[Bob Tanner]

WARNING: Grassy Knoll Theory Alert!

Here is a scenario which came to me today. It's all a SWAT (Stupid, Wild-A**ed Theory) but I'll throw it out for supposition and discussion:

Toyota wants to come into NASCAR but is very aware of the pro American-made, red, white and blue attitude which many NASCAR fans hold.

So, it looks very long term and decided to "throw away" the first year and actually intend to have a shaky, poor season in order to gain some sympathy, public acceptance and to mollify any thought that Toyota is these huge, competition-eating monster that people like Jack Roush would have us believe.

So Toyota falls pretty flat its first year and, surprisingly, the Toyota teams and their sponsors seem rather blase about the whole thing.

This might even continue a second season with marked, but not threatening improvement.

Then, either at season's number one or number two's end a BIG news event is called to announce that either Everham, Ganassi or Penske (or two of the three, or all three) will switch to Toyota for the following season.

Then, watch out.

It's all just a theory.

[PettyBlue]

BobT,read my other post,Enzyte is your answer to all this.Lol,just another joke us old guys can get each other with.

[LSC9901]

I've been of the opinion that Toyoter wouldn't amount to squat in year one at the very least. My feeling was and is that they have zero experience in the cup series. They currently have no star drivers and the teams are all new to one another. Yes the basics are all the same but it takes time for a team to gel.

Possibly you are right Bob in that within a few years some bigger names will swap what they got for Toyota. Time will tell.

[Souporscotty]

I dunno. Bob may be onto something here. It's pretty much a given that those with the most money win more. Just how much money do you suppose the "Big Three" are investing into thier teams compared to Yota? Our beloved American automobile manufacturers are in dire straits. Yota's got nothin' to lose. And I wouldn't be the least bit suprised if they aren't talking to Honda and/or Nissan about all this. Of course it's all depending on what's in it for the France family. But look what Honda has done for Tony George.

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by Souporscotty

I dunno. Bob may be onto something here. It's pretty much a given that those with the most money win more. Just how much money do you suppose the "Big Three" are investing into thier teams compared to Yota? Our beloved American automobile manufacturers are in dire straits. Yota's got nothin' to lose. And I wouldn't be the least bit suprised if they aren't talking to Honda and/or Nissan about all this. Of course it's all depending on what's in it for the France family. But look what Honda has done for Tony George.

My rationale goes with two possibilities, Scotty.
(1) MOPAR is in flux. Dieter makes no secret of the fact that Daimler-Benz wants to unload Chrysler. There is obviously no market for it in Europe and Asia, and here Chrysler, GM and Ford are all getting their butts kicked by Toyota and other Japanese manufactures. Can MOPAR realistically continue to keep a racing division?

(2) Both Ganassi and Penske have past deep ties to Toyota. I found it really odd that, when Toyota announced their intentions to enter Cup, the names of The Rajah and Chip never even came up, except tangentially.

Everham...? Who knows? I think that if he wasn't MOPAR's point man, he'd be in the GM camp now.

But then again, another question arises; why is Toyota even messing with NASCAR anyway? It already has the market here. I doubt if one in twenty buyers purchase a Toyota because of performance. "Win on Sunday; Sell on Monday" has been proven to be an antiquated term. What is in it for Toyota?

Here is another scary SWAT for you: Toyota is in F1 and Open-wheeled because of the engines and technology they sell and lease to the various teams. The cars are all the same; it's the engines that are different.

See where I'm going with this one?

NASCAR has now made mfg design virtually obsolete, with only the engines being the difference. GM, Ford and Chrysler are all taking a lot of body hits from the foreign car makers and some are questioning their collective future. Could it be that NASCAR will be the USA's F1? A closed-wheel circuit with common bodies and Toyota and possibly one or two other companies selling engines and technology? Or, is that what we have now? Hmmm...???

[Nevadastars]

Originally Posted by Souporscotty

It's pretty much a given that those with the most money win more.

I would normally agree totally with that statement, but why is it that Toyota and Honda can't do squat in F1?
They certainly have much deeper pockets than Ferrari or Renault.

[Souporscotty]

Originally Posted by Nevadastars

I would normally agree totally with that statement, but why is it that Toyota and Honda can't do squat in F1?
They certainly have much deeper pockets than Ferrari or Renault.

That's a great question. And it makes me wonder......What if the Europeans made an engine for NA$CAR?

[wingkey1]

Originally Posted by Nevadastars

I would normally agree totally with that statement, but why is it that Toyota and Honda can't do squat in F1?
They certainly have much deeper pockets than Ferrari or Renault.

.....Chassis