Manufacturer begins its second decade in NASCAR with a new look
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CONCORD, N.C. — After two years of competing with NASCAR’s Gen-6 cars in the Sprint Cup Series, Toyota will be the first manufacturer to debut an updated version of its entry, unveiling the 2015 Camry race car here at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon.
Just as the 2013 models unveiled by Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota more closely resembled vehicles sold on the showroom floor than their predecessors, the 2015 Camry that will be on the race track remains true to its production counterpart. In some ways, the similarities between the two vehicles are even more pronounced.
"Definitely the 2015 Camry race car has benefited from a cosmetic standpoint from the stance that the 2015 production Camry is perfect — the front end, the aggressive, wide-mouth look is just perfect for this race car," said Andy Graves, vice president of chassis engineering & Toyota NASCAR program manager, TRD USA.
"Because of that, it really makes it look another level of detail closer to the production car. As soon as we saw the photos from Toyota and Calty (Design Group) of what the ’15 production car was going to look like, we were ecstatic because we knew it was really going to look great on the race track."
Will it race as well as it looks?
"Absolutely," Graves said.
"And that’s the thing, because obviously we need it to look like a 2015 Camry, but we’re competition guys," said Dave Wilson, president and general manager, Toyota Racing Development, USA, said. "We need it to race well.
"…Andy and Calty set about to stay within that box but absolutely walk the tightrope in terms of making sure it had the most optimal characteristics aerodynamically, etc., so that we’re not leaving anything on the table. And we felt like we achieved that and we believe that it’s going to race just fine."
"That box" is the range of aerodynamic numbers determined by NASCAR, aimed at keeping a single manufacturer from gaining an advantage.
NASCAR and the automakers’ original commitment to bring more of a production look back into the race cars remains in place. Wilson describes it as "a remarkable collaboration" that’s been ongoing since work on the Gen-6 program first began.
"But in the car business, every couple of years — everyone’s on their own cycle — but you have to evolve the products in the showroom to remain competitive," he said.
Graves, a former crew chief in NASCAR’s premier series, said updates to the Camry had been on TRD’s "radar screen" for two years. "And we’ve been flat-out working on it every single day for the last 18 months.
"It’s a balancing act …we’re trying to keep as much character as we can in the Gen-6 platform but also we want to try to eke out every bit of performance within the parameters that the OEM group has given ourselves and which we are working in. And NASCAR polices that.
"We’ve looked at some CFD simulations to really make sure that we’re trying to capture everything that we can, not just from the standpoint that the car will run good by itself, but also runs good in traffic. We’ve tried to understand that …and tweak the design based on those parameters."
With NASCAR banning individual team testing beginning next season, Toyota officials and teams will be busy shaking down the new entry in the coming weeks. Wilson and Graves said tests are currently scheduled for Phoenix, Auto Club Speedway and Charlotte in the coming weeks.
"We’ll certainly try and squeeze in whatever we can," Wilson said. "But it’s a different world today. With the tools we have …we’re not walking off a ledge here. We’re comfortable and confident that our Camry will be competitive."
Joe Gibbs Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing field Toyota entries for five Sprint Cup teams. That number will grow to six next season when JGR expands to a four-car outfit with Carl Edwards joining current drivers Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth. MWR’s stable currently consists of drivers Clint Bowyer and Brian Vickers.
Since the Gen-6 cars debuted in 2013, Toyota teams have won 16 points-paying races, as well as three Daytona 500 qualifying races, the Sprint Unlimited and the Sprint Showdown.
A redesigned Camry will also be used in NASCAR’s XFINITY Series beginning next year.
"We are thrilled to finally be able to finally show off our new 2015 Camry race car — becoming the first manufacturer to update the Gen-6 model," said Ed Laukes, vice president of marketing, performance and guest experience for Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. Inc., said.
"We anticipate that fans will appreciate the development behind this bold Camry design, both on the race track and the showroom floor."
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