Toyota: NASCAR’s Next Gen is “biggest change” in 50 years
Toyota Racing president David Wilson believes NASCAR’s Next Gen car is the “biggest change for the NASCAR industry” for over 50 years.

Along with Chevrolet and Ford, Toyota revealed its 2022 Next Gen Cup Series car – now called the TRD Camry – on Wednesday.
It features a standardised chassis, which means teams will no longer fabricate their own cars from scratch – or buy them from others via technical alliances – but purchase the tubular frame chassis direct from NASCAR’s appointed builder, single-spec car-building specialists Dallara.
“Year over year, this is the biggest change for the NASCAR industry, in terms of the car that we race, that we have seen cumulatively for over 50 years,” said Wilson. “This is a complete and total tear-up, save the drivers’ seat, so it’s going to be quite the ride next year.
“From Toyota’s perspective, we’re excited about it – this has been a long time coming.”

Nascar Next Gen Toyota TRD Camry
Photo by: Michael L. Levitt
Wilson explained the previous scenario for its NASCAR Gen-6 car build – where “steel rod tubing goes into one end of Joe Gibbs Racing and racecars come out the other” – will end later this season. Next year, all chassis will be identical and some 30 more single-source companies will supply teams with common components that will require assembly but cannot be modified.
“This new model is a revolutionary change,” he said. “It’s somewhat akin to what IndyCar is today, to use a motorsport-related analogy. It’s a game-changer, no question about that.”
Next Gen is the latest step in NASCAR mandating a reduced number of cars for teams to use per season – teams are currently restricted to 12 active chassis per season, with four alternates allowed to be rotated in. But, in previous years, the number of cars that teams used was basically unlimited.
“NASCAR has instructed a maximum of seven cars per team, that is versus what has been historically unlimited,” added Wilson. “That’s significant, and the savings are more going to be a function of the car being ‘standardised’ – we don’t like to use the word ‘spec’ – but let me put it this way, there’s 30-plus single-source suppliers where teams will be buying most of their car from, and they can’t touch the parts after they purchase them, for the most part.
“What that does for the organisations is that it eliminates the necessity to have very large fabrication and manufacturing operations.”

Nascar Next Gen Toyota TRD Camry
Photo by: Michael L. Levitt
Toyota Racing Development’s executive engineering technical director, Andy Graves, outlined another seismic shift regarding the eradication of asymmetrical bodies – that made previous generations of NASCAR appear to ‘crab’ in a straight line.
“The car is symmetrical, left to right, which we’ve not had in NASCAR since we started testing in windtunnels and realised it was an advantage to skew the back of the car to the right for extra side-force,” said Graves. “This is now mandated, so we’ve been able to put a lot more detail into the sides and rear of the car.
“With the current Gen-6, if you look at the drivers’ side versus the passenger side, the back half of the door and quarter panels are quite a bit different just because of that two-and-a-quarter inches of offset.
“The car has a steering rack that’s very much similar to the production vehicles and 18-inch aluminium wheels which really helps the styling of the car. The attributes that we were able to incorporate is the closest to production Camry that we’ve ever had.”
Wilson also confirmed that engine architecture would be the next long-term project on NASCAR’s cost-saving hit-list, although the current V8s would be retained in the foreseeable future – likely with some form of hybrid power assistance in 2023.
Related video

NASCAR Kansas: Kyle Busch takes first Cup win of 2021
NASCAR’s Next Gen Cup car: What is it and why is it needed?

Latest news
NASCAR bans Chastain Martinsville wall-ride manoeuvre
NASCAR has decided to ban the wall-ride manoeuvre made famous by Ross Chastain at Martinsville that secured him a place in the Championship 4.
Gasly: Mindset for Alpine is "completely different" to Red Bull F1 move
Pierre Gasly says he has a "completely different" mindset for his Alpine Formula 1 move thanks to lessons taken from his failed stint at Red Bull in 2019.
GTD Pro win a “proper send-off” for retiring IMSA stalwart MacNeil
Winning the GTD Pro class at the Daytona 24 Hours was a fitting way for Cooper MacNeil to retire from racing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, says team-mate Jules Gounon.
The all-French F1 partnership that Ocon and Gasly hope to emulate
Alpine’s signing of Pierre Gasly alongside Esteban Ocon revives memories of a famous all-French line-up, albeit in the red of Ferrari, for BEN EDWARDS. Can the former AlphaTauri man's arrival help the French team on its path back to winning ways in a tribute act to the Prancing Horse's title-winning 1983?
The ex-F1 driver taking on NASCAR with a new team
Saddled with uncompetitive Minardi machinery, Tarso Marques didn't manage to score points in his three partial seasons of Formula 1. But now the Brazilian has the chance to show what he can do in NASCAR, and explains the story of his comeback with new Cup Series entrant Team Stange
The early benefits and challenges of NASCAR's Next Gen car
NASCAR’s new stock car generation is encouraging an influx of fresh blood into its top tier. But there are concerns that parts are in short supply as the entire paddock tries to build up stocks at the same time
How Penske's rookie sensation opened NASCAR's new era in style
After holding his nerve and hip-checking his team-mate on the run to the line, Austin Cindric made a perfect start to life as a full-timer in the NASCAR Cup Series by winning the Daytona 500. Here's how the Penske Ford man emerged first across the line in the first points-scoring race for the much-anticipated Next Generation cars
Six key themes to follow in the 2022 NASCAR Cup season
There are plenty of uncertainties ahead of the 2022 NASCAR Cup season as an all-new fleet of cars take to the track for the first time. Ahead of this weekend's Daytona 500, our experts explain what you need to know
How NASCAR had to learn a harsh lesson ahead of its Next Gen arrival
The NASCAR Cup kicks off with the Daytona 500 this weekend, but a major overhaul and a subsequent mountain of work has been required to be ready for the arrival of the Next Gen cars
How Larson took the long way round to NASCAR Cup glory
From villain to hero, Kyle Larson’s journey to the 2021 NASCAR Cup title comes straight from the Hollywood blockbuster scripts. While Larson had to reach his lifelong goal the hard way and go through a very public shaming after a ban for using a racial slur, his talents shone long before his name grabbed the headlines for both the right and the wrong reasons
How NASCAR is gearing up for its "biggest change" in 2022
It’s not just Formula 1 that’s set for upheaval in 2022, as the NASCAR Cup Series adopts its Next Gen cars that will cast any in-built advantages aside and require teams to adopt a totally new way of operating. Far more than just a change of machinery, the new cars amount to a shift in NASCAR's core philosophy
Why Bubba Wallace’s Talladega win is such a big moment for NASCAR
Bubba Wallace claimed his maiden NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega on Monday to become the first Black victor in the category since Wendell Scott in 1963. Both Wallace and Scott had faced obstacles and racism in their paths to their breakthrough wins, and NASCAR is trying to put it right with its range of diversity programmes
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.