Toyota to provide a hydrogen-powered pace car

The 2016 Mirai is the first fuel cell car to pace the field for Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond

Fans of NASCAR who attended the Saturday night's race in Richmond on 25^th April, at International Raceway, were pleased to see a vehicle of a completely different type leading the pack of 43 racers around the track. The front end of the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway was a whole lot quieter, though, because the 2016 Toyota Mirai made its debut as a pace car there.

The Mirai became the first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle to ever pace a NASCAR race and led the cars to the green flag for that Saturday night's Sprint Cup round.

Apparently, pace cars need to be subjected to testing by NASCAR, as Toyota says the 2016 Mirai had to be checked to meet certain requirements. Either way, the Mirai was approved for pace car duties the day before the race. The Mirai is a quiet, eco- friendly car and does not have so much in common with other loud V-8 racecars of NASCAR.

"Having a hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle pace the Toyota Owners 400 is a historic moment for both Toyota and NASCAR, and we're proud it's the Toyota Mirai," said Ed Laukes, vice president of marketing, performance and guest experience, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. “Bringing the Mirai to Richmond to pace this important race is another way for Toyota to showcase our innovation and environmental leadership.”

The Mirai is a four-door, mid-size sedan using no gasoline and emitting nothing but vapor. 

It is the second time that Toyota has used the NASCAR platform to promote hybrid and alternative fuel technology. In 2009, the automaker selected the Toyota Camry Hybrid to serve as the official pace car for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Toyota directly provides pace cars at 12 of the 23 tracks introducing NASCAR Sprint Cup series events. The Mirai was used only for Saturday night's race on 25th April; the Camry Hybrid was used during Friday's NASCAR XFINITY Series race and the Toyota Care 250.

“There are a number of fronts that we're trying to make sure that we're communicating and building on, and sustainability and green is a hallmark of our NASCAR brand now,” said Brent Dewar, Chief Operating Officer for NASCAR.

“… Every day is a green day; it should be for fans and for us. This really allows us to have a platform to tell the story and we kick it off this week around Earth Day. But we do it 365 days a year.”

“We're real proud of our ethanol green initiative that we have with our renewables and with the Sunoco Green E15 cars and the American Ethanol renewable resource.”

“Then with our partner Toyota, to draw attention to an emerging technology that they've been working on. Beside hybrids and electric vehicles, we're going to show the world how a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle operates in a race ... leading our Sunoco green cars.”

Toyota is proud to be at prominence of environmental tenable – and the Mirai pace car showcases this commitment. Toyota continues to cultivate new breakthroughs in plug-in, electric and hydrogen fuel cell technologies, having more than 2 million hybrid vehicles on the U.S. roads, more than any other manufacturer.

The 2016 Mirai will first arrive to buyers in California later this year.