Toyota Racing Development, Toyota’s NASCAR arm says they remain commited to all 3 of NASCARs’ top series for the forseeable future, after withdrawing their F1 team this week.
TRD has been much more successful than its European counterpart Toyota Motorsport in Cologne, after taking 4 Truck Series titles, 2 Nationwide titles plus 20 race victories in the top tier Sprint Cup, compared to the F1 team who failed to even win a race.
Budget cuts have been in order at TRD, but President Lee White says they are still commited to the sport.
“We remain committed to NASCAR racing, and NASCAR remains committed to us and all the manufacturers in fact,” he said.
“I think we’re no more worried today than we have been for a year where we know that we have to be responsible with budgets, we cannot cowboy, and freelance and go off the ranch so to speak. We have to adhere very strictly to our budgets, which are approved, and do our best to provide the best performance on track and gain results for the company.”
He has also praised NASCAR, stating the reason it is more financially viable than Formula One is thanks to the regulations in place.
“I think there’s a message there that should go globally to every motorsports contention around the world,” he said. “It’s not only cost containment based on the current economic challenges that we all face, but just keeping motorsports relevant to fans and looking at green elements, entertainment factors and competition and so on.
“There’s a lot involved with keeping motorsports a sport, but also making it an entertainment that attracts fans. NASCAR’s done a great job on that, they’re doing a great job in leading the way and looking forward and at this point in time we’re very, very pleased with our relationship with them and the direction that they’re taking.”
TRD directly supplies all of its Sprint Cup efforts except Joe Gibbs Racing, who tune their own engines in-house. It also supplies many of its teams with both equipment and finance in all three major NASCAR series.
