Photograph courtesy Hyundai
Yo dawg, we heard you liked racing Hyundais, so we put a racing series in your racing series so you can win prizes while you win prizes.
Okay, maybe that meme is a little old, but it pretty much sums up Hyundai’s new series-within-a-series competition, the N Trophy Cup.
As Ross Rosenberg, manager of N Brand and marketing for Hyundai, explains, “Hyundai competitors within the TC America series will not only compete to win the overall TC America Championship, but they will also compete against fellow Hyundai drivers for additional awards.”
While winning the championship comes with prize money, it also opens a few doors. In addition to an invite to compete in the final round of the 2025 Hyundai N Festival one-make race series in South Korea, the N Trophy Cup champion will get a chance to participate in a post-season evaluation in the Bryan Herta Autosport Elantra N TCR.
That’s not the only prize up for grabs, however. One driver will also be selected as an “N Racing Scholar” and receive the chance to compete in the 2026 Nürburgring 24 Hour with Hyundai.
The full points system and prizes are as follows:
Hyundai N Trophy Cup and TC America Points System
Hyundai’s 2025 Contingency Program:
TC America Results
- 1st place = $4000 per car
- 2nd place = $3000 per car
- 3rd place = $2000 per car
Hyundai N Trophy Cup Results (COTA, Sebring, Barber, Indy rounds only)
- 1st place (top finishing Hyundai) = $1500 per car
End of Season Awards
- Hyundai Manufacturer Championship = $5000 per team
- TC America Driver Champion = $10,000 per driver
- Hyundai N Trophy Cup Champion = $5000 per driver
- Hyundai N Racing Scholar = $5000 per driver
The N Trophy Cup “season” currently consists of the TC America races at Circuit of The Americas (April 24-27), Sebring International Raceway (May 16-18), Barber Motorsports Park (September 5-7) and Indianapolis Motor Speedway (October 16-19).
I sure appreciate how Hyundai has gone "all in" on motorsport in the last handful of years from the TCR cars to the upcoming Genesis GTP/Hypercar we should see in IMSA next year.
This "N Trophy Cup" should make the brand even more appealing to racers and team owners.
Just don't leave them parked in a bad spot for long because some kids will take it for a joy ride and post it on TicToc :D
In reply to Coniglio Rampante :
It really is amazing how motorsports-focused Hyundai has become.
In reply to Colin Wood :
Agreed. It has been so cool to watch the program grow in Hyundai and I am personally super excited to see what comes out of the N Trophy Cup. Going to the one in Sebring is very tempting.
Really cool to see them supporting these series. TCA in general doesn't get enough love in the US as far as I'm concerned. It's pretty much just limited to SRO at this point. I wonder if there would be enough interest to add TCR and TCA to another VP race in IMSA?
JG Pasterjak said:Really cool to see them supporting these series. TCA in general doesn't get enough love in the US as far as I'm concerned. It's pretty much just limited to SRO at this point. I wonder if there would be enough interest to add TCR and TCA to another VP race in IMSA?
I love how much Hyundai has become involved in motorsports. I'm sure we'll see their lessons learned in motorsports trickle down into their street cars. They've come a long way since the Kia Forte and Optima touring cars they ran in the early teens. I'm a Honda fanboi but I would honestly buy an Elantra N over a CTR/ITR right now simply because of the price point and bang for buck that you get. Plus you get a 100k mile warranty and one that covers track days too.
I did a case study on Kia/Hyundai for part of my masters on how they used their 100k mile warranties to perpetually better the brand by studying each fault and trying to make improvements on it so they could be on the same level as Honda, Toyota, etc in the longevity game. It's impressive to see how far they've come in the last 20 years.
DirtyBird222 said:JG Pasterjak said:Really cool to see them supporting these series. TCA in general doesn't get enough love in the US as far as I'm concerned. It's pretty much just limited to SRO at this point. I wonder if there would be enough interest to add TCR and TCA to another VP race in IMSA?
I love how much Hyundai has become involved in motorsports. I'm sure we'll see their lessons learned in motorsports trickle down into their street cars. They've come a long way since the Kia Forte and Optima touring cars they ran in the early teens. I'm a Honda fanboi but I would honestly buy an Elantra N over a CTR/ITR right now simply because of the price point and bang for buck that you get. Plus you get a 100k mile warranty and one that covers track days too.
I did a case study on Kia/Hyundai for part of my masters on how they used their 100k mile warranties to perpetually better the brand by studying each fault and trying to make improvements on it so they could be on the same level as Honda, Toyota, etc in the longevity game. It's impressive to see how far they've come in the last 20 years.
Last year at the Nurburgring 24 I was walking around with one of the Hyundai guys and we were remarking at the number of fans just randomly decked out in Hyundai garb. Like, not folks that just came from the Hyundai display where they won a free shirt, but folks wearing Hyundai shirts and hats and jackets just like they would for Ferrari or Porsche or BMW. It was enough people that you didn't even have to look for them, they were just everywhere. That's a pretty important milestone, when your marketing hits critical mass enough that your customers become public advocates.
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