Seven months have passed since Toyota unveiled the competition version of its new Supra at Daytona International Speedway.

On Saturday, the car will make its much-anticipated debut at the iconic track in the NASCAR Racing Experience 300 Xfinity Series race (2:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Fans got a good look at the fifth-generation production version of the Supra last month at the Detroit Motor Show. On Saturday, they’ll find out how well the car races in its maiden season.

Those of you that were following Barrett Jackson (auctions), you saw that the first Supra that's actually going to come off the assembly line sold at Barrett Jackson for charity for $2.1 million,” said Ed Laukes, group vice president of marketing for Toyota Motors North America.

“If that's any indication about the Supra coming back into the market after not being around for 22 years, it's a very exciting time for us at Toyota, very exciting time to have us at Daytona.”

Laukes appeared on Friday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway with Joe Gibbs and Bob Leavine, two car owners who will carry the Toyota banner in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series this season.

With NASCAR already discussing plans for a Generation-7 Cup car with its OEMs, will the Supra replace the Camry and join the Cup series in 2021 to compete with Ford’s Mustang and Chevrolet’s Camaro?

Laukes demurred.

“We've talked about that for a while,” he said. “We're still… unlike some of the other manufacturers, we're still in the car business, and we plan on staying in the car business for a while.

“Camry and Corolla are still a big part of our company. So, at this point, we don't have any plans to bring Supra up to Cup, but you never know.”

Long before that decision is made, Gibbs will try to win a third Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Gibbs got his first with Dale Jarrett in 1993 and had to wait another 23 years for Denny Hamlin to deliver the second.

Former Joe Gibbs Racing president J.D. Gibbs, who died last month at age 49 from a neurological disease, was a tire changer for Jarrett’s winning car. Hamlin hopes to win a second Daytona 500 and dedicate the victory to his former boss.

But that will be a tall order, as Gibbs knows only too well.

“I used to kid people… I talked to them for a while there, we won the Daytona 500 once, and we've been here about 24 times,” Gibbs said. “I’d say, sooner or later, come on, a blind hog finds an acorn every now and then, come on, give me one. To win it twice… but you think about it, we've won twice in 27 tries.

“So it's extremely hard. So much can happen. And everybody here, I think that's the exciting thing for our fans. If you're coming off (Turn) 4, OK? We've come off of 4 I don't know how many times leading, and we haven't won the race.

“So everybody is excited about it. Everybody realizes that that can happen at the Daytona 500. It's a thrill to win it for sure, but it's extremely hard to win.”

Leavine is new to Toyota this year, having switched from Chevrolet, but he expects Leavine Family Racing to enjoy a strong season with driver Matt DiBenedetto and an affiliation with JGR.

“The transition was and is very intense,” Leavine said. “It's also exciting for Leavine Family Racing. Both of these organizations have assisted in the transition. Unless you've been there, you have no idea the technical portion that goes on, and I stand back, I'm kind of operation and not marketing-related, and I enjoy the operation and to watch what Coach's people have helped our people do, and Toyota and TRD. What they have done is truly amazing, over the time period that we had.

“Our people worked really hard with theirs, and together we got a car on the track, and they're working hard for our West Coast Swing, Atlanta, so the transition has gone exceptionally well, considering what we had to go through—a lot of communication—and both of these organizations here were on top of everything we needed and provided for it.”

In an 11th-hour agreement, NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) newcomer Max Tullman (@MaxTullman) has teamed up with Motorsports Business Management (MBM) for Saturday’s NASCAR Racing Experience 300 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

Tullman returns to the “World Center of Racing” a year after making his ARCA Menards Series debut in 2018 driving for Mason Mitchell Motorsports (MMM) which saw the Sports Car veteran qualify fourth, lead 10 laps before finishing sixth, his career-best finish in the developmental series.

This weekend, Tullman is eager to maneuver a similar performance aboard the No. 13 Zoomi | Myota Toyota Supra.

Veteran Motorsports crew chief Doug Richert, who led Dale Earnhardt Sr. to his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) championship in 1980 will call the shots for Tullman in the 120-lap event.

“I’m very thankful and appreciative for this opportunity to join MBM this weekend at Daytona,” said Tullman who made three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts in 2018 with his family-owned Tullman Walker Racing.

“We are still working hard on our firm plans for 2019 – but Carl reached out and together we were able to put some support together to see if we can earn a good finish on Saturday.”

For Tullman, a native of Chester Springs, Pa., he’s hoping that his prior experience in ARCA and the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series (NGOTS) on a restrictor plate track will pay dividends in the first Xfinity Series race of the year.

In addition to Daytona, Tullman scored a sixth-place finish for MMM at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway last April – before delivering a career-best ninth-place effort at Talladega in the Truck Series last October in a third effort for Young’s Motorsports.

“I learned a lot about drafting and restrictor plate racing last year,” offered Tullman. “Between Mason Mitchell Motorsports, Young’s Motorsports, my crew chief Doug Richert and my mentor Todd Bodine – I was able to really gather a lot of knowledge. All of their support plus the in-race experience helped me a ton.

“I have a good crew behind me and Carl (Long) is taking three other Xfinity Series cars to Daytona this weekend, so I’m hoping I can work with my teammates in some capacity. Hopefully, we’ll be able to earn a solid finish to start off my 2019 season and see what develops from there.”

Backing Tullman’s efforts at Daytona are longtime partners Zoomi and Myota.

Zoomi is the first AI-informed learning analytics company that uses machine learning to rapidly individualize training pathways in real-time. Its artificial intelligence studies learner behaviors and patterns to understand what each employee knows, what still needs to be taught and how to best deliver that information automatically – so you don’t have to.

Myota is a superior data security management solution that leverages artificial intelligence – exponentially increasing the protection of critical data while providing cost and operational efficiencies.

“I’m very thankful for the support of Zoomi and Myota,” sounded Tullman. “We had a lot of success in our first race at Daytona. Here’s hoping we can do the same this weekend.”

In addition to Zoomi and Myota, Tullman’s first Xfinity Series race at Daytona will carry additional support form partners Yurpal, Onspira and Top Tier.

For autograph requests and to join Max Tullman on social media, please like him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter @MaxTullman.

Additional at-track updates can be seen on Twitter @TeamMaxTullman.

The NASCAR Racing Experience 300 (120 laps | 300 miles) is the first of 33 NASCAR Xfinity Series races on the 2019 schedule. Practice begins on Fri., Feb. 15 from 12:05 p.m. – 12:55 p.m. A final practice session is set for 2:05 p.m. – 2:55 p.m. Qualifying is set for race day, Sat., Feb. 16 beginning at 9:40 p.m. The 38-car field will take the green flag shortly after 2:30 p.m. with live coverage on FOX Sports 1 (FS1), the Motor Racing Network (Radio) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Satellite Radio, Channel 90). All times are local (Eastern).

Max Tullman Racing PR