The dune-jumping Toyota is back. Toyota is continuing its SEMA Show invasion with the Tacoma TRD ProRunner Race Concept, what the automaker calls “a vision of what a dedicated race-truck could look like within the Tacoma lineup.”
“The #84 Tacoma TRD ProRunner Race Concept is a vision of what a dedicated race-truck could look like within the Tacoma lineup, incorporating the Baja-inspired engineering and high-speed racing elements of TRD Pro with the iconic XtraCab configuration,” said Paul Doleshal, group manager motorsports, Toyota Motor North America.
Built for Stock-Class Off-Road Racing
Toyota built this truck to compete in SCORE International’s (the Baja 1000 people) Stock Mid-Sized off-road race class. It started with a two-door Tacoma XtraCab, and then Toyota’s Service Parts and Accessories Development team started fitting parts from the TRD Pro catalog.
The ProRunner gets that truck’s Fox QS3 2.5-inch adjustable internal bypass shocks. Just like on the TRD Pro Tacoma, the shocks have remote reservoirs in the back for extra cooling. TRD upper control arms were also added to improve off-road performance.
Toyota added all of the TRD Pro’s skidplates underneath. The race concept gets protection for the front end, the transmission, and the rear differential.
A custom roll cage helps protect the vital parts inside the cab, which surprisingly uses the stock TRD Pro IsoDynamic performance seats. The biggest difference between the high-tech cushioned seats is that they’re fitted with a multipoint racing harness.
The tailgate has been replaced with a net, the coolest of all ways to hold cargo. The bed sports a dedicated fuel cell for safety and has a mount for the full-sized spare tire.
NASCAR Designer-Penned Graphics
Starting with the 2025 TRD Pro’s special Mudbath hero color, the graphics package was designed by Kyle Williams. Williams did the liveries for 117 cars and trucks in NASCAR’s top divisions last year, so he has some experience making racers look good.
His paintwork includes some of TRD’s classic yellow, orange, and red scheme. It also includes some touches from pro driver Jimmy Johnson’s career. This truck is meant to showcase the new partnership between Johnson’s NASCAR team, Legacy Motor Club, and Toyota Racing Development. Johnson has plenty of time in Toyota trucks himself, including the one in which he took his license test.
Concept to Production?
Is Toyota going to build it? This is a SEMA concept, so probably not. But! Toyota said the truck was built with the Stock Mid-Sized off-road race class in mind. To compete in that class, you need to sell at least 1,000 trucks to the public. So if Toyota really does want to go racing, then this mean machine could, at least theoretically, become real.
