Stock cars

Toyota has been a regular NASCAR participant since 2004. The company has achieved success at the highest levels in auto racing, by winning more than 20 Sprint Cup races to date, and by competing for sprint cup titles during the last two years. Toyota also has claimed four manufactures titles in NASCAR’s truck series and two others in Nationwide.

May 24th 2009 marked the first occasion that we have seen a hybrid vehicle pace an entire NASCAR race, from start to finish. The setting was the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, in Concord, North Carolina. On this day, some 180,000 racing fans made it out to the track to feel the waves of adrenaline rush through their bodies, as the cars blow in an amazing display of speed and power.

The Toyota Camry hybrid pace car itself was built in Georgetown, KY, at the manufacturing facility located there. This 187 hp, 4 cylinder, 16 valve Camry comes standard with a 45 hp electric motor, and gets 33 miles per gallon of gas, on average.

Why did a pace car make headlines prior to the event? Well, consider that we are talking about a sport that just began using unleaded fuel in 2008, and that your typical NASCAR vehicle gets around 4.2 mpg of fuel. At first glance, this venue does not seem to be well suited toward displaying a “green product”, such as hybrid car.

It all comes down to performance, as far as NASCAR is concerned. A pace car executes two main functions on a race tack. First, they assist in starting off the race by bringing vehicles up to their starting speeds. Second the act as safety vehicles during a race, in the event of bad weather, or when collisions occur. Quick acceleration and the ability to handle safely at high speeds are definitely a part of the job description.

Prior to receiving a go ahead from NASCAR, the hybrid Toyota Camry had to demonstrate the ability to go 0-100mph in the ¼ mile distance from the pit road track entrance to the exit at the second turn. The vehicle passed the test. Pretty impressive, considering the fact that the only thing on the car that wasn’t to factory standards was the paint job.