DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Toyota will field the Supra in the Xfinity Series next season.
The manufacturer announced the new model Thursday night at Daytona International Speedway. Toyota will continue to field the Camry, its best-selling sedan, in NASCAR’s premier series as it has since entering Cup in 2007.
The Supra, a two-door coupe recently revived as a production car by Toyota, will provide a sportier look in Xfinity.
“When you talk Toyota and cool cars, Supra is the first thing that comes to mind for many auto enthusiasts,” Ed Laukes, group vice president of Toyota Division Marketing said in a release. “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.”
The race car is a joint effort of Toyota Racing Development and Calty Design Research, a Newport Beach, California-based studio that has worked on production and race cars for Toyota. TRD and Calty also collaborated on the 2018 Camry in Cup, the ’15 model in Xfinity and the Tundra in the Camping World Truck Series.
“We’ve had tremendous success working with Calty to develop race cars that match the look, feel and excitement of their showroom counterparts,” David Wilson, president of TRD, said in a release. “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.”
The Supra was raced in the IMSA Camel GT Series in the 1980s and twice in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the 1990s.
“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,” Toyota driver Kyle Busch said in a release. “Supra is an iconic cool car, and to have it racing in NASCAR to highlight Supra’s return speaks to how important this is.”
