Toyota boss outlines 'dream' driver pathway

Supercars and NASCAR are headline pillars of Toyota’s ambition to create a "university of motorsport,” where GR Cup drivers could one day race Supras in the main game.

Toyota will enter the 2026 Repco Supercars Championship with homologation team Walkinshaw Andretti United and Brad Jones Racing.

Six of the 24 entries on the 2026 grid will be Supras, alongside 10 Ford Mustangs and eight Chevrolet Camaros.

Toyota runs the entertaining and successful one-mark GR Cup and TGRA Scholarship Series, which offer crucial tin top experience for rising stars.

While the two 86 series offer a solid pathway into Supercars, with current champion Will Brown a former champion, Toyota marketing boss Sean Hanley has desire for it to help graduates one day race a Supra Supercar.

It could come to fruition in coming years, with only Andre Heimgartner confirmed in BJR’s four-car Toyota entry for 2026.

“When we talk about the six cars and the two teams that are representing Toyota, that’s six Toyota drivers,” Hanley recently told media in Tasmania.

“Now we know who the WAU [drivers are], and Brad will comment on what he’s doing, but we hope that the opportunity will come in the future [for drivers from] the 86 series to go into those teams.”

Toyota is also a powerhouse in NASCAR, led by Joe Gibbs Racing, 23XI Racing and Legacy Motor Club.

Supercars drivers have made cameos in the Cup Series with the same brand; notably, Brown raced a Chevrolet and Cam Waters a Ford at last June’s Sonoma race.

Hanley wants to see Toyota Supercars drivers secure a similar opportunity.

“A bigger dream — and by no means an announcement today — but it’s a dream that I have, is one day those Supercar drivers, the best of the best, could have a look at our NASCAR team,” Hanley added.

“That’s the university of motorsport. No other brand that I’m aware of can offer that right now, that sort of progression.

“That’s another reason why having six cars is important. It gives people six opportunities to be in the big game.”

The 2025 Repco Supercars Championship will resume in Perth on June 6-8. Tickets on sale now.