GLENDORA, Calif. (Jan. 16, 2012) – NHRA announced today that Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. has expanded its participation in NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing by becoming the title rights sponsor of the event at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J. The 43rd annual Toyota NHRA SuperNationals will be held May 31 through June 3.
“Toyota is proud to expand its NHRA involvement with this title sponsorship initiative,” says Les Unger, Toyota National Motorsports Manager.
In addition to becoming the sponsor of the Englishtown event, Toyota will have an advertising presence in the ESPN2 broadcasts of NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing with commercial inventory, an in-show sponsored feature, and race ticker. Toyota will also increase its national footprint in the sport and expand its on-site display visibility at various races.
“Toyota’s increasing involvement in NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing is a clear indicator of the return on investment at both the league and team level,” said Tom Compton, president, NHRA. “Toyota has a proven track record around sponsorship activation and to have their involvement as an event rights sponsor of one of the most prestigious stops on the NHRA Full Throttle Series is very exciting.”
Toyota’s involvement in NHRA began in 2002 with the arrival of the Celica-bodied Funny Car. The manufacturer’s first win came two years later, in February 2004 at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona. The program has since risen to new heights; in the past three years Toyota-sponsored cars have earned multiple NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series victories in Top Fuel and Funny Car, as well as the NHRA Top Fuel Full Throttle world championships in 2010 and 2011. In 2008, Cruz Pedregon won the NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car world championship in a Toyota Camry Solara.
Currently, Toyota sponsors three Top Fuel teams and three Funny Car teams. Al-Anabi Racing, Don Schumacher Racing, and Morgan Lucas Racing will field Top Fuel dragsters for drivers Khalid alBalooshi, Shawn Langdon, Morgan Lucas, Brandon Bernstein, and Antron Brown. Cruz Pedregon Racing, Tony Pedregon Racing and Kalitta Motorsports participate in the Funny Car class. An all-new 2012 Toyota Camry Funny Car body will feature four drivers including: Cruz Pedregon, Jeff Arend, Tony Pedregon, and 2012 Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award candidate Alexis DeJoria.
