Toyota In NASCAR

[DonnaWanna]

Toyota to join NASCAR Nextel Cup Series in 2007

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (Ticker) - NASCAR once the showcase racing series for the American automobile industry will make a major change in its philosophy when it allows Japanese carmaker Toyota to join the Nextel Cup and Busch Series beginning in 2007.

 

The announcement was made Monday by NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France.

 

The Toyota Camry will join the Ford Fusion, Chevrolet Monte Carlo and Dodge Charger in Nextel Cup competition next year.

 

"This will go down as a point in our history, France said. "We've reached the point where whether it's Toyota or Honda, many of their cars are made in the United States."

 

NASCAR and Toyota officials backed up that point with statistics. There are 142,000 Toyota employees in the United States with 400,000 in North America. There are eight Toyota plants in the U.S., including the Toyota Tundra pickup manufacturing facility in San Antonio, Texas.

 

Last year, 6.5 million Toyota Camrys were sold in the United States. The model has been the best-selling car in the U.S. in eight of the last nine years.

 

The Camry is made at a Toyota production facility in Georgetown, Kentucky so it qualifies as an American-made car.

 

Even red-white-and-blue American flag waving team owners like Ford's Jack Roush admits the time has come to allow Toyota to compete in America's biggest and most popular racing series.

 

"Like it or not Toyota is a very important part of our economy today," said Roush, who once paid an employee in Japanese Yen after he showed up at work driving a Japanese car many years ago. "We've got a lot of dealer investment dollars out there and we've got a lot of our population that works in Toyota plants around the country. So they have every right to be here.

 

"I welcome their being involved because I think they'll be good for the sport. They have every right to be here. With Toyota involved, it's just going to be different."

 

The expansion will follow three years of Toyota competing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and will result in all three of NASCAR's national series having four manufacturers competing, as Toyota will join Chevrolet, Dodge and Ford.

 

Toyota's entry into the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and the NASCAR Busch Series is good for drivers, teams and the fans, France said. "This move provides for even more intense competition on the track between drivers and manufacturers, which will provide more excitement and fan interest. Toyota's entry also provides more options for drivers and teams, which will increase the competition between manufacturers."

 

In addition to competing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for the past two years, it most recently participated in the Indy Racing League after leaving the CART series following the 2002 season. Gil de Ferran gave Toyota its only victory in the Indianapolis 500 in 2003 and Scott Dixon gave Toyota the IRL title that same season.

 

But that was the zenith of Toyota's participation in the IRL. Honda began it's domination of the IndyCar Series in 2004 and 2005 and Toyota negotiated an early release from its IRL obligations, which were to run through the 2006 season.

 

"Next year 2007 will be a special year for Toyota in more ways than one," said Dave Illingworth, senior vice president and chief planning and administrative officer for Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. "Toyota will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in the United States, and we will be joining the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, America's premier racing series. "If you want to compete against the best in America, that means NASCAR.

 

"We look forward to February of 2007 when the green flag waves to start the Daytona 500 and the starting lineup features the Toyota Camry."

 

Toyota teams will be announced Tuesday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway as part of this year's NASCAR Media Tour, but two of those teams will be Bill Davis Racing and the newly merged Michael Waltrip/Jasper Motorsports team.

 

According to Illingworth, Toyota will have two or three teams lined up which will have 6-7 cars competing in 2007.

 

"I don't think there was any backlash from the American fan when we joined the Truck Series and I would expect the same thing will happen in Cup and Busch," Illingworth said. "That was a couple years ago and over the last couple years, the country is moving. It has become more global, the economy is more global and the consumer is more global."

 

France said today's NASCAR is much different than the stereotyped version.

 

"The fans are pretty educated and they know that a lot of these cars and trucks are built in the United States," France said. "They know that and they know that Toyota employs a lot of people in this country. That's good. I'm just happy they are in the NASCAR fold. We feel confident we have a rules package that works for Toyota and works for NASCAR."

 

Unlike its involvement in the NCTS there will be no Toyota-branded cars in Nextel Cup or the Busch Series and the engines and cars will be built by the individual teams rather than supplied by Toyota.

 

NASCAR also announced on Monday the "Car of Tomorrow" will begin competition in 2007. Teams will use the newly-designed race car for 16 events next season, beginning with the spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway currently the fifth event on the Nextel Cup schedule.

 

The five-year project that was overseen by NASCAR Vice President for Research and Development Gary Nelson, the Car of Tomorrow offers important safety and performance upgrades. It also addresses cost reduction, providing teams with a more efficient car to produce and tune.

 

Aside from Bristol events, teams will use the Car of Tomorrow in 2007 events at Phoenix International Raceway, Martinsville Speedway, Richmond International Raceway, Dover International Speedway and New Hampshire International Speedway. It also will see action at Darlington Raceway, the fall event at Talladega Superspeedway and road-course events at Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen International.

 

With the exception of the 2.66-mile Talladega track and the two road courses, all tracks where the Car of Tomorrow will debut in 2007 are short tracks.

 

The 2008 Car of Tomorrow implementation schedule includes 26 events adding both races at Daytona International Speedway, California Speedway, Pocono Raceway, Michigan International Speedway, the spring event at Talladega and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

 

Teams will run the entire 2009 schedule with the Car of Tomorrow, adding both events at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Lowe's Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway, plus events at Chicagoland Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. The rollout schedule could be sooner.

http://www.allsports.com/cgi-bin/showstory...?story_id=57595

[Batman]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/batman2112/toyotanascarcat.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/batman2112/toyotanascar.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/batman2112/toyotanascarrbside.jpg

 

Not bad looking cars.

 

This is going to be very good for Nascar.