The Ironman himself.

Stewart caught the sport’s attention in 1973 at the Ensenada 300 when his co-driver broke his leg before the race. Stewart recruited mechanic Earl Stah to drive shotgun in the Class 2 buggy and powered through the grueling terrain, all 300 miles of it, to claim first place.

Nearly 30 wins and 10 years later, Stewart joined forces with the Toyota factory-sponsored team. In those 10 years, he moved up from Class 2, won the Baja 1000, the Baja 500 twice and was named SCORE Driver of the Year twice.

He continued his winning tradition in the driver’s seat of Toyota-powered, Precision Preparation Inc. Motorsports-built race trucks winning six class victories including two SCORE World Championships. By the ‘80s, the Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group had moved the dirt out of the desert and into stadiums, increasing the accessibility and popularity of off-road racing and opening new venues for Stewart/Toyota victories. Stewart holds the all-time MTEG win record with 17.

The seventh year into his partnership with Toyota—1990—was a lucky one. Stewart was named SCORE and High Desert Racing Association (HDRA) Driver of the Year, Overall Driver’s Champion, Unlimited Class Driver’s Champion and Grand National Sport Truck Driver’s Champion plus he garnered a total of 11 wins along the way. Just three years later, he duplicated his SCORE Overall and Unlimited Class championships and steered Toyota to its first Baja 1000 win. During that 1993 season, Stewart and Team Toyota took home the Crown Jewels of desert racing—the Baja 500, Baja 1000 and Nevada 400—marking the first time one manufacturer claimed victory in all three.

Check out this cheesy Ironman video game screen shot! It’s funny, but the guy was so pervasive this video game sold pretty well.

Moving up to the Trophy Truck Class in 1994, Stewart took home the gold in the San Felipe 250, another Baja 500 and the Fireworks 250. The following year he was named Trophy-Truck Class Driver’s Champion and added the Laughlin Challenge and Parker 400 to his list of victories. In the last three years of his racing career, he chalked up three more Baja 500 wins for a career total of 17 and one more Baja 1000 (his third). After 26 years in the dirt, the Ironman’s victories totaled 84 with 10 driver’s championships thrown in for good measure.

Stewart may have retired from racing, but he has maintained a high profile in the sport on two levels–first as founder of the Protruck Racing Organization, a special class of spec trucks that participates at off-road events including the Best in the Desert Vegas to Reno run, the Baja 500 and Pikes Peak. The series is a true driver’s challenge with all the Protrucks incorporating the same components and engine size limited to 360 CI. Next, Stewart moved from real dirt to virtual dirt with his Super Off-Road arcade game developed for Nintendo and Sega and the Off-Road Challenge, released by Midway Home Entertainment and based on the SCORE desert series. All hail the Ironman!

Check out this list of available Toyota Tundra shocks

One of the most recognized logos in racing.

TRD landed in Costa Mesa, California in 1979 as a Toyota Motor Sales USA subsidiary with the official task of distributing and designing after market performance parts for TRD Japan. Over the next 30 years, the company developed into a complete engine development through assembly operation. TRD’s cutting edge racing technology entered every high-speed arena from dirt to stock and Indy cars chocking up victories and establishing the company as a fearsome competitor. The journey began slowly, then gained speed in the early 2000s. Today, TRD engineers design and build the V-8 Tundra and the V-8 Camry engine for their respective NASCAR series as well as engines for factory-backed entries in Championship Off Road Racing (CORR), National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), the U.S. Auto Club Sprint Car and National Midget Car Racing Series and the grand American Rolex Sports Car Series.

By 1983, TRD joined forces with All American Racers (AAR) rolling out a Celica in the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) road racing competition. Within six years, TRD-powered cars moved up to the GTP Class, the elite level of American road racing. Also in ’83, Precision Preparation, Inc. partnered with TRD to build trucks for both real-world off-road and stadium competitions. Toyota trucks developed a taste for the dirt, taking multiple wins in the premier Baja 500 and 1000 events as well as manufacturer’s championship in the Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group, SCORE and CORR series.

Camburg Racing’s 2007 Toyota Tundra raced in the Baja 1000.

In 1996, TRD began its climb up the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) ladder, recording its first win in Indy-car competition at the Milwaukee Mile in June 2000 with Juan Montoya behind the wheel. In 2003, a TRD-powered Indy-car driven by Gil DeFerran won the mother of all American races—the Indianapolis 500.

Once that American milestone was reached, the next logical step was entry in NASCAR with the V-6 Celica Goody’s Dash Program. By 2007, the V-8 Camry made its debut at the NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch Series. The same year, Jason Leffler recorded the first TRD NASCAR win in the Busch Series at O’Reilly Raceway Park ending the series with a third place in points. David Reutimann’s win at the Sam’s Town 250 in Memphis helped land him in second place point finish in the series. Dave Blaney scored the Nextel Cup season best with a third place finish at Talladega

TRD’s success in the NASCAR series wasn’t limited to stock cars. With a 2004 debut in the Craftsman Truck Series, TRD took the manufacturer’s championship two years in a row (2006-07) and Todd Bodine took the driver’s championship in 06.

TRD’s 2007 World Rally Championship Corolla.

