After five seasons, the Lexus LX offroad racing program has been discontinued — driver Joe Bacal posted the following message on his Facebook page:
We were informed yesterday by Lexus USA that they will not be continuing the off-road racing program.
It has been an awesome 5 years with much success including 3 Baja 1000 class wins getting back to back in 12′ & 13′. I really had a great time and I appreciate all of my sponsors supporting us over the years. I have met some great people and I am glad we are ending our run on top.
Our team of Lexus and Toyota engineers as well as all of our chase crew were always there when we needed them the most. Thank you to all our fans and followers who supported us during our 5 year run.
Disappointing news, but at least it isn’t due to a lack of success — Joe and the team at JT Grey Racing brought a lot of offroad credibility to the Lexus brand with their hard work and perseverance, and they should be very proud of what they accomplished.
(On a more personal note — Joe and his wife Teresa are friends of mine, and I wish them both all the best in whatever comes next. I’ll never forget riding shotgun in the LX when he won the 2012 Laughlin Desert Challenge.)
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