Toyota Ruffles a Few Feathers, Takes a Seat at the NASCAR Cup Table in 2007

• From a driver standpoint, Toyota pilots have won the NASCAR Cup championship three times since the company came into NASCAR.

• Perhaps the most dominating aspect of Toyota’s entry into NASCAR was in the Truck Series, as it has won the driver’s championship nine times.

• While Toyota has been fully accepted as a respected and competitive manufacturer in the sport these days, it was a much different game back when the company came into the sport more than 15 years ago.

Much like it has done in automobile showrooms around the country, since it first came into NASCAR in 2007, Japanese automaker Toyota has become a tough competitor to its American rivals Chevrolet and Ford on stock car racetracks from Loudon to Fontana.

There’s no question Toyota has become a huge success. From a driver standpoint, Toyota pilots have won the NASCAR Cup championship three times since the company came into NASCAR: 2015 (Kyle Busch), 2017 (Martin Truex Jr.) and 2019 (Kyle Busch). In the Xfinity Series, Toyota drivers have won the championship four times: Kyle Busch (2009), Daniel Suarez (2018), Daniel Hemric (2021) and Ty Gibbs (2022).

And then there’s Toyota’s performance for NASCAR’s Manufacturer Championship. Chevrolet had dominated the Manufacturer’s crown, winning it 14 times in a 15-year span between 2001 and 2015, until Toyota won in 2016 and again in 2017 and 2019. Toyota has also won the Manufacturer’s championship four times in the Xfinity Series (2008, 2009, 2010 and 2016.

But perhaps the most dominating aspect of Toyota’s entry into NASCAR was in the Truck Series, as it has won the driver’s championship nine times: 2006 (Todd Bodine), 2008 (Johnny Benson), 2010 (Todd Bodine), 2013 (Matt Crafton), 2014 (Matt Crafton), 2015 (Erik Jones), 2017 (Christopher Bell), 2018 (Brett Moffitt) and 2021 (Ben Rhodes).

As stout of a record that Toyota has had for drivers in the Truck Series, it’s been even bigger in the Manufacturer’s championship, earning the crown an incredible 13 times since its first foray into NASCAR in 2004.

And now, as late broadcaster Paul Harvey used to say, “here’s the rest of the story”: