NASCAR Toyota Camry

There isn't a performance model in the current US Toyota line-up. No MR2, no Celica, not even a hot hatch.
But Toyota is going racing in the US next year anyway in the most popular US series of all - NASCAR.

Toyota's Nextel Cup car has about as much relevance to its road-going cousins as any other stock car. That is, none.

It uses an ancient-spec 5.9-litre iron block V8 with a carburettor and the chassis layout in strictly controlled by low-tech regulations.

Have no doubt about Toyota's intentions, though: it aims to win, sooner rather than later. After only three years of competing in NASCAR's pick-up truck series, a Toyota Tundra driver is leading the points standings. Toyota's not messing around.

Rednecks may complain about a Japanese brand being allowed to compete in NASCAR against the likes of Dodge and Chevy, but Toyota currently employs around 400,000 people in the States and pumped $25 billion into the US economy in 2004. Doing NASCAR makes good sense.
© Source: original article on topgear