DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Toyota continues to move forward with their competition in NASCAR as the manufacturer will bring the Toyota Supra to the forefront in the NASCAR Xfinity Series beginning with the 2019 season.
The Toyota Supra, the globally-recognized iconic sports car will make its on-track debut in season-opening Xfinity Series race at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway on Sat., Feb. 16, 2019.
Toyota worked with its subsidiaries, TRD, USA (Toyota Racing Development) in Costa, Mesa. Calif. and Calty Design Research Inc. in Newport Beach, Calif. to develop the Supra for NASCAR competition.
Combined, the two organizations applied key learning from their prior collaboratives efforts in NASCAR, which included the 2018 Toyota Camry – which clinched the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship with Martin Truex Jr. and Furniture Row Racing.
“When you talk Toyota and cool cars, Supra is the first thing that comes to mind for many auto enthusiasts,” said Ed Laukes, group vice president of Toyota Division Marketing. “Supra’s return in production form is huge news, but now we’re also going to see this iconic sports car return to American motorsport.
“From a marketing perspective, it’s important to have a race car that evokes the dynamism and character of its showroom counterpart. We’re confident we’ve accomplished that with Supra, and we hope racing fans the world over will proudly cheer its success on track.”
To build the Supra for NASCAR, TRD and Calty scaled the popular model to fit within NASCAR’s specifications for race vehicles entries in the Xfinity Series.
Supra previously raced in both America and Japan, where it was a dominant force in Super GT competition and a contender in the IMSA Camel GT Series in the 1980s.
It also made two appearances in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France in the 1990s.
“We’ve had tremendous success working with Calty to develop race cars that match the look, feel and excitement of their showroom counterparts,” said David Wilson, president of TRD. “We’re confident Calty and TRD have developed another race car, Supra, that is capable of winning races and championships.
“For Supra to be racing in NASCAR just speaks to how important this vehicle is to us, and that we believe Supra can be a bona fide championship winner.”
Toyota has fielded the Camry in Xfinity Series competition since 2007, tallying four manufacturer championship, while Camry earned two driver championships and 142 wins entering Friday night’s Coca-Cola Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway.
The 2019 season marks the year Toyota will field a different model in all three of NASCAR’s national series – The Toyota Camry will compete in Cup, Supra in Xfinity and the Tundra in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
Kyle Busch, the 2015 Cup Series champion was on-hand for the unveiling Thursday evening at Daytona.
“When Ed (Laukes) told me they were bringing Supra back, I almost didn’t believe him. I figured he was messing with me, but Toyota did it and this is a big deal for the NASCAR Xfinity Series,” said Busch, who won the 2009 NXS championship in Camry.
“Supra is an iconic cool car, and to have it racing in NASCAR to highlight Supra’s return speaks to how important this is. I’m hoping to be the first guy to get Supra to victory lane, but I’m sure there’s a few other Toyota drivers thinking the same thing.”
Christopher Bell, the reigning Truck Series champion and a current mainstay at Joe Gibbs Racing in Xfinity Series joined Busch for the announcement. Bell, a two-time Xfinity Series is expected to return to the series’ full-time in 2019.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
