to the Toyota umbrella as an advantage for the manufacturer on superspeedways.
“It’s strength in numbers,” Truex said. “I think something that’s hurt us on [super]speedway racing the last couple years is being the lowest car count of all manufacturers. So, it certainly gives Toyota better odds of winning another 500. For us, I think just having more help out there and having more friends that you can lean on should help our chances.
“We’ll see.”
“I think it’s definitely an advantage if we can get to the end of the race,” Bell said. “And if we can get to the end of the race with all of our cars standing, I feel confident that our chances will be higher for Toyota getting in victory lane.”
A larger number of cars does create more opportunities for Toyota, but it does come at a cost. Pit stops can make or break a finish in these races, and one miscue can upend an entire day. The small cars made it easier for Toyota to coordinate its teams on pit road, and that is something that Tyler Reddick said the teams will have to work on.
“We have more cars to work with for sure, but it does get a little bit more complex from pit road,” Reddick said. “Instead of just having six cars attempting to make the road at the same time, now you…
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