In addition to these high profile venues, TRD USA includes victories in the NHRA’s Funny Car series with Jerry Toliver at the Pomona Winternationals; domination of the 2003 IRL Indy-car series with 11 wins out of 16 races; four Daytona Prototype Driver’s Championships since the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series started in 2004; USAC Sprint Car and Midget Car Racing Series wins and a sweep of the 67th Annual Turkey Night Grand Prix at Irwindale Speedway with Dave Darland taking the Midget event and Bobby Santos the Sprint Car.

TRD means Toyota Racing Development, but it stands for “Top Results and Design.”

Check out this list of available Toyota Tundra shocks

TRD High Performance Brake Kit

TRD’s part description: “Provides increased heat capacity for substantially more resistance to brake fade and caliper distortion during multiple stops from high speed. Creates firmer pedal feel due to stronger and more rigid components. Better modulation characteristics under threshold braking…” Our take: Cool. Literally. Keeps brakes cool. If you plan on racing and/or towing like crazy, buy these brakes. You can probably get them for $2500-$2600, but expect to have to order them. The good news is you can put your old rotors and calipers on eBay or Craigslist and get some of your money back.

Fits Tundra 07-08′, Sequoia 08′ with 20″ wheels (or larger, will not fit with 18″ wheels) — Part No. PTR09-34070 — Suggested Retail Price: $2,795

Poor Man’s Alternative: G2 Brake Caliper Paint Red. If you’ve got a few hours and a little bit of talent with a paint can, you can get the look without spending very much. G2 is quality stuff too – stay away from cheap caliper paint kits. They don’t stand up very well under high heat.

G2 Brake Caliper Paint Retails for $38.00, and is available in black, green, purple, and yellow too.

TRD Cold Air Intake Kit

TRD’s part description: “replaces the factory inlet air duct, air cleaner lid, air filter and inlet system hose assembly and reduces the air inlet system restriction…A unique Intake Flow Accelerator (IFA) smoothes and accelerates the air flow into the TRD inlet system.” Includes reusable air filter and a spot for TRD’s “filter service guage”. TRD boasts kit adds about 8 hp and 8 lb-ft of torque at 5,600rpm. Our take: Nice quality, slightly higher cost than some other kits but comes with TRD backed warranty. Read our Tundra cold air intake advice if you’re not sure about adding one in the first place. Expect to pay about $385.

Fits Tundra 07-08′, Sequoia 08′ – Part No. PTR03-34070 fits 5.7L V8, Part No. PTR03-34072 fits 4.7L V8, – Suggested Retail Price: $475

TRD Cat-back Dual Exhaust System

See our Tundra TRD Exhaust review for more info, but you can expect to get 5-10% off of the MSRP if you buy the parts over the counter and install the kit yourself.

Requires TRD Tail Pipe Kit, Part No. #PT400-34073, MSRP $375 PLUS one of the following:

Reg. Cab Short Bed: 4.7L PT400-34070 MSRP $655, 5.7L PT400-34071 MSRP $675
Double Cab Short Bed, Reg. Cab Long Bed, and all CrewMax: 4.7L PT400-34072 MSRP $655, 5.7L PT400-34074 MSRP $675

TRD Drop-In Air Filters

Available for all Tundra motors, these are similar to products from K&N. We don’t have any performance data, but we suspect they’re the same as less expensive after market filters. We won’t recommend them until we have reason to believe they’re superior to K&N filters that cost half.

4.0L V6 Part No. PTR05-35060. MSRP $75
5.7L & 4.7L V8s, Part No. PTR05-34070. MSRP $75
Filter Cleaning Kit, Part No. #PTR05-00000-CL, MSRP $22

TRD Rear Sway Bar Kit

From TRD: “provide a flatter, more stable cornering stance. They are constructed of high-quality spring steel and powder coated to prevent corrosion and road damage.” Our take: It will give you better handling, better stability when towing and hauling, and it’s reasonably priced. In short, it’s a good deal. Just remember that it won’t work with a hitch that wasn’t installed at the factory – including the resin hitch you can buy from Toyota. Expect to pay about $235 for the part, and it you can order it from the factory that’s probably cheaper than paying someone to install it for you.

All 07-08 Tundras, Part No. #PTR11-34070, MSRP $259.

Our big tip for getting a good deal on TRD parts for the Toyota Tundra. Ask for the last model year’s part (as long as the part numbers are the same). Dealers will discount more on a part that’s for an older vehicle than they will for the current model year.

Check out this list of available Toyota Tundra shocks

Maybe.

As I’m sure you’ve all heard by now, the TRD Supercharger has been given a part number in the latest Toyota Accessory Guide (part #  PTR29-34070), but that’s no indication that the supercharger will be available soon.

However, I spoke to a friend of mine that works in a local Toyota dealer’s parts department, and he was estimating he’ll be able to order in a month or two. That would mesh with Toyota’s stated time line (see the picture below), but that’s not really any indication either.

My guess is that the Tundra 5.7L TRD Supercharger will delayed — it’s pretty common for these things to be held back by either the EPA, CARB, or the internal bureaucracy of Toyota. Take, for instance, the debut of the supercharger for the Scion tC. It was supposed to be out in the fall following the car’s debut (it also had a part number in the catalog), but EPA and CARB regulators held back the release more than 6 months. Same story with the Tacoma supercharger back in the day (and the one that’s supposed to be coming out).

But, it’s cool to imagine getting our hands on one…

These photos were taken at SEMA 2006 — see more pics of the TRD Tundra exhibit.

If you want to know what a supercharger is, see TRD’s Supercharger Explanation.

Check out this list of available Toyota Tundra shocks