Now in its 75th anniversary season, NASCAR has fielded as many as 11 car manufacturers over the years. While several of them have quit, only Chevrolet, Toyota, and Ford have stuck around NASCAR’s ovals. Although there is no contest that Chevrolet has been the most successful original equipment manufacturer (OEM) on NASCAR’s tracks, Toyota’s achievements cannot be snubbed either.

Being the only foreign OEM in the American sport, Toyota is now nearing a major milestone in its NASCAR run. In a recent interview, Joe Gibbs Racing’s #11 driver, Denny Hamlin spoke about the developments.

Denny Hamlin harbors a desire to get to a particular milestone, not for himself but for Toyota

Having fielded cars in NASCAR since the early 2000s, Toyota stepped into the Cup Series in 2007. Moving on from the Chevy camp post the 2007 season, Joe Gibbs Racing tied up with Toyota and has stuck with the OEM ever since. In 2017, Toyota celebrated its 100th race win as Kyle Busch drove down Pocono’s Victory Lane. Fast forward to the current season2023, the Japanese manufacturer has collected 14 wins throughout the three NASCAR Series’ and is now nearing the milestone of 600 race wins. 

Denny Hamlin, who has been with JGR ever since his debut Cup Series race in 2005, has raced in a Toyota car for the longest period of time in NASCAR. With the Japanese OEM’s 600th race wins milestone approaching, the Hamlin has now made a bold claim. Speaking to Frontstretch’s Dalton Hopkins, the JGR driver said,

“I like milestone victories for sure. But yeah, Toyota’s been a big part of my career and now certainly part of my race team [23XI Racing]. So, you wanna have those big milestone victories. If you talk to all the Toyota drivers, they are gonna be very motivated to get it. But I’ve been around the longest. I certainly want to have it.”

While Denny Hamlin made the claim that he deserved to bring in Toyota’s 600th win, JGR team owner Joe Gibbs had earlier attributed his team’s success to the overseas OEM.

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Joe Gibbs credits Toyota for JGR’s success

For the 2023 season, Toyota has collected 6 wins in the Cup Series, 5 of which have come from the Joe Gibbs Racing camp. As Martin Truex Jr won in his signature dominating fashion at New Hampshire, JGR team owner, Joe Gibbs was elated. 

Speaking in the post-race presser, Coach Gibbs credited his team’s massive success to Toyota, saying,

“Well, we’ve had a great partnership. I think when it started like 16 years ago, it’s been a big deal for us…I think it’s a battle-tested partnership. Love the relationship we have with those guys…You couldn’t have better partners from an OEM standpoint”, Joe Gibbs said.

Do you think Denny Hamlin can claim the 600th win for Toyota? Let us know in the comments.

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