Toyota took seven of the top-10 finishing positions in Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway, setting a new record for the manufacturer.
JOLIET, Ill. -- Toyota took seven of the top-10 finishing positions in Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway, setting a new record for the manufacturer.
According to Toyota Racing, Toyota put seven cars in the top-10 for the first time in its history. Before Sunday, Toyota had six drivers finish inside the top-10 in a Cup Series eight times: Phoenix back in March, Gateway in September 2025, Darlington in August 2025, Kansas in May 2022, Watkins Glen in August 2017, Pocono in July 2017, Charlotte in October 2012 and Dover in September 2012.
Joe Gibbs Racing led the way with their eighth 1-2-3 finish and second this season. A month after Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe finished 1-2-3 at Nashville Superspeedway, Briscoe, Bell and Hamlin finished 1-2-3 at Chicagoland.
Toyota's speed is so good that even Christopher Bell couldn't be fully disappointed with yet another second-place finish.
"Toyotas are fast. It seems like a monkey can drive them, so it's just disappointing when you get beat by another monkey," Bell said.
JGR's Ty Gibbs finished eighth, falling in between 23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace (sixth), Corey Heim (ninth) and Riley Herbst (10th), who rounded out Toyota's historic top-10 run.
For as well as Toyota finished, Chevrolet's drivers led more laps than them (121 vs. 118).
Overall, Chevrolet's William Byron led the most laps -- 94 -- while Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson led 23 laps. Byron swept the first two stages and controlled the race until the final pit stop when crew chief James Small pitted Briscoe a lap earlier, outsmarting Byron's No. 24 team for the win.
That final call aside, brains and brawn are ultimately where Chevrolet is making up the most ground. Byron regained the lead throughout the race and won the stages because his pit crew had the best stops throughout the race. Alex Bowman also had his best run of the season because of his pit crew and his crew chief's late-race call.
Chevrolet has struggled on the long run. The new body means the manufacturer had to rework their aero maps that set up how a car goes through the air most efficiently.
That meant reworking chassis setups to go hand-in-hand to minimize tire wear. It showed early on in the season when Chevrolet drivers would fade in the long run.
Although there is still some work to do, as evidenced by Chase Elliott fading to 11th in the final run of the race, Chevrolet is clearly getting better.
Byron and Larson each took advantage of Chevrolet's strength on the short run at Chicagoland, akin to when Byron and Elliott challenged Hamlin for the lead early on in the fuel runs at Pocono Raceway -- even passing Hamlin.
Chicagoland also showed Chevrolet made progress quickly.
Chicagoland was likened as a mix of Kansas and Charlotte. At the latter track, Byron and Bowman ran outside of the top-20 all night, even getting lapped, while Larson couldn't get break through the Toyota stranglehold up front.
Despite not winning, Chicagoland was a contrast. Byron believed Toyota was faster, pointing to how their drivers pulled away once they put him in dirty air. However, it's not about being faster, it's about execution.
Could Byron have possibly won if his team pitted a few laps later than Briscoe and had a tire advantage, similar to Bowman? We will never know. However, all the evidence points to Byron having a chance, which is something Hendrick hasn't had in some of the races this season.
For now, Toyota is top of the heap but Chevrolet is heaping on the pressure that could crack come Chase time, just seven races away now.
"It goes in ups and flows. A year from now the Toyotas could be way off and the Chevys and Fords could be unbelievable. When you are good, you have to take advantage of it. Especially at the types of racetracks where the Toyotas are typically the best are the mile and a halves. When you come to a mile and a half, you cannot have a bad day. You need to take advantage of it," Briscoe said.
