2019 Toyota Supra Goes Racing In NASCAR Xfinity Series

Confirmed to take on the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2019, the newest interloper of the lot is a spec car built to stock car racing standards that employs a carbureted 5.8-liter V8 and tube-frame chassis instead of a 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-six and a monocoque. The outgoing Camry, meanwhile, will carry on in the flagship Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

The Supra won’t have it easy in the Xfinity Series even though the underpinnings are not that different from the Camry entered in the 2018 season. Since the mid-size sedan got down to business in the Xfinity Series in 2007, the Japanese automaker took no less than 147 wins, four constructor championships, and two driver championships.

Going further back into the past, the Supra saw its fair share of competition in countless series in the 1980s and 1990s. Among the most important, we’re much obliged to highlight the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1995 and 1996, IMSA Camel GT in the U.S., and Super GT in Japan. Based on the GR Racing Concept revealed in Geneva, the automaker will also modify the all-new Supra to GT3 class standards.

“From a marketing perspective, it’s important to have a race car that evokes the dynamism and character of its showroom counterpart,” declared Ed Laukes, group vice president of Toyota Division Marketing. “We’re confident we’ve accomplished that with Supra, and we hope racing fans the world over will proudly cheer its success on track.”

Expected to produce up to 385 PS (380 horsepower), the Supra will enter production towards the end of 2018 for the 2019 model year at Magna Steyr’s plant in Graz, Austria. The series-production model – which bears the codenames A90 and J29 – will make its debut later this week at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.