Toyota 500 Tickets

NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway Has A Prosperous History In American Motorsports. Having ended its 20th year of American professional auto racing, NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway has recognized a rich racing the past in a comparatively short period of time. The 2002 CART Manufacturer's and Driver's Championships add to a victorious past that has observed NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway victories at the Daytona 24 Hours, the 12 Hours of Sebring, the Pikes Peak Hill Climb and the Baja 500 and Baja 1000. Beginning in 2003, the producer will look to add the greatest prize in American motor sports, a triumph at the NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway, during its first season in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series. NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway's place in American auto racing is not limited to major victories and championships. NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway extends from occasion sponsorships and steam engine expansion to factory-backed teams and grassroots efforts.

The 2002 season saw NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway-powered cars earn ten victories and twelve pole positions in nineteen CART FedEx Championship Series races to easily win the 2002 Manufacturer's Championship. NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway-powered Champ Car racer Cristiano da Matta won 7 races and 7 pole positions on his way to the CART driver's title and his assortment as American auto racing's "Driver of the Year." In 1967, NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway got its first taste of American auto racing when it united forces with Carroll Shelby to develop a race-tailored NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway 2000 GT for campaigning in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) C-Production class. While Porsche was its main entrant, it took only a short period of time until the 2000 GT was time after time earning victories. The program, however, was discontinued after one year of antagonism. It was not until 1976 that the producer re-enter the motor sports arena, bringing a NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway Celica GT Lift back as the "Official Pace Car" of the opening Long Beach Grand Prix event. Since then, a NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway has paced every NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway Grand Prix of Long Beach.

In totaling to the pace car, six Celica GT Liftbacks were identically ready to ditch three professional female drivers with three men from major automotive publications. The event was allocated as NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway's "Race for Youth," and a $12,000 prize was divided among a diversity of Los Angeles-area youth organizations. This contest became the sample for the annual NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway Pro/Celebrity Race that is in its 27th year as a featured part of the NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway Grand Prix of Long Beach. Celebrities counting Clint Eastwood, Ashley Judd, George Lucas, Tim Allen, Cameron Diaz, Gene Hackman, Woody Harrelson, Jay Leno, Matt LeBlanc, Joe Montana and John Elway, to name a few, have contributed next to professional drivers in this 10-lap race for aid organization. Over the past ten years, more than $1 million has been lifted for children's hospitals in Southern California. The NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway/AAR team moved up the IMSA ladder once again in 1989 to the Grand Touring Example (GTP) class, the best level of American road racing. The factory-sponsored team captured four wins and four track-qualifying records in 1990, serving notice to the rivalry that NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway and its American-built Eagle GTP cars were strong candidates. At the time, the rivalry included Chevrolet, Jaguar, Nissan and Porsche. The team's achievement sustained in the early '90s, with successes at the Twelve Hours of Sebring (twice) and 24 Hours of Daytona staying power races, and both driver's and manufacturer's titles in 1992 and 1993. The NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway team holds the all-time record for successive GTP wins with 17, and won 19 of its last 21 races.

The same year NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway began its relationship with Gurney, it also united efforts with Precision Preparation Inc. (PPI) and team owner Cal Wells III to build NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway trucks for rivalry in desert and stadium off-road events. From 1983 to 1994, the NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway/PPI team conquered the Mickey Thompson Off-Road Stadium Series (MTEG), earning 11 manufacturer's championships and nine driver's titles with Ivan "Ironman" Stewart and Rod Millen accounting for three each, Brother Steve Millen with two, and 19-year-old Robby Gordon for one. Stewart also finds the way the team through the desert to garner 27 wins and seven championships in the SCORE International Off-Road desert series. In 1989, NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway began a successful relationship with Atlantic series president and CEO Vicki O'Connor to become the title sponsor of the NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway Atlantic Championship. NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway is also the spec-engine contractor in the premier open-wheel training ground for some of auto racing's most promising young drivers. As a source of "champions before they are champions," the list of NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway Atlantic alumni includes Michael Andretti, Bobby Rahal, Jimmy Vasser, Jacques Villeneuve, and Sam Hornish Jr. Each privately owned framework is powered by a 1.6-liter, four-cylinder, 16-valve, and twin-cam NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway 4A-GE engine. NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway continues its support of this world-renowned North American series, which is rejoicing its 30th year of competition in 2003.

From 1994 through 2000, NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway partnered with Rod Millen to become "King of the Hill" in asserting six Unlimited Class championships in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Millen and the NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway Celica still hold the overall world record (10:04.06) set in 1994. NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway's motorsports contribution grew to a new level in 1996 when the manufacturer determined to go open-wheel racing in the CART Series with partners AAR and PPI. The program's early struggles finally led to its first victory in 2000 at The Milwaukee Mile with Juan Montoya and four-time champion Target Chip Ganassi Racing. The alarming agenda went on to win five races that season and followed it up with six wins in 2001. NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway's CART program pointed in 2002 as the manufacturer dominated the series with NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway drivers finishing one-two in the championship (Cristiano da Matta and Bruno Junqueira) and NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway leading the series in every major category. Overall, NASCAR Toyota 500 Speedway-powered Champ Cars won a series-high 21 races over its last three seasons of competition.