May
The NASCAR Cup Series race in Kansas previous weekend was indeed a winner-take-all event for Toyota, but the company does have a great deal of work to do this season.
Kurt Busch won the race on Sunday, earning Toyota its third victory of the season. Simultaneously, Busch took the lead, with all six of the manufacturer’s factory-backed squads finishing in the top ten.
Throughout the first third of the season, Toyota has demonstrated pace on numerous occasions, but has struggled to match it with outcomes.
“We’re sitting on three wins in 13 starts versus how many does Chevrolet have?” Toyota Racing Development President David Wilson said. “They have more than we do (seven). A lot more.
“So, that’s what gets the headlines – ‘Toyota has only won three times in 13 races’ and that’s true, and that’s unacceptable.
“But our performance – other than a couple of data points like Phoenix, Martinsville, COTA we weren’t great – but we’ve definitely narrowed the gap.”
Losing out on pit road
Yet, on pit road, where the manufacturer’s squads have usually excelled, some of the most serious faults that have afflicted Toyota players this season have surfaced.
There were countless instances in Sunday’s race alone.
Due to technical interference fines during pit stops, Toyota racer Denny Hamlin had to start at the back of the race twice. Despite this, Hamlin finished fourth.
Bubba Wallace, Kurt Busch’s 23XI Racing teammate, was also penalised again on pit road, once for sending a member of the crew over the barrier too quickly and again for an uncontrollable tyre on his final stop. Despite this, Wallace managed to finish tenth.
Kyle Busch also placed third despite a pit road speeding fine late in the race.
“We do have work to do, and the area right now we’re focused more so than anywhere else is execution in pit lane,” Wilson said. “I mean that has been a difference-maker. What’s truly been amazing is the fact that we had six cars finish in the top-10 with as many mistakes as were made in pit lane.
“In order to win, you have to execute not just behind the seat, but underneath the hood and on pit lane. It takes a team, and so this has been one of the absolute strengths of Joe Gibbs Racing, historically.
“And for (Joe) Gibbs and I to spend as much time as we have been the past few weeks talking about this is indicative of how we collectively hold ourselves accountable, and we need to fix that.”
Hamlin admits 23XI needs to ‘change how we’re doing things’
Following Sunday’s race, Hamlin, who is also a founder of 23XI Racing with NBA great Michael Jordan, said his team would have to rethink its pit road strategy.
“We fundamentally have to change how we’re doing things, and that’s in my opinion. I don’t run that department. I wish I did, but we have to make changes for sure on our approach,” he said.
“My biggest thing is I just don’t need ‘Hail Mary’ passes every day. I’m okay with just running the ball sometimes. That’s how you win races, is you manage your risk. When you’ve got the fastest car, just keep me in the game.
“So that part is very, very frustrating, but I think fundamentally there will be changes coming and certainly we saw (Kurt Busch’s) team in particular really have some good solid stops.”
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