[LSC9901]

Don't expect a Toyota onslaught in Cup racing -- yet



By Terry Blount
ESPN.com
Archive




A Toyota driver will not win the 2007 Nextel Cup championship. Barring an extraordinary showing, Toyota won't have a car in the Chase.

No palm reader was involved in this prediction. It doesn't take a psychic to figure it out, just a little common sense.

Toyota isn't headed toward domination of the NASCAR nation. Well, at least not next season.

Despite the howls of protest from some people involved in the sport, Toyota won't take over NASCAR and ruin a good thing.

Don't blame Lee White if he's a little sensitive these days about all that rhetoric. As the senior vice president of Toyota Racing Development, White has heard it all about Toyota transforming NASCAR's world.

Here are a few examples:

• Toyota will start a bidding war for talent and outspend everyone in Cup.
• Toyota will subsidize sponsors to get them to leave other teams.
• Toyota is a foreign manufacturer and doesn't belong in NASCAR.
• Toyota really owns its teams and pays the drivers, crews, etc.

Does White feel bombarded by all these accusations?

"It's not a matter of feeling like it," White said. "It's a reality. We're trying to do this in a way that is new, and maybe that has caused fear and trepidation."

Outside the LinesIn a garage in High Point, N.C., Toyota is preparing to burst onto the NASCAR scene. Its entry marks the first time a Japanese manufacturer will be allowed to compete in the NASCAR Nextel Cup, and some are criticizing Toyota's lavish spending and technological onslaught. Toyota insists it has earned its way in and that, with 10 U.S. manufacturing plants, Toyota has become a part of the American automotive landscape. "Outside the Lines," (Sunday, 9:30 a.m. ET) takes a look at Toyota's arrival in stock-car racing. For more, click here.
Toyota is completing its third season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. A Toyota driver -- either Todd Bodine or Johnny Benson -- is going to win the championship this year for the first time. Toyota trucks rank in the top four spots in the standings and six of the top eight.

Toyota's success in trucks, along with the money it has spent in the series, has increased concerns about the move to Cup.

The truck series isn't Cup. Far from it. Cup is the best of the best. No one at Toyota expects to come in and run up front immediately. White just hopes to get the Camrys into the field.

"I don't expect us to scare anyone for half a season, or maybe the whole season," White said. "We're not going to threaten to win races for a while. I'll be happy if the majority of our cars are able to qualify in the first half of the season."

Toyota has two start-up teams next year in Michael Waltrip Racing and Red Bull Racing. It also has Bill Davis Racing making the switch from Dodge.

That lineup is not exactly Hendrick Motorsports or Roush Racing. Jack Roush has been the biggest critic of Toyota's business model, but Roush knows from experience it takes years to build top teams in Cup.

Toyota has two rookie drivers next season in David Reutimann and A.J. Allmendinger, who is moving over from Champ Car. The other drivers include Waltrip, Jeremy Mayfield and Dave Blaney -- all veterans, but not among the Cup elite.

Toyota has one guaranteed spot in each race with Dale Jarrett on Waltrip's team. Jarrett can take the final spot in the field as a past champion.

Jarrett reportedly received big bucks (reportedly $20 million for two years) to leave Ford and Robert Yates Racing and sign with Waltrip's team. Waltrip adamantly denies those figures, and White said they didn't pay Jarrett a penny.

"That's up to the teams and their sponsors," White said. "We are not in the business of paying drivers. We provide technology."

Toyota provides it in a big way, which has other manufacturers worried.

"I think the concern over price escalation is legitimate,'' said Mark Kent, director of GM racing. "You have [a] free-agency factor going on.

"But I don't believe the escalation will be astronomical and ruin the sport as some people have projected. I don't see it spiraling out of control. Money itself doesn't buy success."

Toyota can vouch for that. It spent an estimated $400 million this year in Formula One without winning a race. Toyota finished sixth among the nine teams that earned points in the season standings.

By comparison, Nextel Cup is a bargain. Toyota is expected to spend around $100 million to get its Cup program going.

Money isn't the only concern in the Cup garage. It's the way Toyota works. Toyota treats its teams as one unit. Every team has access to all the information of each Toyota crew.

"It's probably the hardest thing we do," White said. "It's categorically against the DNA of every racer in the garage. The more success they enjoy, the tighter the notebooks get."

But it's a philosophical mandate if you want to race for Toyota.

So how does it work? Take engines as an example. All Toyota engines are built at TRD. The finished product is given to the teams.

For GM, engine parts are given to the teams. The engine departments at Hendrick, Joe Gibbs Racing or Richard Childress Racing take those parts and build the motors, making their own little tweaks along the way.

Which way is better? Depends on who you ask, but Toyota's way is new to NASCAR.

"Anytime there is change, people comfortable with the status quo become nervous," White said. "We don't expect people to give us a big hug. What we want is to compete in an honorable and fair way and let the results speak for themselves."

For 2007, don't expect those results to intimidate anybody.

Terry Blount covers motorsports for ESPN.com. He can be reached at terry@blountspeak.com.

[wingkey1]

Devil's Advocate posts:

Alternate thread title based on article content: Toyota to dominate Cup by 2010

Quote from article:

Toyota is completing its third season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. A Toyota driver -- either Todd Bodine or Johnny Benson -- is going to win the championship this year for the first time. Toyota trucks rank in the top four spots in the standings and six of the top eight.

