After 35 years, the ever-humble David Wilson is vacating his role as Toyota Racing Development President.
From a macro view of motorsports, Wilson’s accomplishments are many. But his contributions for steering the ship in NASCAR have been tremendous.
And while Wilson will be remembered for bringing the first international auto manufacturer to stock car’s greatest arena in 2007, the gift that keeps on giving is TRD’s masterful development of driver talent.
“The perspective that we held when we came into the sport was that, since manufacturers don’t own race teams, that falls outside of our area of responsibility—driver development should always be a team thing,” Wilson said. “They raised the example of Jeff Gordon starting at Ford and then driver after driver.
“What I came to appreciate is that if somebody is not out there putting opportunities in front of some of these young drivers, they won’t ever have those opportunities, because they come from very different backgrounds and their families have very different means.”
Toyota claims a long list of proteges who have evolved into contenders at every level of NASCAR. Partly thanks to now-defunct Kyle Busch Motorsports, Toyota graduated Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones, William Byron, Daniel Suarez, Noah Gragson, Todd Gilliland, John Hunter Nemechek, Harrison Burton and Wilson’s “poster child,” Christopher Bell, into the Cup Series.
The top two contenders for the Craftsman Truck Series title — Christian Eckes and Corey Heim — each grew in their apprenticeships at KBM. And Chandler Smith spent three seasons with KBM before landing his current ride with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Xfinity program, the penultimate rung before Cup.
JGR also hosted Joey Logano, Aric Almirola, Ty Gibbs, Nemechek, Suarez and Jones in Xfinity rides en route to NASCAR’s top division.
Before trying their hands at trucks and/or stock cars, several drivers—including Bell, Kyle Larson and Rico Abreu, cultivated their talent under the direction of Keith Kunz Motorsports’ USAC midget operation which Wilson’s replacement, Tyler Gibbs, TRD GM, was instrumental in developing as part of Toyota’s extensive farm system.
“To give credit where it is due, the vision for all of this came from one Tyler Gibbs, who approached me years ago and said, ‘Dave, I have this idea,’” Wilson said. “I let him run with it and I’m so glad I did.
“I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
While Larson left Toyota in 2012 for other opportunities in NASCAR with Chevrolet and Abreu elected to remain in open-wheel racing, Bell blossomed beyond expectations. Since joining Joe Gibbs Racing full-time in 2021, not only has Bell qualified for the Playoffs, he has advanced to the Championship 4 round the past two seasons.
“Christopher Bell is somebody that we’ve talked a lot about over the years—he’s the poster child,” Wilson said. “Christopher was on a trajectory to probably be a career journeymen sprint car driver, midget driver—and would have enjoyed that living.
“But to have him driving at the highest level of U.S. motorsport, it just fills me with so much pride.”
Wilson admits the system isn’t perfect. There have been risks and a few pitfalls. If there is one flaw in Wilson’s grand plan, it’s that Toyota does not have enough seats for the talent the car maker cultivates.
“The impetus—just to be clear—was to form our own farm team,” Wilson says of TRD’s driver development program. “It was very selfish, if you will, right? But the byproduct of that is we will never be able to keep all of those drivers in our camp. Even if they go drive somewhere else, the sport benefits.
“Without a doubt, there is an altruistic component of that activity. And there’s nothing I love more than walking down that grid on a Sunday afternoon and be able to acknowledge, high-five, hug it out with easily three-quarters if not more of the drivers, because at some point along the way they have driven a Toyota and they have appreciated and respected that relationship.”
Bell certainly falls into that category. The 29-year-old Norman, Oklahoma, native is currently sixth in the NASCAR Cup standings. On Sunday, he set a new personal best of 720 laps led in the season with 13 races remaining. Bell has also matched his career-high three wins in a year.
Where would Bell be without Wilson in his life?
“Did you hack his phone before this conversation,” Bell says with a grin. “Because that’s literally what I texted him that my life would look a whole lot different if it wasn’t for him. Ultimately, he’s the reason why I’m here. Before him being in that president role, the TRD group didn’t have a driver development program, and he was the one that gave it the green light and frankly, I was the first one that got the green light for it.
“I am just incredibly indebted to him for the lifestyle he’s given me. I’m grateful to him. Everything I’ve done in my NASCAR career is due to the fact of the TRD driver development program and what he gave Tyler Gibbs and Jack Irving (Toyota senior manager, commercial development) the power to do. So it’s pretty emotional and special to me.”
And long after Wilson begins his next chapter, his legacy will be felt on NASCAR’s top tours.
“It’s awe-inspiring when you think about how you can impact somebody’s life and the opportunities you present them,” Wilson said.
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
