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Rutledge Wood wins Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race in Long Beach

Rutledge Wood took home the checkered flag at this year's Toyota Pro/Celebrity race at the Grand Prix of Long Beach. The Top Gear USA presenter, Fox Sports commentator and Honda Wagovan owner managed to take pole position in qualifying, but lost his lead early in the race to Mark Steines. Steines has competed in the Pro/Celebrity race four times so far, but the Hallmark channel host of Home and Family couldn't quite hold on to the lead. Wood eventually made up the ground he had lost for the win. This year, all the participants went fender to fender in identically prepared Scion FR-S racers.
Meanwhile, Adam Carolla took first in the Pro category, and Toyota donated $5,000 on behalf of each participant to Racing for Kids. The charity benefits children's hospitals in the Long Beach area, and this year Toyota donated a total of $90,000. Check out the full press release below for more information.

Scion FR-S Release Series 1.0 hits dealers with $29,990 MSRP

If you're familiar with Scion, you likely know all about the Release Series special editions, and back in April, the automaker showed us the first RS example of its FR-S coupe. At that time, we knew the price would come in somewhere "under $30,000," and while that's technically true, the final number is a whopping ten bucks below that $30k mark. Yep, the yellowest Scion can be yours for $29,990, not including $770 for destination.
Only 1,500 of the FR-S RS 1.0 coupes will be made, all fitted with TRD lowering springs, a quad exhaust system, TRD steering wheel, HID headlamps with LED running lights, a TRD shift knob, pushbutton start, black seats and, of course, that aero kit. The $29,990 price applies to cars that use the six-speed manual transmission. If you want the automatic, be prepared to shell out $31,090.
Scroll down for more details about the special Scion. And if the super-yellow coupe isn't really lighting your fire, you can always opt for its Subaru sister, in a lovely shade of blue.

Toyota to kill Scion brand [w/video]

Toyota Motor Co. said Wednesday it will kill its youth-oriented Scion brand, ending a 13-year experiment that attracted new customers but ultimately drained resources from the parent company. The FR-S sports car, iA sedan, and iM five-door hatchback will be re-badged as Toyotas starting in August for the 2017 model year, and the tC coupe will end production then. The C-HR displayed at the Los Angeles Auto Show will become a Toyota vehicle when it launches. Scion's 22 dedicated team members will be given opportunities to join Toyota. Toyota says it made the decision in response to customers' needs, noting it finds younger buyers want practicality in addition to the individualistic styling and features that Scion offered. Meanwhile, Toyota's own vehicles have gotten sportier, which the company says appeals to younger buyers. Scion claimed some successes, pointing to its average customer age of 36 years old, with 70 percent of its buyers new to Toyota. Scion sold more than a million vehicles since it launched. Its best year was 2006, when it sold 173,034 vehicles. Sales declined steadily in 2007-08 and then crashed in 2009 during the recession to 57,961 units, before bottoming out in 2010 with only 45,678 sales. "This isn't a step backward for Scion; it's a leap forward for Toyota. Scion has allowed us to fast track ideas that would have been challenging to test through the Toyota network," said Jim Lentz, founding vice president of Scion and now CEO, Toyota Motor North America. "I was there when we established Scion and our goal was to make Toyota and our dealers stronger by learning how to better attract and engage young customers. I'm very proud because that's exactly what we have accomplished." While Scion never recovered from its drastic sales decline, it served as a test bed for marketing and dealer tactics that helped its parent company. Scion tried out no-haggle pricing, a streamlined option plan (some cars had only two choices: color and transmission) and a pre-paid maintenance plan. "We appreciate our 1,004 Scion dealers and the support they've given the brand," said Bob Carter, Toyota senior vice president of automotive operations. "We believe our dealers have gained valuable insights and have received a strong return on their investment.