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

Don't expect a Toyota onslaught in Cup racing -- yet


=================================================
For 2007, don't expect those results to intimidate anybody.

Terry Blount covers motorsports for ESPN.com. He can be reached at terry@blountspeak.com.

Interesting article. Unfortunately I took a big dose of cynicism this morning, with my omlette and bacon.

First of all, I am always suspect of any writer who writes for the organization which will carry a sport's efforts. I get this feeling that while he may believe in what he writes, he's just trying to put a smiley face on a potentially bad situation?

I don't agree totally with the body of his message, but I do completely agree with the title; Toyota will NOT dominate. NASCAR can chage rules quicker than Rosie O'Donnel can make degrading remarks about men. So, IF Toyoya should come out of the gate screaming, watch for immediate rule changes to ensure NA$CAR's revered "parity."

However, in my opinion, the major unknown in the 2007 season with be the NA$CARmobile. That has the potential to screw everyone's thinking up and put some drivers, who have hovered around 15th-20th place their entire NASCAR careers, in the spotlite?

Time will tell. With all the new varibles, I might even watch a few more races next season than I did this. Or again, maybe not?

[Souporscotty]

With the COT, or as Bob so eloquently put it "NA$CARmobile" it doesn't make any difference what manufcturers name is on the car. They're all the same.

[wingkey1]

Originally Posted by Souporscotty

With the COT, or as Bob so eloquently put it "NA$CARmobile" it doesn't make any difference what manufcturers name is on the car. They're all the same.

Yup. It'll become (excepting the pilot/driver) a contest of chassis tuner and best engine. Best engine may/could come down to simply "most likely to finish the race". One engine could emerge if over time it gets the most $, effort, etc. Once/if that occurs, no one will risk the race on equipment of less quality.

The aspects of chassis tuning are both extensive and fascinating. MAY just be the element of the race that I personally enjoy the most. Gonna be interesting to see who figures out COT first, then most consistently.

[Souporscotty]

Originally Posted by wingkey1

Yup. It'll become (excepting the pilot/driver) a contest of chassis tuner and best engine. Best engine may/could come down to simply "most likely to finish the race". One engine could emerge if over time it gets the most $, effort, etc. Once/if that occurs, no one will risk the race on equipment of less quality.

The aspects of chassis tuning are both extensive and fascinating. MAY just be the element of the race that I personally enjoy the most. Gonna be interesting to see who figures out COT first, then most consistently.

Excellent post Wing. I'm just wondering if somebody figures it out first, or figures out how to cheat first.

[BringBackWilkesboro]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

• Toyota is a foreign manufacturer and doesn't belong in NASCAR.

[Yelk]

Originally Posted by wingkey1

Yup. It'll become (excepting the pilot/driver) a contest of chassis tuner and best engine.

Isn't that the way it's been for years?

[wingkey1]

Originally Posted by Yelk

Isn't that the way it's been for years?

Yup. 'Cept in the context of COT, the "template stylist" element of chassis tuning changes (goes away?). No more tuning the chassis to the aero of the Fusion vs. the Charger vs. the whatever. Introduces differences from years past.

[Yelk]

Originally Posted by wingkey1

Yup. 'Cept in the context of COT, the "template stylist" element of chassis tuning changes (goes away?). No more tuning the chassis to the aero of the Fusion vs. the Charger vs. the whatever. Introduces differences from years past.

Doesn't todays cars all use the same templates? The only difference being the nose?


I'm gonna take a wait and see attitude before I determine my like or dislike for the COT. The one engine rule of a few years back comes to mind. Almost everyone said it wouldn't work, but I think it's worked well.
We'll see!

[wingkey1]

[quote=Yelk;67698]

Originally Posted by wingkey1

Doesn't todays cars all use the same templates? The only difference being the nose?

Do not believe all brands are using same template. If indeed they are the same across brands, I missed that rule/implementation. Again, original comment around figuring out the chassis was with regard to COT.


I'm gonna take a wait and see attitude before I determine my like or dislike for the COT. The one engine rule of a few years back comes to mind. Almost everyone said it wouldn't work, but I think it's worked well.
We'll see!

Me too here (COT). Next and the following year should be particularly interesting.

[Quality88]

I think it will be atleast 3 years before they start givin it any hell like the truck series. But the again I firmly agree the quote below.

Originally Posted by LSC9901

Toyota is a foreign manufacturer and doesn't belong in NASCAR.

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by Quality88

I think it will be atleast 3 years before they start givin it any hell like the truck series. But the again I firmly agree the quote below.

Quote:
Originally Posted by LSC9901
Toyota is a foreign manufacturer and doesn't belong in NASCAR.


__________________
Quality88

As much as I agree with that statement it was a quote from an article that got posted earlier. Also as stated many times the COT sort of makes the manufacturers non-existent except for the decal on the front of the car.

[BringBackWilkesboro]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

Quote:
As much as I agree with that statement it was a quote from an article that got posted earlier. Also as stated many times the COT sort of makes the manufacturers non-existent except for the decal on the front of the car.

Isnt that what matters most? A brand name decal for advertising purposes? As long the money's comin in, what else is there to worry about? Im sure Brian France would agree.

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by BringBackWilkesboro

Isnt that what matters most? A brand name decal for advertising purposes? As long the money's comin in, what else is there to worry about? Im sure Brian France would agree.

I suppose we could begin to look at NA$CAR as a big info-mercial !!!