The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season so far has witnessed the domination of Toyota drivers, lead by Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick. TRD drivers have secured 11 wins from 18 point paying races this season compared to 7 wins from Chevy and one from Ford.
Almost all of their racers have been consistent, with three of them being in the top-5 of the points table.
RFK Racing owner driver Brad Keselowski talked about this domination ahead of the Chicago race week and explained the unique factor that gives TRD an advantage. He pointed out that unlike other OEMs, Toyota has two A-teams in JGR and 23XI Racing. Both of them treated the same by the manufacturer and the third team LMC is also getting similar support. They also known for their deep collaboration, unlike at Chevy and Ford there is stalemate among teams.
What's become unique, I think, over the last two or three years specifically is — and I'll give a lot of credit to Toyota for this — is they've recognized that that stalemate is not necessarily good for the sport or for them as an OEM/ And they've done a lot of things to push elite collaboration amongst their top organizations so that they have, for reference, two 'A' organizations, rather than an 'A,' 'B' and 'C.' As I've seen to date, the other OEMs have not done that, and Toyota is making them pay for that with results on the race track. They deserve credit for that.
Brad Keselowski said ahead of the Chicagoland race.The rival manufactures need to react to that by building a more collaborating culture within the teams they support. But at the moment neither Ford which RFK is part of nor Chevy is doing that. Brad Keselowski knows there is a lot to gain for his team if they work together at Ford, but disappointed with the lack of initiative from the leadership.
The challenge that I see is: Will the other two OEMs actually react to that? I haven't seen that at the moment. I think RFK is doing all the things it needs to do to position itself to be successful if that were to happen, particularly in the Ford camp. But at this point we have not seen the level of collaboration at Ford that we see at Toyota, and it creates challenges for the program. And I have not seen from the outside — I'm not inside Chevrolet — the same things there
Brad Keselowski added via nascar.com.Further talking about the point, the 2012 Cup Series champion pointed out that the OEM leader has the burden on their shoulders to pull-off something similar to the TRD crew. He also highlighted how he is working hard behind the scene to prove RFK is performing on a elite level, which enough to make Ford invest in them the same level they do with Team Penske Racing.
In my mind, at least, I think the burden is on the OEMs and the decision-makers at the highest of levels that want their programs to be successful in NASCAR to react accordingly within the rules. And there's means and measures to do that. As it works its way specifically into RFK, I think we've proven our merit. We have three teams that are in a position that I'm proud of.
Brad Keselowski said.The veteran alongside Chris Buscher and Ryan Preece has proved they have what it takes to be championship contending team over the last couple years. With more supports they might deliver much better results in 2027, as the OEM is set to introduce new Mustang for next-season.
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