Toyota Building New NASCAR Truck Series Tundra Pickup
Tim Esterdahl | Sep 30, 2013 | Comments 8
When the 2014 Toyota Tundra was announced, most of the focus was on consumer use. It seems Toyota had larger plans including building a new NASCAR pickup for the truck series. Cool or boring?
The 2014 Tundra is being used as a template for a new NASCAR truck series pickup.
A story on RantSports.com says that Toyota is at work in building a new truck body for the Camping World Truck Series. This new truck will be substantially different than the previous model that came out in 2004.
Interestingly when Toyota debuted the truck back then, most analysts scoffed at the idea of a “foreign” pickup doing well in the “American” racing series. As it turns off, that idea was off the mark on all accounts. The Tundra is the most American built truck in North America. Kuala Lumpur And Toyota has “won three Camping World Truck Series championships, five straight manufacturer titles (2006-2010), a NASCAR Nationwide Series championship (Kyle Busch with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2009), three straight manufacturer titles (2008-2010) and plenty of wins in all three major series.” according to RantSports.com.
The plan for the new NASCAR Tundra is a “larger grille, wider fenders, a flatter hood and most importantly, a similarity to the street version truck.”
What do you think? Do you like seeing a Tundra in the truck series or is it a waste of time/money for Toyota?
Filed Under: Auto News
I just can’t get used to a truck being 1″ off the ground. With NASCAR I understand. With people lowering trucks for street use, I really scratch my head.
I worked with a guy who took years blueprinting his own chevy stroker that he hoped to find a 60s camaro to put it in. It was ready and no camaro – so he put it in a reg. Cab S10 he tricked out. Was a rocket till it went sideways on the gas to cause a t-bone with oncoming car.
My point is (unlike the S10 above) trucks have a wide track, long wheelbase, lots of room for rubber and everything else… They are the muscle cars of today with rear drive, solid rear axles and leafs – if you strip a stripper to get weight down and drop it right for low Center of gravity – can make for seious fun. If you can flip a switch to lift to normal height – you would have it all in one package.
Except for big buck vettes/vipers/etc… What approaches GTO bang for buck experience better today than a rodded truck. Suped up Civics don’t do it.
Toyrulz,
Good points! I hadn’t thought of a truck having a similar setup as a muscle car. It does make sense.
-Tim
Just saw it yesterday. Two white CM’s one towing another vehicle while the other was maybe 3 inches off the ground. Toyota has been doing great in the truck series. The new design will look sharp also.
I agree. Also, this shows the confusion with Toyota’s truck marketing. Wasn’t the Tacoma XTreme ditched?
Now, a real TRD Tundra with backward compatible eLocker in the rear and backward compatible limited slip for the front would make much more sense.
LJC,
Yes, the Tacoma X-Runner was discontinued. It looks to me that Toyota is rethinking all their offroad truck packages.
I was going to mention something about advertising in this post that I didn’t. It seems like Toyota’s truck advertising is completely different than the others. While, they are busy putting down their rivals, Toyota is quietly promoting the Tundra as the truck that gets work done. And while, the others are spending tons of money on TV advertising, Toyota is buying advertising at local events and through event sponsorships. Not sure if one approach is better than the other (both have pros and cons), just an interesting observation.
-Tim
Thanks for the inside info Tim.
The bummer about this method is it’s limited to a target audience. It would be informative to see just what they advertise at these local events…hint…hint…
As I mentioned before, Toyota does have a truck heritage, but no one really knows about it, including my son and I, here in the US–overseas is a completely different story, this sums it up: http://www.thehindu.com/todays.....498963.ece
Toyota should spend some effort on sharing with us just what they know about trucks and if there’s a true link between Toyota and Hino.
LJC,
First, yes, if I come across any photos/tips on Toyota advertising, I will share.
Second, Toyota does speak a little to their heritage. I agree though, that they could play it up more. Frankly, I think there marketing efforts are pretty lame so far with this newish truck. Seems like they could have done a lot more about heritage, competitiveness and what they offer.
Anything interesting note about advertising. Watch a Ford, GM or Ram commercial and see if they mention Toyota (hint: they don’t). If the competition doesn’t respect you or your truck, what do you think the majority of consumers think?
-Tim