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On Wednesday morning, Toyota Motor North America announced that Toyota Racing Development President David Wilson would be stepping down in December. In succession, TRD stated that General Manager Tyler Gibbs would take over Wilson’s duties.
While Toyota saw success in diverse forms of racing during Wilson’s career, his time in NASCAR is an especially prominent success story. As NASCAR President Steve Phelps said in a statement earlier today:
For more than three decades, David Wilson’s immense talent, passion and leadership have helped build Toyota Racing Development into the massively successful organization we know today. As TRD’s President since 2014, David has been a collaborative partner with NASCAR, and his friendship and counsel have helped grow the sport, deliver extraordinary moments for race fans and enhance global motorsports. We thank David for his tireless efforts and wish him the best on this new phase of his life and career. We look forward to working with Tyler Gibbs and the tremendous team at TRD. — Steve Phelps, NASCAR President
During Wilson’s first season, 2014, Toyota had two wins in the Cup Series and had never won a Cup Series title or Manufacturer’s Championship.
That next season, Toyota won 14 races in the Cup Series and its first championship with cornerstone driver Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing. In fact, since 2014, in addition to TRD’s now three Manufacturers’ Championships, the team has won 124 Cup Series races, with a personal best of 19 wins in 2019.
A major move by TRD came in 2016, with the addition of Furniture Row Racing and driver Martin Truex Jr. With help from JGR and Toyota, the unlikely pair would win 16 races and the 2017 Cup Series Championship. Even after the shuttering of FRR, Toyota maintained Truex and Crew Chief Cole Pearn for JGR, where the driver has won 15 more races.
Two other pillars of this time have been Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin.
Busch, who joined TRD in 2008, dominated for the manufacturer in NASCAR’s lower levels, where he holds the most all-time wins in both the Trucks and Xfinity Series. He also started Kyle Busch Motorsports, which has produced a flurry of Cup-level talent for not only Toyota but also Chevrolet and Ford.
During his time with Toyota in the Cup Series, Busch won 56 races and two of Toyota’s Cup Championships.
Denny Hamlin has been with TRD since JGR switched to Toyota in 2008. In all his time with Toyota, Hamlin has won 51 races. Despite lacking a Cup Series title, Hamlin won Toyota all three of its Daytona 500s, including back-to-back wins in 2019 and 2020.
Most importantly, with help from friend Michael Jordan, Hamlin has started a premiere-level Cup Series team for Toyota, something they had lacked since the downfall of Michael Waltrip Racing in 2015. This has allowed Toyota to bring in more talent than ever.
This lack of available rides at the Cup level had been an issue for Toyota, which has had one of the top developmental programs in NASCAR. Under Wilson, this developmental program flourished with talent.
Before Wilson’s tenure, TRD had developmental teams like KBM and JGR to develop talent. TRD now has Tricon Garage, Sam Hunt Racing, and JGR to push talent to the Cup Series. Even the recent addition of Jimmie Johnson’s Legacy Motor Club has provided Toyota talent with two more seats at the Cup level.
Some of TRD’s successes in Wilson’s time have been:
Currently, TRD has top-tier prospects in the wings to ensure the long-term success of the team:
Notwithstanding these accomplished drivers, TRD has lost several to other teams due to the prior lack of space at the top of the developmental ladder.
Notable losses for TRD include:
Despite names like Byron and Suarez on this list, the most significant loss for TRD during Wilson’s tenure was veteran Kyle Busch. Busch, whose name value was important to TRD, also owned the previously mentioned Kyle Busch Motorsports. From its inception, KBM won 98 Truck Series races for TRD and two Truck Series Championships.
More importantly, KBM was the bedrock for TRD’s developmental ladder, with most of the previously mentioned names racing and winning for the team at some point. Busch and JGR parted ways after the 2022 season when Busch’s primary sponsor, Mars, left, leaving the seat open for young Ty Gibbs.
Busch signed with Richard Childress Racing, and subsequently, KBM switched to Chevrolet. Before the 2024 season, Busch sold his operation to Spire Motorsports, which is now a crucial part of Chevy’s developmental ladder.
With KBM gone, TRD has recovered, with Tricon Garage stepping in to fill the role from 2023 onward.
This leaves TRD in good hands for Tyler Gibbs as he takes over the reins. While it could be a tough transition for Toyota, Wilson has left them in as comfortable a position as ever.
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