Toyota hopes hybrid pace car will accelerate sales

Denny Hamlin didn't break 110 mph Tuesday at Lowe's Motor Speedway, but he still was impressed with a car whose speed pales in comparison to that of his Sprint Cup ride. "I thought it wouldn't take off as well as a combustion engine," Hamlin said after about an hour making laps in a 2009 Toyota Camry Hybrid that will pace the Coca-Cola 600 on May 24 at the 1.5-mile oval. "The pickup was surprising; I'm amazed it takes off as good as anything."

Acceleration was an important feature in winning approval for the vehicle, which will become the first hybrid used as a pace car for the duration of a Cup event (a 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid led the field to the green flag in the 2008 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway before yielding to a 2010 Ford Fusion Sport).

From a standing start at the pit exit in Turn 1, the 187-horsepower, four-cylinder Camry (which wasn't modified from the street model that retails for about $33,000 and gets an EPA-estimated 33 miles a gallon) had to reach 100 mph by the exit of Turn 2 to satisfy NASCAR's standards for pacing the 600-mile event, the longest on the 36-race Cup schedule.

Ed Laukes, manager for motor sports marketing at Toyota Motor Sales USA, said the approval process took about a year and included an on-track test Toyota passed with flying colors.

Hybrids have competed in the American Le Mans Series. Laukes said Toyota has interest in eventually racing them in NASCAR.

"I know it's a ways away, but I wouldn't be surprised down the road sometime if there's hybrid technology in a race," he said. More at USA Today