INDIANAPOLIS (Aug. 5, 2024) – NHRA and Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) officials announced today that Toyota has been named the title sponsor of the world’s biggest drag race, the 70th annual Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
The 70th anniversary of The Big Go takes place on Aug. 28-Sept. 2 in Indianapolis, with the Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals marking the final race of the regular season during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series campaign. The 14th of 20 races this year is on drag racing’s grandest stage, as the 70th annual Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals represents the pinnacle in the sport.
For seven decades, winning in Indy has been the ultimate in drag racing and this year’s 70th annual Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals promises to be one of the biggest in the illustrious history of The Big Go.
Toyota has been a longtime partner with NHRA, becoming the “Official Car of NHRA” in 2014 and Toyota also has a strong partnership with several standout nitro teams, including reigning and back-to-back U.S. Nationals champions Antron Brown (Top Fuel) and Ron Capps (Funny Car), as well as reigning Top Fuel world champ and current points leader Doug Kalitta, Shawn Langdon, J.R. Todd, Billy and Steve Torrence, Justin Ashley and Alexis DeJoria.
“Toyota has been a proud partner of the NHRA for over a decade, and we are thrilled to grow that partnership with the naming rights to the 70th annual running of the U.S. Nationals,” said Paul Doleshal, group manager, motorsports, TMNA. “This is an iconic race weekend, full of incredible tradition, and everyone at Toyota looks forward to amplifying that with our activation plans. We have been fortunate to win the U.S. Nationals in both Top Fuel and Funny Car the last two seasons, and we hope to be celebrating with one of our talented drivers in the winner’s circle with the Toyota U.S. Nationals Wally in a few short weeks.”
Toyota-supported teams have more than 200 victories in NHRA competition, including 12 in 2024.
Last year, Brown (Top Fuel), Capps (Funny Car), Matt Hartford (Pro Stock), and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) all won at The Big Go, with Brown, Capps and Smith winning at Indy for the second straight year. This year’s race will again be broadcast on FOX and FS1, including live eliminations at 2 p.m. ET on FOX on Monday, Sept. 2.
“Toyota has been a wonderful partner with the NHRA and we’re thrilled to now have them as the title sponsor for the biggest race in our sport, the 70th annual Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals,” said Brad Gerber, NHRA Vice President and Chief Development Officer. “Their commitment to NHRA drag racing and the race teams has been incredible and we’re proud to celebrate 70 years of The Big Go this year with Toyota, our racers, partners and all of our amazing fans.”
The 70th annual Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals will also feature the final Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge of the year and the Pep Boys Funny Car All-Star Callout, as well as the special Sox & Martin Hemi Challenge presented by the McCandless Collection and racing in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by LearnEV+, NHRA Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown™ and NHRA Holley EFI Factory X.
Top Fuel’s Tony Schumacher has an amazing 10 victories at The Big Go, the most of any driver in NHRA history, while John Force’s five Funny Car wins are tied for the most in class history. Greg Anderson’s 100th career win in 2022 gave the five-time champ seven overall wins in Pro Stock at the world’s biggest drag race, while Brown has five career wins across two classes at the U.S. Nationals.
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series qualifying will feature one round at 6:45 p.m. ET on Friday, Aug. 30, two rounds at 12 and 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Aug. 31 and the final two rounds of qualifying on Sunday, Sept. 1 at 12 and 3:00 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 10:00 a.m. ET on Monday, Sept 2.
The first round of the Pep Boys Funny Car All-Star Callout takes place at 1:05 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 1, with the semifinals at 2:40 p.m. and the final round at 4:30 p.m. A special broadcast of the Callout takes place on FOX at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Television coverage includes qualifying action on FS1 at 1 p.m. ET and 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, and eliminations beginning at 12 p.m. on FS1 on Sunday, shifting to FOX at 2 p.m.
To purchase tickets to the 70th annual Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals, fans can visit www.NHRA.com/tickets. All children 12 and under will be admitted free in the general admission area with a paid adult. For more information on Toyota, please visit www.toyota.com.
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM), creator of the Prius hybrid and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota and Lexus brands, and directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America (more than 49,000 in the U.S.).
Over the past 65 years, Toyota has assembled nearly 47 million cars and trucks in North America at the company’s 12 manufacturing plants. By 2025, the company’s 13th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.
Through our more than 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.), Toyota sold more than 2.6 million cars and trucks (more than 2.2 million in the U.S.) in 2023, of which more than one quarter were electrified vehicles (full battery, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell).
About Mission Foods
MISSION®, owned by GRUMA, S.A.B. de C.V., is the world’s leading brand for tortillas and wraps. MISSION® is also globally renowned for flatbreads, dips, salsas and Mexican food products. With presence in over 112 countries, MISSION® products are suited to the lifestyles and the local tastes of each country. With innovation and customer needs in mind, MISSION® focuses on the highest quality, authentic flavors, and providing healthy options that families and friends can enjoy together. For more information, please visit https://www.missionfoods.com/
About NHRA
NHRA is the primary sanctioning body for the sport of drag racing in the United States. NHRA presents 20 national events featuring the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series and NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, as well as the Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by LearnEV+, NHRA Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown™, NHRA Holley EFI Factory X and Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage NHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock at select national events. NHRA provides competition opportunities for drivers of all levels in the NHRA Summit Racing Series and NHRA Street Legal™. NHRA also offers the NHRA Jr. Street® program for teens and the Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League® for youth ages 5 to 17. With 110 Member Tracks, NHRA allows racers to compete at a variety of locations nationally and internationally. NHRA’s Youth and Education Services® (YES) Program reaches over 30,000 students annually to ignite their interest in automotive and racing related careers. NHRA’s streaming service, NHRA.tv®, allows fans to view all NHRA national events as well as exclusive features of the sport. In addition, NHRA owns and operates three racing facilities: Gainesville Raceway in Florida; Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park; and In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Southern California. For more information, log on to www.NHRA.com, or visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
