Head of TRD announces retirement

Jim Aust, the president and chief executive officer for Toyota Racing Development, based in Costa Mesa, said he is retiring at the end of June, leaving a position he has held with Toyota for the past 10 years.
Under Aust, Toyota entered a number of motor sports arenas, including the Indy Racing League, NASCAR and the old CART series. Toyota also has teams in off-road racing, USAC open wheel racing and sports car racing.
“There are a lot of great memories, made possible by the hard work of the people at TRD and the great teams and drivers running with Toyota power,” Aust said. “There was Toyota’s first CART win by Juan Pablo Montoya, Gil de Ferran’s Indy 500 win, a CART championship for Cristiano da Matta and an IRL championship for Scott Dixon, Johnny Greaves’ multiple championships in CORR, Todd Bodine’s championship in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and the three-peat by Ganassi Racing in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. Seeing a Camry compete in the Daytona 500 last year for the first time was very special and I expect to see Toyota’s first Sprint Cup victory before I retire in June.”
In addition to retiring from his post at Toyota Racing Development, Aust will step down as vice president of motorsports for Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc.
“Jim has played an integral role in the growth of Toyota’s racing activities in the U.S.,” said Dave Illingworth, TMS senior vice president, chief planning and administrative officer. “From the high banks of NASCAR to short track midget racing, drag racing, sports cars and off-road trucks, Toyotas are now racing and winning at tracks across the country."