NHRA and Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) officials announced 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 Rooftec Comp Cash Clash, 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.
