Toyota is no stranger to motorsports. Both on-road and off, Toyota serves up racing products that compete strongly all over the globe. Here in America, the premier road-racing series has a somewhat unconventional, conventional Toyota entry: the Camry. Toyota has raced a Camry in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and Monster Energy Cup Series (including previously titled race series) for more than a decade. That could change next year because Toyota is reportedly prepping the Supra for battle on America's favorite ovals.
Moving its NASCAR offering to the new, far sportier two-door Supra makes more sense. While NASCAR has enjoyed a number of sedan look-alikes from a handful of manufacturers, it's clear that there's a desire to move toward sportier offerings. Chevrolet now races with its Camaro. Ford will have a Mustang for the 2019 racing season.
Now, Toyota could finally be ready to do the same with the pending arrival of its Supra.
Toyota won't comment on the story, which was first reported by Sports Business Journal (subscription required). We've heard that it's true from sources who can't comment on the story. We see logical reasons for the move.
First, it places the automaker's newest halo vehicle in a premier position for eyeballs and attention. Second, it's a more natural fit against rivals including the Camaro and Mustang. (The new Camry is sportier, but maybe not Mustang-Camaro sporty.) Lastly, it focuses attention on the Supra as a "race on Sunday, drive on Monday" production vehicle.
At this time, we don't know what sort of drivetrain Toyota will stuff into its barely-a-Supra NASCAR racer. You can expect some sort of powerful, naturally aspirated V-8. You can expect it to be backed up by a 4-speed manual, and you can expect it to send tremendous power to the beefy rear axle. Other than that, we'll just have to wait and see (and hear) what Toyota's motorsport team have up its respective sleeve.
