Custom Toyota Truck Celebrates Jimmie Johnson and Baja, Wants to Go Racing
The SEMA build celebrates Toyota's partnership with Legacy Motor Club and legendary driver Jimmie Johnson.
Toyota brought the heat to SEMA this year with a pair of extra-modified custom builds, including a GR86 with the powertrain from a GR Corolla, a topless 4Runner, and the other is this, an off-road-racing-modified 2025 Toyota Tacoma dubbed the #84 Tacoma TRD ProRunner Race Concept. Here's what Toyota has done to make this custom truck ready to potentially race off road, and deserving of the ProRunner name, a combo play on the PreRunner and TRD Pro trim levels offered on the factory Tacoma truck.
NASCAR racing driver Jimmie Johnson mentions in the release that he took his driver's test in his uncle's classic Toyota pickup truck when he was 16 years old, referencing how far back he goes with the brand and its trucks, not to mention their racing relationship. “This #84 Tacoma TRD ProRunner Race Concept really demonstrates the serious off-road performance and capability of the TRD brand and Toyota Trucks in general," says Johnson.
"The TRD ProRunner Race Concept represents a key achievement in Toyota's partnership with Legacy Motor Club, and highlights Jimmie's legacy, by connecting his history with Toyota's extensive off-road racing tradition," says Mike Tripp, group vice president of Toyota Division Marketing at Toyota Motor North America. "This concept build also demonstrates the excitement, versatility, and capability of the Tacoma platform," according to Tripp.
To demonstrate those qualities of the Tacoma, a 2025 model was taken as the starting point in TRD Pro spec with a custom XtraCab configuration—a combination not offered from the factory. While a two-door XtraCab is available to customers, it's only in lower-priced Tacoma variants. All TRD Pros are four-door double cab models, meaning Toyota Service Parts and Accessories Development (SPAD) team cut one down to just two doors from four. The suspension was modified with TRD Pro's FOX Quick Switch 3 internal bypass shocks with 2.5-inch aluminum housings and remote reservoirs in the rear, with the addition of TRD upper control arms.
Additional armor includes skid plating on the front end, transmission area, and around the rear axle. There's also a custom roll cage, and multipoint race harnesses for the driver and navigator in IsoDynamic Performance seating. The standard 6-foot bed of this truck's base configuration was kept to house a dedicated fuel cell carrier and bed-mounted spare tire, with a net instead of a tailgate to save weight. There's also an ARB Sport Bar with custom lighting, and brushed aluminum TRD wheels with meaty BF Goodrich rubber.
All of these mods are meant to make the #84 Tacoma TRD ProRunner Race Concept a race-ready vehicle that can compete in the Stock Mid-Size off- road race class. The livery designed by Kyle Williams is meant to be a blend of multiple iconic elements from various eras of Toyota motorsport in one look, including references to Jimmie Johnson's cars, the classic yellow, orange, and red TRD Baja colors, and a retro chrome finish on the mirrors and door handles.
Justin Westbrook eventually began writing about new cars in college after starting an obsessive action movie blog. That developed into a career covering news, reviews, motorsports, and a further obsession with car culture and the next-gen technology and design styles that are underway, transforming the automotive industry as we know it.
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