CUP: Toyota Sticking With Camry

Sprint Cup

CUP: Toyota Sticking With Camry

Toyota has raced the Camry in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series since 2007...

Tom Jensen | Posted October 20, 2010 Charlotte, NC

The No. 13 Toyota Camry fielded by Germain Racing goes through inspection at Bristol Motor Speedway in August 2009. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

While Ford and Chevrolet are contemplating eventually running their iconic Mustang and Camaro pony-car models in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Toyota is planning to stay the course with its popular Camry.

NASCAR will roll out its next-generation Sprint Cup cars in 2013 or ’14 if the current schedule holds, and Ford is hoping to race the Mustang in the Cup series when that happens. Chevrolet, in turn, could race the Camaro.

Toyota, meanwhile, exited the high-performance coupe market when it discontinued manufacturing the Supra in 2002 and the Celica in 2006.

“At this point in time, we don’t build anything like that,” said Lee White, who as president of TRD, U.S.A. oversees Toyota’s racing operations in the United States. “The Supra was the last sports car we built, and the Celica. We do not have that in our lineup now. So for the foreseeable future, it will be the Camry.”

That doesn’t mean Toyota is standing pat. There will be changes to the Camry Cup car in the next few years, according to White.

“There’s a slightly revised front lower coming in ’11 and we, I think, along with Chevrolet, are both looking at a front upper for probably 2012,” White said. “And then as the series moves forward with a complete revision of the COT in 2013 or ’14, I’m pretty confident we’ll still be using the Camry.”

With Toyota, as with the three other automakers competing in NASCAR, “brand identity” continues to be the major buzz phrase these days, as the manufacturers are putting increased emphasis on making NASCAR race cars look more like the cars they actually sell to consumers.

Lee White was named president and general manager of Toyota Racing Development in June 2008. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

“I think it’s a priority for all the manufacturers, frankly, because everyone’s got to gain some return on investment for what we put into the sport to help us sell cars,” said White. “These have kind of been tough times for the automotive industry, in general, for everyone involved.”

That, in turn, puts pressure at the corporate level on racing budgets.

“Obviously, you want to be able to go back to your management and show them the numbers and show that you’re really having an impact on sales,” said White. “We’ve been able to do that with both the previous car and the Camry version of the Car of Tomorrow. We’re pretty excited about the steps that we’re taking with the new Nationwide car, and hopefully that look will kind of filter on down to the Cup car over the next couple of years.”

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.

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Tom Jensen

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