After Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson won at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway for his first NASCAR Cup Series win in 16 months, and Team Penske's Joey Logano won at Bristol Motor Speedway, many expected Toyota, specifically Joe Gibbs Racing, to bounce back at Kansas Speedway.
Joe Gibbs Racing have been the class of the field all year on 1.5-mile ovals, specifically with Denny Hamlin, who won the regular season championship. And Christopher Bell opened up the postseason with a win at the 1.366-mile Darlington Raceway, after a regular season in which he earned seven runner-up finishes.
Kansas kicked off a three-race stretch that is also set to include races at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway. Yet instead of proving to be the start of a massive Toyota bounce-back, it proved the exact opposite.
Toyota's NASCAR advantage is officially gone
Sure, Joe Gibbs Racing took three of the top five spots. But that might be the most misleading stat of the year.
Larson led 235 of 267 laps. The race was never in doubt after the green flag dropped. Sure, Chase Briscoe got the lead late, but Larson wasted no time in retaking it. And oh, by the way, it was the No. 2 Team Penske Ford of Austin Cindric that ended up second, making Toyota's top finish (third, Hamlin) the worst among the three manufacturers.
This is the postseason. You're going to need to win races to have a chance at the championship under this format. "Good points days" are no longer "good", considering the boosted value of race wins. Just ask Briscoe, whose drop from first to second resulted in a 40-point championship swing. These guys aren't interested in fourths and fifths anymore.
Even by finishing third, Hamlin lost 25 points to Larson, dropping from one back to 26 back with six races remaining on the schedule. And if Larson can keep this form going at Las Vegas and Charlotte, where he has, of course, won before, the three-race stretch that could have solidified Hamlin as the true championship favorite might very well deepen the surprising hole in which he now finds himself.
Six races is a long time, and the title battle is far from over. But this was a missed opportunity for Toyota, and given just how much they missed it by, Las Vegas and Charlotte producing similar disappointment would no longer be a huge surprise.
Las Vegas Motor Speedway's South Point 400 is set to be shown live on USA Network beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 4. Don't miss any of the action from the fifth race of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series postseason.
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