The way TRD has arranged the lighting on the face of Toyota’s new racing truck, it seems to be demanding of its bro, “Come at me!” The Monster Energy decal on the door only seems to reaffirm the clarion call of dunderheaded 21st-century white-boy masculinity. But this thing is no bro-dozer, all lift and micturating-Calvin bluster, signifying nothing. It’s an aggro machine built for a higher purpose: conquering the 47th Baja 1000.
Built for the full-size-stock class of the punishing jaunt down Mexico’s western peninsula, the new truck is based on the Tundra TRD Pro Series, Toyota’s answer to the beloved Ford F-150 SVT Raptor. The Baja Toyota pickup adds a cage, a complement of three racing seats, an Accusump oil accumulator, Lowrance nav systems for both driver and navigator, and BFGoodrich 37-inch Baja T/A KR tires. The aforementioned auxiliary lights? Hella, brah. Naturally.
The control arms, uprights, tie rods, wheel bearings, and hubs are all OEM Tundra pieces, while TRD supplies the cat-back exhaust, brake pads, and 17-inch forged wheels.
Coached by off-road giant “Ironman” Ivan Stewart, the team’s driver lineup consists of TRD design engineer Ted Moncure, Baja 500 winner Andy Bell, BMX half-pipe whiz Jamie Bestwick, and Baja-honed Ryan Millen of the famous racing family. Navigation duty will be handled by Mike Sweers, chief engineer of Toyota trucks.
- Baja Blitzkrieg: Driving Baja Racing Vehicles in Mexico
- Escape from Baja: Our Original Epic Mexican Sports-Sedan Torture Test!
- Toyota Tundra Research: Photos, Reviews, News, and More
While Baja has always been a monumental thing in plenty of minds, it’s become of more import to pickup manufacturers lately. Which makes sense, given that customization trends have moved on from the slammed sport trucks of the late ’90s and early aughts toward Mount Whitney–high 4x4s. Last year, Ford memorably took a 2015 F-150 EcoBoost mule, ginned up a 2013 body out of aluminum, ran the event, and drove the truck back to Dearborn. We can’t say for sure that Toyota doesn’t have some similar feat of durability/surprise in mind, but the fact that it’s racing a truck that owners could rather easily replicate suggests that “Win on domingo, sell on lunes” still means something in the truck world.
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