Toyota’s fleet of entries aiming for victory lane
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Denny Hamlin leaned into the window of Christopher Bell’s winning Toyota to congratulate his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate on beating him in a Daytona 500 qualifying race.
Hamlin then gave Bell detailed directions to victory lane.
“Been to victory lane at Daytona a time or three,” Hamlin wrote on social media. “Had to show (Bell) the way.”
After a dismal showing in time trials for Sunday’s season-opening Daytona 500, the Toyota camp roared back and swept the two 150-mile qualifying races Thursday night that set the field for “The Great American Race.” The wins by Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing — the team co-owned by Hamlin and Michael Jordan — and Bell marked the first sweep of the Daytona qualifying races for Toyota since2014.
Addingin Hamlin’s victory in the exhibition Clash at the Coliseum earlier this month, Toyota heads into the Daytona 500 a perfect 3 for 3 on the season in its new Camry XSE. With all nine Toyota drivers qualified for Sunday’s field, the automaker is hoping to remainundefeated in 2024.
The nine entries are the most Toyota has had in the Daytona500 since 2011.
Paul Doleshal, group manager of motorsports at Toyota North America, said the automaker was “disturbed” when no Toyota driver cracked the top 20 in time trials. Erik Jones had the fastest lap for the OEM at 22nd, and seventime NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, the Legacy Motor Club co-owner and Jones’ teammate, was 35th andforced to race his way into the40-car field.
“I think we were a little bit disturbed— probably a strong word — but just surprised about the lack of qualifying speed,” Doleshal said a day after the Toyota sweep. “But they felt that the car would race well, and that proved out, so we’re encouraged with that.”
Said Reddick: “This new Toyota Camry is truly a beast. Itwas a lot of fun to drive.”
Hamlin, who is Toyota’s only Daytona 500 winner with three previous victories, will be going for a fourth and initially was listed as the race favorite by FanDuel Sportsbook. The odds Friday had tilted slightly toward both Joey Logano, who will start fromthe pole for Team Penske in a new Ford Dark Horse Mustang, and Kyle Busch, who crashed in the qualifying race and will start 34th in a Chevrolet for Richard ChildressRacing.
Logano will try to continue a hot streak for team owner RogerPenske. The run started last May when Penske won a record-extending 19th Indianapolis 500 with driver Josef Newgarden. He won the Cup championship in November with Ryan Blaney, won the Rolex 24 at Daytona sports car race last month for the first time since 1969, and now has his first driver on the pole for theDaytona 500.
“There’s not a cooler race team that you can work for when it comes to motorsports in general. There’s not another motorsports team in America that’s decorated as much as Team Penske and what Roger Penske has done, whether it’s in NASCAR, sports cars, IndyCar, you name it, the guy’s been involved in all of it,” Logano said. “One thing that’s in common with all of it is he wins. That’s where I want to be because of that reason, right? The guy wins, he does it right, he’s professional. There’s no cornersever cut.
“Roger Penske has never gotten a Daytona 500 pole. Not very often that you can actually do something for the first timefor ‘The Captain.’”
The most recent driver to win the Daytona 500 from the polewas Dale Jarrett in 2000.
Weather is expected to play a role in Sunday’s race, with rain expected to hit Daytona onSaturday. The forecast is so poor that NASCAR on Friday decided to run the ARCA race scheduled for Saturday after Friday night’s Truck Series race.
The final practice session ahead of the Daytona 500 was canceled Saturday morning because of rain at the track. There’sless chance of the Daytona 500 being altered from its scheduled Sunday afternoon start.