Toyota Supra gets back to American racing in NASCAR Xfinity Series

Beginning in 2019, the globally-recognised iconic sports car will prove its championship mettle in the hotly contested NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS). It will make its on-track debut in the NXS race at Daytona.

The Supra previously raced in both America and Japan, where it was a dominant force in the 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.

"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 the Supra, and we hope racing fans the world over will proudly cheer its success on track."

Toyota worked with its subsidiaries, Toyota Racing Development (TRD) in Costa Mesa, California, and Calty Design Research in Newport Beach, California, to develop a Supra for NASCAR competition. The two teams applied key learnings from their prior collaborative efforts in NASCAR, which included the 2018 Toyota Camry that clinched the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship.

To build the Supra for NASCAR, TRD and Calty scaled the car to fit within NASCAR's specifications for race vehicle entries in the NXS.

"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."

Reflecting Toyota's commitment to motorsports in America, the manufacturer now showcases six models across eight series in America. Toyota Racing Development's lineup includes the Camry, Supra, and Tundra in the NASCAR national series, Camry in the NHRA Funny Car competition, Camry in the ARCA Racing Series and regional touring series, 86 and Corolla Hatchback in Formula Drift, as well as engines for dirt midget racing and other series.

Toyota Motor North America will release more information about Supra in the future.