Toyota pins improvement hopes on Gibbs shops, teams sharing
DAVID POOLE
The Charlotte Observer
Forget the stopwatch. You won’t need to be that precise to measure the progress in Toyota’s second season of competition at NASCAR’s top level.
A calendar will do just fine.
Sprint Cup racing’s newest participating manufacturer, along with everyone who follows the sport, will count the days in 2008 until Toyota’s biggest move so far, the addition of powerhouse Joe Gibbs Racing to the Camry lineup, pays off in two ways.
First, how soon will the Gibbs operation and its three drivers – all proven winners – get back to the championship-contending level it was with Pontiac and Chevrolet?
And then, how fast can improvements from the first-tier talent and expertise of the Gibbs operation spread to help the teams that struggled through Toyota’s inaugural season?
From Toyota’s perspective, the intent to make the latter happen seems to be in place.
"One of the philosophies that we have tried to embrace dating back to the start of our NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series program in 2004 is to get all the teams to work together as best as possible," said Jim Aust, vice president of motorsports for Toyota’s American operations.
“You’re much stronger by sharing information and working as one, as opposed to working as individual organizations.
“It’s not easy because everyone is a competitor. (But) the Gibbs organization has come on board with the outlook that they are willing to share information and work with the other teams. As we see that unfold throughout the year, I think we’ll see our entire group become stronger.”
The addition of Gibbs, with returning drivers Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin and new arrival Kyle Busch, cannot be overstated for Toyota.
Having Stewart, a two-time champion with 32 victories in nine Cup seasons, and Hamlin and Busch, two of NASCAR’s most promising young drivers, in Toyotas means the automaker has legitimate hopes of winning races instead of worrying how many of its teams will even make the show. Only 63.2 percent of the Toyotas that tried to make races did so in 2007, and not once all season did every Camry that entered make the show.
Hall of Fame Racing is also switching to Toyota, with J.J. Yeley driving its No. 96 cars. Yeley, Stewart, Hamlin, Busch and Dave Blaney, who returns in the No. 22 Toyotas fielded by Bill Davis Racing, are all assured starting spots for the first five races, which already puts Toyota well ahead of where it was a year ago.
Toyota started its Cup program with two new teams – Michael Waltrip Racing’s three and two fielded by Team Red Bull – along with two Bill Davis-owned teams. Only Dale Jarrett, in one of Waltrip’s cars, had that assurance in 2007 – by virtue of Jarrett’s status as a past champion.
Blaney made 33 of 36 races in 2007, but only three others – David Reutimann (26), Jarrett (24) and Brian Vickers (23) qualified for more than half the races. Blaney’s third-place finish at Talladega in October was Toyota’s high-water mark, with a fifth-place finish for Vickers in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte the only other top five for the manufacturer all year.
By comparison, Stewart, Hamlin and Yeley had 24 top-five finishes last year.
“I would probably give our first season a ‘B-minus,’ ” Aust said. “We expected to run in the top 15 by midseason, and we moved in on that at the end of the season. Overall, the consistency picked up, but we still have plenty of work to do in order to compete with the Hendrick, Childress and Roush teams.”
If Toyota does that in 2008, it almost certainly will be the Gibbs team carrying the banner. And in announcing the switch in September, team president J.D. Gibbs certainly wasn’t asking for any sort of grace period for the transition.
“We didn’t look at it like that,” Gibbs said. “If we thought we were going to come out of the box slow, we wouldn’t have done it. We should come out of the box just as strong.
“If not, I think we’ll all be really disappointed.”
Busch was the odd-man-out when Hendrick Motorsports decided to make room for Dale Earnhardt Jr., and to many it remains an open question whether Gibbs or Rick Hendrick got the best end of that deal. Busch will turn 23 in May, and already has four wins and 51 top-five finishes in 114 career starts. He’s made the Chase for the Nextel Cup in each of the past two years and was fifth in last year’s final standings.
He joins Stewart, a two-time champion with 32 career victories entering his 10th season in Cup, and Hamlin, who at 27 enters his third full year with three wins and Chase appearances in each of the first two years.
