1980: Became the title sponsor of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the largest American event on the Champ Car schedule.
1983-85: Hired racing legend Dan Gurney and All American Racers (AAR) to enter Toyota Celicas in the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) "under-three-liters" category. Won 10 races in three seasons.
1986-88: Toyota moved to the "over-three-liter" class with turbocharged Celicas. They had 15 race wins from 1985 to 1988. In 1987, Toyota became the first Japanese nameplate to win the manufacturer's and driver's championships.
1989-93: Toyota/AAR team moved into the IMSA prototype division. The factory-sponsored team had four wins and four qualifying records in 1990. The cars won the 12 Hours of Sebring twice and 24 Hours of Daytona, and both driver's and manufacturer's titles in 1992 and 1993. Toyotas won 17 straight races and won 19 of its last 21 IMSA outings. Toyota also began sponsoring the Toyota Atlantic open-wheel series in 1989.
1996-2002: With Gurney and PPI, Toyota moved to CART. It took until 2000 to score its first victory, followed by four more that season. It won six times in 2001 and finished one-two in the championship in 2002, winning 10 of 19 races.
2003: Moved to the Indy Racing League, powering cars entered by Chip Ganassi, Roger Penske, and A.J. Foyt.
Off-Road1983-94: Partnered with Precision Preparation Inc. (PPI) and owner Cal Wells to build Toyota trucks for desert and stadium off-road events. From 1983 to 1994, Toyota/PPI earned 11 manufacturer's championships and 9 driver's titles with Ivan "Ironman" Stewart and brothers Rod Millen and Steve Millen, and Robby Gordon. Stewart won 27 times and took 7 championships in the SCORE International Off-Road desert series.
1994-2000: Toyota-powered Rod Millen became "King of the Hill" with six Unlimited Class championships in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.
Stock Cars2000: Moved to NASCAR ranks with the V-6-powered Celica in the NASCAR Goody's Dash Series. Driver Robert Huffman was second in the series championship in 2001 and 2002. His win at Kentucky Speedway in 2001 was the first by an overhead-cam, multi-valve engine in NASCAR history.
Drag Racing2002: Toyota entered the first manufacturer-supported Funny Car in NHRA competition, a Toyota Celica driven to a fifth-place overall by Bruce Sarver for Alan Johnson Racing.
Fast FactsToyotaWhat: Toyota to enter NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2004.
Chassis: Based on the Toyota Tundra, now made at Princeton, Indiana.
Engine: Being designed, built, and tested at Toyota Racing Development (TRD) at Costa Mesa, California.
Teams: Toyota wants three, two-truck teams next season.
Upside: Toyota is expected to infuse the series with new cash to develop a front-running race truck.
Downside: Toyota's expected level of competition could hurt some of the lower-budget teams.
Future: If Toyota performs well in the Truck Series, look for the car maker to move to Winston Cup competition as early as the 2006 season.