The Toyota Camry has finally begun proving its mettle in the 2024 NASCAR Cup season. Sunday’s race in the Phoenix short track saw Toyotas lead much of the race and grab the winning spot ahead of the dominant Chevrolets. Apart from lifting the winning honors, the performance also marked a historic achievement for the car maker.
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Three races into the season, Chevrolet was beginning to emerge as the biggest fish with victories at every fixture. However, Toyota wasn’t going to have any of it in the Arizona desert. The Japanese maker’s cars led, as per Jayski, 298 of the 312-lap race, had five drivers lead 50 or more laps, and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell emerged as the winner in his #20 Camry.
The top rows mostly saw Toyota cars battling each other. Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin each led 68 laps, with the former winning the first stage. Race winner Bell took the flag in the second stage and went home with 50 points. Notably, he started his race from the 13th position and climbed up the ladder time and time again to take the final lead.
Reddick ended his day at 10th place, Ty Gibbs grabbed 3rd place in his #54 Camry, and Martin Truex Jr. came in at 7th place. The Toyota camp will be a happy place for the next few days on top of the mountain of points collected on Sunday.
NASCAR Phoenix winner Christopher Bell showers praise on the Toyota Camry
In Phoenix, Bell led 50 laps during the NASCAR Cup race and accumulated 6 playoff points that will serve him well in the postseason. Being one of the Championship 4 who let a title slip through their fingers last season, he was wary of the victory’s eminence. He credited his engineers and crew chief for their efforts in prepping the #20 Toyota Camry XSE.
Bell said, as reported by Speedway Digest, “You don’t get cars like that very often as you know. Super, super proud to be on this #20 car. This Rheem Camry was amazing today. I feel like we have the capability of running races like this a lot, so hopefully this is the first of many this year.”
Bell’s victory comes as a second gift for Toyota after Chandler Smith grabbed a victory in the Xfinity Series behind his #81 Toyota a day earlier. With Toyota now beginning to find its groove, Chevrolet will already be up, drawing strategies for the next race.
