One of the top sports car racers in the world will make his NASCAR debut when Kamui Kobayashi drives for Toyota on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in August.
FILE - The Toyota Gazoo Racing's winner drivers Mike Conway of Britain, Kamui Kobayashi of Japan and Jose Maria Lopez of Argentina, and the second placed drivers Sebastien Buemi of Switzerland, Kazuki Nakajima of Japan and Brendon Hartley of New Zeland celebrate on the podium of the 24-hour Le Mans endurance race in Le Mans, France, on Aug. 22, 2021.
Toyota Gazoo, after all, has won Le Mans the last five consecutive years and Kobayashi, part of the 2021 winning effort, is team principal of the two-car organization that will try to make it six straight wins in the most prestigious endurance event in the world. “We've been working on this assignment actually for a couple of years and Kamui has become a friend and we understood it was his dream one day to race in NASCAR,” said David Wilson, president of TRD, U.S.A. “With this great new Next Gen Toyota Camry TRD, the stars and planets started to align themselves and the next question became: Where should we announce this?
“It's my dream, actually,” Kobayashi told The Associated Press."It's such a big sport in the United States and racing in Europe, I never had the chance or opportunity to race NASCAR. I think the opportunity will be challenging for myself because it is such a different category. Toyota trails only Bentley, Jaguar, Ferrari, Audi and Porsche for most wins at Le Mans. Porsche holds the record with 19 victories.
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