The Toyota Racing Development teams in the NASCAR Cup Series had a solid season till the finale in 2023. Five of their six drivers made it into the playoffs, with veteran Martin Truex Jr. winning the regular season championship. Despite the veteran’s disappointment in the later stages of the playoffs, Christopher Bell made it to the season finale only to exit early due to a brake failure.
Going into the 2024 season, the TRD team’s primary objective is to continue the dominance with two more cars added to the line-up following Legacy MC’s signing. Toyota Racing Development’s president, David Wilson, while talking about his expectations for 2024, pointed out that it would be disappointing if at least four of the drivers don’t make it to playoffs.
He expects Ty Gibbs, who won last year’s Cup Rookie of the Season award, to win his maiden race in 2024 as well and make it to the playoffs. The 2022 Xfinity series champion had a solid debut season that saw him scoring 10 top-10s and if not for multiple finishes outside the top-30 due to errors, he would have made it to the playoffs on points.
Four cars in the playoffs, two cars all the way to Phoenix. Anything less will be disappointing. We have a lot of confidence that Ty Gibbs is coming into his own. He demonstrated that last year. We think he's going to win this year. David Wilson told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
David Wilson details his expectations for Denny Hamlin in 2024
Wilson is also confident that Denny Hamlin will continue his dominant performance and get over the 2023 disappointment to once again chase the elusive Cup title. Hamlin was one of the best drivers last year, and if not for the disappointing R-8, he would have been the main contender in the finale.
Hamlin’s success was not only limited to the track; as the co-owner of 23XI Racing, he was able to help both his drivers, Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick, to make it to the playoffs. He proved to Toyota that he was an invaluable asset for them.
And you know Denny, what's going on his 18th season. I believe probably the biggest disappointment last year when you look at the playoffs was Denny not being able to race in Phoenix with as good of a year as he had. Again, Denny has proven to all of us that being a team owner wasn't going to take away from his talent and his capability behind the wheel. I think he's done some things in the offseason to help stabilize.
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