NASCAR Tundra TRD PRO

Not sure what to make of this

https://youtu.be/R7Jhr6cNsDQ

 

Gotta say, the video makes the new truck look better than any of the still photos I've seen of it. Even if it IS white. Kyle better change that color if he wants to win any races!

 

Single cab confirmed...

 

So
Looks like custom body (single cab not available) on a custom frame.
Twin turbo V6? I doubt it.

Steve

 

And still.............a face only a mother could love.

 

There's not a single Toyota part on that, it's a racecar.

 

The pace truck for the Camping World Truck Series race last night was a 2022 Tundra. Looked to be orange in color. Yep, may be awhile for that front to grow on ya!!

 

Kyle or the truck? Never mind, I answered my own question.

 

It looks cool, considering it's a NASCAR truck series vehicle. It's also probably the exact same vehicle they ran last year in that series, just with a new body. I'll admit I don't pay as much attention to NASCAR as I used to, but unless they've made some real serious changes, it's also the exact same V8 under the hood. That said, I was always under the impression Toyota had to have a production V8 to run in NASCAR. Aside from the Sequoia, they no longer do in any of their vehicles. How does that work going forward? Does NASCAR just say "Screw it, you can make the engine a 'one-off' to run in our series"?

 

Lexus is using a 5L V8 and a 4L TTV8 in some of their upcoming models.

 

Yeah. Thing is, I'm pretty sure they'd have to switch to Lexus branding in NASCAR if that's the case. Maybe I'm wrong.

 

Good point. I'm not familiar with the rules.

 

Kyle

 

Then it's neither a Toyota nor a Tundra.

Steve

 

Correct, it’s a race car with a truck shaped body over the tube frame.

This has zero in common with a production truck aside from having an engine and 4 wheels.

 

New Hampshire Speedway still had a 21 today

 

Ok. Thanks for that. I don't follow car or truck racing, so I didn't realize it was normal for race cars to represent themselves as something they're not.

Steve

 

Pppppffffttttt, put it up against a 5.7 with a blower....lose every time!!!!

 

Well. . .it is white. . So it's gotta be fast!

 

Depends on the governing/organization body rules for the race series in question.

Some of them have different classes within the same race, for example the various governing bodies for international endurance racing have classes for production based cars that actually have to run a production based chassis, body, and engine architecture. The GT3 class would be a good example, where you will see Porsche 911’s, Corvettes, Ferraris, Aston Martins etc in GT3 spec race car form competing. Usually these cars must meet rules specifically laying out how many examples of the race car must be sold in road going form to be eligible for competition.

Then in the same race you will see cars from the same manufacturers campaigning in LMP1 or LMP2 that are prototype race cars that bear no resemblance to any road car available for sale.

At the other end of the spectrum you have governing bodies like NASCAR that started out demanding basically production cars modified into race cars, but that today demand a spec template down to the body and construction of the car, as well as the engine. These have no functional resemblance to the cars or trucks they represent. Tube frames, 4 speed manual transmissions, and 358cui cam in block V8’s with a tight spec sheet of allowable variances on every dimension of a given engine design. The bodies are all identical the only difference being the decoration of the bodies to make them cosmetically resemble the car or truck they’re “pretending” to represent.

You can see the same thing with Trophy Trucks. BJ Baldwin’s Tundra has probably not one single part in common with a stock Tundra. It’s a tube frame off road race car with a mid engine, and a carbon fiber body that sort of looks like a Tundra.

 

Thanks again for the extra detail. Based on your description, NASCAR has removed all the variables (or tried to) except the driver.

Steve

 

Exactly. Which is one reason there is a lot of cheating in NASCAR at least historically there has been. Other tightly regulated motorsports also have teams that have very very creative interpretations of the rules in order to achieve a competitive advantage.