Bubba Wallace Admits the 2026 NASCAR Championship is ‘Toyota’s Loss’

The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series has seen a Toyota driver leading the championship till last week at Bristol Motor Speedway when Kyle Larson took the P1 position from Denny Hamlin with just a one-point lead. With seven races left in the season, now the pressure is on Joe Gibbs Racing and 23XI Racing drivers to get beck in the championship chase.

The upcoming three races will be key to that according to Bubba Wallace, the No:23 Toyota driver currently P10 in the table. Starting from Kansas this Sunday NASCAR is set to race in three 1.5 miles track, where TRD cars have been unbeatable this season. The drivers that make a difference these weeks will be real contenders.

I think the next three races is a good indicator of who your champion will be. I think this goes back to being in our wheelhouse for the next month.

Bubba Wallace said ahead of the Kansas race.

Later Bubba Wallace admitted that considering how the season so far has played out for them the 2026 championship is Toyota’s to lose. They haven’t won single Bill France Cup since Kyle Busch in 2019, as they often failed on the last stage. It would be a shame if the same happen to them this year, with the likes of Denny Hamlin, Ty Gibbs, Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick on flying form.

I think it’s Toyota’s championship to lose. I think just going off of how many races that we’ve won as a Toyota organization this year, it would be a shame (if) we didn’t seal the deal.

Bubba Wallace added as reported by Autoweek.com.

Further talking about the point, Wallace admitted that the Toyota needs to push the limits with their cars development to dominate the 2026 season. If they can find the success formula for the coming three weeks, they could easily extend the gap to the Ford and Chevy’s in the chase.

We (Toyota teams) are all itching to get back to mile-and-a-half tracks. Our Toyotas have been dominant there, so I think we pick up right where we left off…. We continue to push for more, so I don’t expect to see a different change of scenery. It’s the later part of the Chase, so this is where you get some separation and you start to see the standings kind of settle out to where they’re at.

Bubba Wallace asserted.

Bubba Wallace explains how he can flip the championship script at Kansas

In a separate conversation the TRD driver also talked about how he can become part of the championship chasing pack, starting from Kansas where no team have performed better than 23XI in the Next-Gen era. He thinks if he can win this Sunday, earning 50-60 points, he could be part of the championship conversation.

I think for us it’s winning. Winning Sunday ultimately flips the script for all of us, gets us on the right track to back up that quote. Yeah, I mean from 14th to 10th is a run. It’s not generational, but I think there’s obviously a couple spots in front of us that are easy to grab, and yeah, we’ve just got to keep pressing forward. But a win at Kansas, a solid 50- to 60-point day at Kansas will also start that trend.

Bubba Wallace said.

Winning the race and maximizing on points won’t be easy for the racer, with his fellow TRD drivers being his biggest competition. It would be interesting to see who is going to come out this week as the championship table leader and the title front runner.

Also Read: “I Lost a Championship!” Joey Logano Urges Carson Hocevar to Reign His Aggression If He Ever Wants to Win a Title