Toyota Camry Hybrid Ready To Make NASCAR History

TORRANCE, Calif. (April 21, 2009) -- When a Toyota Camry Hybrid leads the 43-car starting field to the green flag for the 50th running of the Coca-Cola 600 (Fox, 5:00 p.m., ET) at Lowe’s Motor Speedway (LMS), it will mark the first time in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) history a hybrid vehicle will serve as the ‘official’ pace car for an entire race.

The Camry Hybrid will make its pace car debut on Sunday, May 24, at the Concord, N.C., track. “Toyota is the leading seller of hybrids in the U.S. with more than a million on the road, so it’s appropriate the Camry Hybrid is the first to pace a NASCAR race from start to finish,” said Ed Laukes, corporate motorsports marketing manager, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. (TMS). “It’s a tribute to the torque and other performance characteristics of the Camry Hybrid that allows it to meet NASCAR’s requirements for pacing the longest race of the season.”

Built at the Toyota manufacturing facility in Georgetown, Ky., the Toyota Camry Hybrid is a 187- horsepower, 2.4-liter four-cylinder vehicle that gets an EPA estimated combined average of 33 miles per gallon. Before being approved to serve as the pace car for the upcoming May race the Camry Hybrid had to pass a NASCAR-mandated performance test.

In order to qualify as a pace car for the race at LMS, a vehicle is required to reach speeds close to 100 miles per hour from a stand-by position near the exit of pit road to the time it reaches the exit of turn two, a distance of approximately one-quarter-mile.

In conjunction with Lowe’s Motor Speedway and Coca-Cola, the fan who finds the one ‘golden can’ in specially-marked, 50th anniversary 12-packs of Coca-Cola sold throughout the southeast, or is selected in a sweepstakes drawing, will win the actual Camry Hybrid pace car. In addition to the May Coca-Cola 600 and the October 17 race at LMS, the Toyota Camry Hybrid will serve as the ‘official’ pace car at Infineon Raceway (June 21), Chicagoland Speedway (July 11), Watkins Glen International (Aug. 9) and Martinsville Speedway (Oct. 25). Toyota has been a participant in the upper levels of NASCAR since 2004 when the manufacturer joined the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) with the Tundra. In 2007, Toyota expanded its presence in the sport by fielding Camrys in both the Sprint Cup Series and the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS).

Since its debut in the sport, Toyota has won four manufacturer’s championships -- three-straight NCWTS titles from 2006 to 2008, and the 2008 title in the NNS. In addition, Toyota drivers have won two NCWTS driver’s championships -- Todd Bodine in 2006 and Johnny Benson in 2008 – along with the 2008 NNS owner’s title with Joe Gibbs Racing. In 2009, Toyota drivers have combined for seven wins, 26 top-five finishes and 50 top-10 results across NASCAR’s three premier series.

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc. is the marketing, sales, distribution and customer service arm of Toyota, Lexus and Scion. Established in 1957, TMS markets products and services through a network of more than 1,400 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealers. Toyota directly employs more than 34,000 people in the U.S. and sold more than 2.2 million vehicles in 2008. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyota.com, www.lexus.com, www.scion.com or www.toyotanewsroom.com.