Toyota Gazoo Racing North America Expands Motorsports Footprint to NHRA
Toyota Gazoo Racing North America (TGRNA) will represent Toyota in NHRA, Formula DRIFT, and GT4 competitions starting the 2022 season. This initiative aims to enhance Toyota's motorsports presence and showcase the GR family of vehicles. The NHRA season begins on February 20 in Pomona, California, where drivers will unveil the new GR Supra body. TGRNA will also compete in various events with the GR Supra and GR86 models. TGRNA's goal is to improve vehicle performance through racing, ultimately benefiting U.S. customers and fans.
- Launch of TGRNA to enhance Toyota's motorsports involvement.
- Debut of the new GR Supra body at NHRA season opener.
- Focus on performance sports cars, catering to racing enthusiasts.
- None.
PLANO, Texas, Jan. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Toyota NHRA, Formula DRIFT and GT4 series drivers will compete under the Toyota Gazoo Racing North America (TGRNA) banner beginning with the 2022 racing season. TGRNA will serve as the North American arm for Toyota's global motorsports division, Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR).
"The opportunity to introduce TGR North America to the NHRA community in 2022 and continue the support in Formula DRIFT and GT4 competition is a big moment for everyone involved in Toyota's overall motorsports program," said Paul Doleshal, group manager, Motorsports and Assets for Toyota Motor North America. "The ability to showcase the GR family of vehicles on the race track and ultimately be a part of applying racing performance to production vehicles is something that we all strive for through motorsports. Showcasing the capability of our race enthusiast engineers to our new and existing fan base of enthusiasts is the overarching goal of the program."
TGR's focus in motorsports allows Toyota's engineering teams the ability to push vehicles to their limits on the track, ultimately creating better engineers and ever better vehicles. TGRNA will focus on providing U.S. customers with performance sports cars, built by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts, and look to deliver excitement to fans of both cars and motorsports.
For NHRA drivers competing in the Funny Car class, they will debut the new GR Supra body at the season kickoff event in Pomona, California. Those drivers competing in the Top Fuel category will also carry TGRNA colors for all 22 NHRA national events.
Toyota's Formula DRIFT drivers will compete in the GR Supra along with the GR86 for the 2022 season while the GT4 drivers in IMSA and SRO will also field the GR Supra GT4. The GR badge on all these vehicles represents Toyota's dedication to producing exciting, race-inspired vehicles. Only the vehicles that survive the grueling paces of development and track performance have earned the GR badge.
These racing series are the most ideal locations for TGRNA to enter North American motorsports as they are home to some of the most grueling forms of motorsports, coupled with the most passionate fans and participants.
The NHRA season begins on February 20 at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, California. Formula DRIFT will kick off their season in Long Beach, California, on April 2, and the GT4 will take to the track for the IMSA schedule at Daytona International Speedway on January 29 and in SRO competition on February 25 in St. Petersburg, Florida.
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 40 million cars and trucks in North America, where we have 15 manufacturing plants, including our joint venture in Alabama (10 in the U.S.), and directly employ more than 47,000 people (over 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold nearly 2.8 million cars and trucks (nearly 2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2019.
Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society's most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.
Media Contacts:
Sam Mahoney
980-900-8573
samuel.mahoney@toyota.com
Lisa Hughes Kennedy, Golin for Toyota Gazoo Racing, North America
704-902-6476
lhugheskennedy@golin.com
Cody Poor, Golin for Toyota Gazoo Racing, North America
323-578-7159
cpoor@golin.com
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SOURCE Toyota Racing
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