engines – Motor Sports Racing

Editorial credit: Grindstone Media Group / Shutterstock.com As most readers here likely already know, there are three main suppliers of NASCAR cars and components to the sport, namely: Ford, Chevrolet, and Toyota. In this article we want in particular to focus on Toyota and their contributions to the sport, and especially to take a closer look at the engine components they provide. Toyota NASCAR race Cars use the TRD V8 Racing engine. These have an output of 725 horse power and has no catalytic converters fitted. Made with precision laser engineering, they have a displacement of 5.86 litres. The exact specifications are a closely guarded secret within Toyota. While there are many rules that keep the playing field level for all teams involved, there is still an amount of wiggle room that allows each supplier to play to its own strengths and other advantages. In Which NASCAR Events Do Toyota Vehicles Race? Toyota supplies vehicles to all three major NASCAR events, including the Cup Series, the Xfinity Series, and the Camping World Truck Series. Below is a quick rundown of which Toyota vehicles compete in each series: Cup Series: Toyota Camry Xfinity Series: Toyota Supra Truck Series: Toyota Tundra Editorial credit: Grindstone Media Group / Shutterstock.com What Engines Do Toyota Cars Use? Toyota bases its development for its NASCAR engines in southern California, where it currently makes up to 400 engine units for its various NASCAR needs each year. Toyota’s NASCARs are equipped with mighty TRD (Toyota Racing Development) V8 racing engines outputting up to 725 horsepower. All power and output are maximized by the lack of any muffler or catalytic converters, which on regular mass-produced cars cause the exhaust system (and thus power rating) to be slowed significantly. The total displacement of Toyota NASCAR engines is 358 cubic inches (5.86 liters), and it is paired with a 6-speed manual transmission. Toyota and its California-based racing arm TRD are highly secretive about the specifics of their engine creations. This is actually one of the reasons that TRD is based so far away from much of the NASCAR action in places like Charlotte, for example. They feel the more isolated venue is a great way to protect their IP and techniques for giving their cars and trucks an edge in NASCAR events. Toyota manufactures its engines using a process that it calls Blueprinting. This refers to taking exact NASCAR specifications and ensuring that every component is made with laser- and computer-guided precision to meet those specifications. The high-pressure parts like the crankshafts are made to endure every possible tolerance, allowing teams to ensure every engine is perfectly tailored to each race venue. How Many NASCAR Teams Race Toyota Cars? The table below shows which teams in which series race Toyota vehicles: NASCAR SeriesToyota TeamsCup Series23XI Racing; Gaunt Brothers Racing; Joe Gibbs Racing; MBM MotorsportsXfinity SeriesJoe Gibbs Racing, MBM Motorsports, Sam Hunt RacingTruck SeriesClay Greenfield Motorsports; Halmar Friesen Racing; Hattori Racing Enterprises; Kyle Busch Motorsports; G2G Motorsports, ThorSport Racing How Are These Teams Doing? Cup Series The next question that follows is how are these teams doing in their respective series? In the Cup Series, it was Kyle Busch that gave the team their all-important first victory back in 2008 at the Kobalt Tools 500 (Atlanta Motor Speedway). In that same season, Toyota scored a pleasing 10 victories overall, with its top drivers Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch finishing 8th and 10th respectively. The early years running up to 2012 saw many more victories being achieved each season, but Toyota always just fell behind its more established competitors. The biggest year of change in the Cup Series came in 2012 when Toyota merged its engine program with Joe Gibbs Racing. A more consistently performing engine that came about as a result of this partnership saw Toyota achieve its best result in 2013, scoring 14 victories and even coming close to dethroning Chevrolet, which for many years had a seeming chokehold on the manufacturers’ championship title. At the time of writing, Toyota has 2 drivers in the top 5 Cup Series standings, namely Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin who are 3rd and 5th respectively, and with 5,027 and 2,379 points respectively chasing Joey Logano (Ford) with 5,040 points at number 1. Xfinity Series Toyota joined the Xfinity Series back when it was still known as the Busch series, racing Toyota Camrys at first. They scored their first win at the Kroger 200 (O’Reilly Raceway Park) in July 2007. In 2019, Toyota switched the Camry for the sporty but more compact Supra in the Xfinity Series. Since starting, Toyota has been proud to support 3 driver’s championship across NASCAR, namely: Kyle Busch in 2009; Danie Suarez in 2016; and Daniel Hemric in 2021. In the current 2022 season, while Chevrolet is dominating most of the Top 5 spots in Xfinity, there’s one that Toyota is occupying much to their frustration, and that’s the number 1 spot. Sitting atop the Xfinity chart at the time of writing is Ty Gibbs, with 7 wins, 16 top-5 finishes, and 4,040 points under his belt. Truck Series Toyota’s first win in the Truck Series was its earliest and therefore first-ever NASCAR victory. It occurred back in 2004 at the hands of Travis Kvapil. Back then, of course, it wasn’t the Camping World Truck Series, but the Craftsman Truck Series. The race was the Line-X 200 at the Michigan International Speedway, and Kvapil’s Toyota Tundra was appropriately sponsored by Line-X. It didn’t take long for Toyota Tundras to start winning titles, with the first Truck Series title coming in 2006 to Todd Bodine. This was followed by further victories from other drivers in 2008 (Johnny Benson Jr.), 2010 (Todd Bodine), 2013 and 2014 (Matt Crafton), 2015 (Erik Jones), 2017 (Christopher Bell), with Brett Moffitt securing another win for Toyota in 2018, and then Ben Rhodes in 2021. It seems the Toyota Tundra has made quite an impression on the series, even attracting huge high-profile drives from stars like Formula 1 legend Kimi Raikkonen. Editorial credit: Grindstone Media Group / Shutterstock.com Conclusion At the time of writing in the 2022 season, Toyota is dominating the Top 5, but only in the same way that Chevrolet is doing in Xfinity, meaning that Toyota occupies every Top-5 spot except the very top one. With Ford’s Zane Smith taking the number 1 spot, the following 4 spots are all taken up with drivers of the Toyota Tundra. References https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Hemric#Motorsports_career_results https://www.toyota.com/racing/trd/news/archive/trd-engines-behind-the-build https://truespeedcommunication.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020-NASCAR-Cup-Series-Toyota-Camry-Specifications.pdf