{"id":186117,"date":"2025-12-16T07:18:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T07:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/186117\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T07:18:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T07:18:15","slug":"supercars-news-wau-names-first-major-toyota-backer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/186117\/","title":{"rendered":"Supercars news: WAU names first major Toyota backer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Supercars-Sandown-149.jpg\" alt=\"WAU names first major Toyota backer\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTruck Assist will continue to back Ryan Wood in 2026. Image: InSyde Media<\/p>\n<p>The NTI-owned company has backed Wood throughout his rapid rise in Supercars as the co-naming rights backer of the #2 Mustang along with Mobil 1.<\/p>\n<p>The relationship will now continue into the Toyota era with Wood to race a Truck Assist-backed Supra for his third Supercars season and beyond on what is a multi-year renewal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s incredible to have Truck Assist and NTI extend their relationship with us, they are absolutely integral to what we do, they are a huge part of our family, and have been for a long time,\u201d said WAU CEO Bruce Stewart.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTruck Assist\u2019s belief in the trajectory of WAU has never wavered, they have always proudly been a part of the journey and we are excited to head into a new era in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s important to note the commitment and support they showed in backing Ryan Wood from his rookie year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey believed in him as much as we did, and I\u2019m so excited they are getting the rewards for that, with plenty more to come in the future.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe team right around Australia, as well as their broker network are nothing short of fantastic to work with, and we are so excited about what we are going to do together into the future.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore you ask, yes the car looks incredible, and we can\u2019t wait to show it off next year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>NTI\u2019s head of marketing Jason Kibsgaard welcomed the extension of the co-naming rights deal with Wood and WAU.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to continue our partnership with Ryan Wood and the family at Walkinshaw Andretti United,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWAU\u2019s collaborative culture, deep community connections and support for emerging talent align perfectly with our values and we couldn\u2019t ask for a better ambassador for Truck Assist and NTI than Woody.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOver the many years of our partnership, we have been strong supporters of the journey WAU have been on.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are proud to have been there alongside Ryan, Bruce and the team every step of the way and shared the highs and lows together.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter a remarkable season in 2025 that culminated in a Championship win for the team, we\u2019re looking forward to an even stronger future, and supporting and cheering on Woody behind the wheel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Optus is expected, although not yet formally confirmed, to continue as the co-naming rights sponsor of Chaz Mostert\u2019s car next season.<\/p>\n<p><a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/t.cfjump.com\/92797\/b\/285249\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none; vertical-align: middle;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/285249.gif\" alt=\"\"\/><br \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Truck Assist will continue to back Ryan Wood in 2026. Image: InSyde Media The NTI-owned company has backed&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":186118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,13401,1058,213,22210],"class_list":{"0":"post-186117","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-newzealand","10":"tag-nz","11":"tag-ryan-wood","12":"tag-slot1","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-wau"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}