‘The Toyota Group Epicly Failed’: Christopher Bell Gives His Take on the Denny Hamlin-Bubba Wallace Fireworks From Last Sunday

Toyota’s camp has been walking on eggshells lately, with tensions simmering between teammates. First came the heated on-track battle between Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs at New Hampshire, and then the Kansas debacle, where Hamlin walled his own 23XI driver, Bubba Wallace, while chasing his 60th career win. Even Christopher Bell has now acknowledged the strain behind closed doors.

Ahead of the Charlotte Roval race, the Round of 12 cutoff event, Bell didn’t mince words when asked about the atmosphere inside the Toyota garage. “It has not been good. Last two weeks have not been good,” he admitted.

When reminded that Wallace had apologized for squeezing him into the wall at Kansas, Bell responded, “I appreciate it that he acknowledged it for sure. it is what it is.” He added, “I’m a big believer in apologies and the actions afterwards matter equally as much, but apologies absolutely do matter.”

Asked how he would have handled the Kansas situation had the roles been reversed with Wallace and him racing at the end with Hamlin, Bell said, “I mean, it’s so hard to say… I have no idea. I would have liked to have at least stay, not that he’d [Hamlin] let me stay side by side, but at least get both of us to the start finish line.”

 

Bell didn’t sugarcoat his take on the collective performance either. “And clearly, taking one driver out of it, the whole accumulation of the Toyota group epically failed at Kansas. So yeah, just line five of them up in a row coming to a green wire checkered, and none of them win. That’s not it’s not very well executed,” he said.

His words hinted at a blurred picture showing that Toyota’s unity is hanging by a thread, and unless cooler heads prevail at Charlotte, the manufacturer’s playoff hopes could go up in smoke.

Bell’s take on Hamlin and Ty Gibbs’s skirmish

Bell, speaking to Frontstretch, admitted that in the case of the Hamlin-Gibbs clash and their hard racing at Loudon, a line had clearly been crossed, and it reflected poorly on the team. He denounced wrecking teammates and emphasized that the group’s focus now should be on learning from it and racing one another with more respect going forward.

He confirmed that a meeting took place involving Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin, Bell, Chase Briscoe, team owner Joe Gibbs, and Heather Gibbs, Ty’s mother and the elder Gibbs’ daughter-in-law. However, none of the drivers present disclosed what was discussed behind closed doors. It remains to be seen if its effects will bear fruit this Sunday.