Waltrip’s year as a driver and owner in many ways became a shorthand for Toyota’s inaugural season struggles. He made the Daytona 500 despite having his primary car confiscated by NASCAR in a rules scandal that jarred his operation to the core, then missed 16 of the next 19 races.
Jarrett had eight did-not-finishes in his 24 starts and Reutimann had nine in his 26, and both wound up with average finishes of worse than 30th.
But Waltrip’s team survived, which for a while seemed like an overly lofty goal. “We built a solid foundation,” said Waltrip, who announced in October he had sold half of his ownership stake to Robert Kauffman, providing a needed infusion of cash.
“I’m very happy with how we did off the track, but I’m disappointed with how we did on the track.
“I know we’ll get better next year because I know Toyota has been learning and growing along with us. I’m very optimistic about 2008 – we know where we are and we know where we’ve been.”
Waltrip is back to drive the No. 55 Toyotas. Jarrett will start the year in the No. 44, but plans to run only the Budweiser Shootout then the first five points races and the Nextel All-Star Challenge before retiring.
Reutimann will start the year in the No. 00 Camry, then will change the numbers on his cars to 44 and pick up the UPS sponsorship after Jarrett is finished.
Michael McDowell and Josh Wise are in line to take over the No. 00 cars for Waltrip’s third team.
Blaney had four of Toyota’s 11 top-10 finishes in 2007 and missed only the first Talladega race and both events at Dover. He’ll have a rookie teammate in Jacques Villeneuve for 2008.
Villeneuve won the Formula One world championship in 1997 and was the IndyCar champion two years prior to that. He has won races all over the world, but none anywhere since that F1 title season.
AJ Allmendinger, Vickers’ teammate at Team Red Bull, was winning in the ChampCar World Series when he left to move to NASCAR in 2006 and Allmendinger has found the transition to stock cars mighty challenging – he made only 17 races in his 36 tries as a rookie.
If the new teams find success across the board for Toyota in 2008, Vickers could well become the personification of that improvement. Although he made only 23 races in 2007, his five top-10 finishes topped the Toyota fleet.
Vickers is still just 24 years old, too, which means that like Busch and Hamlin he still has time to grow into success with Toyota, which already is thinking big for 2008.
“I think our teams are setting themselves up for success,” Aust said. “I don’t think there is any question that we will get some wins this year and, hopefully, the first will come at Daytona.
“When we looked at our program we thought that by year three we would be in contention for a championship – and that was before the addition of Joe Gibbs Racing. That’s going to be moved ahead by a year now.”
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Toyota sucks and represents all that is wrong with NASCAR today.
In with the new, out with the old...NASCAR doesnt supports those who built them into the powerhouse they are today, today those long time fans seem only a part of NASCARS past they would rather just forget.
It just sucks to see what NASCAR has become, what they have sold to buy...they bought a lot of sunshine fans and pissed on the fans who would be there rain or shine, through thick and thin.
NASCAR has lost it's identity and is now some generic, pale, mealy mouth, neutered, limp wristed shadow of its former self.
Last edited by raughammer : 02-16-2008 at 10:28 PM.
Toyota sucks and represents all that is wrong with NASCAR today.
In with the new, out with the old...NASCAR doesnt supports those who built them into the powerhouse they are today, today those long time fans seem only a part of NASCARS past they would rather just forget.
It just sucks to see what NASCAR has become, what they have sold to buy...they bought a lot of sunshine fans and pissed on the fans who would be there rain or shine, through thick and thin.
NASCAR has lost it's identity and is now some generic, pale, mealy mouth, neutered, limp wristed shadow of its former self.
I could not aggree more!
America is build with hard work and we all went through pain to get our rights, baseball bats and laws to protect employment rights..
How are we to compete with Japan and thier slave labor (there workers are forced to work overtime for FREE.
So Toyota can save billions.. spend billions on the best parts to get the best people (Gibs) to show everyone, about there "Better Technoligy"..
If GM, Ford, and dodge did not have to pay overtime... and all the benifits.. they might have a half billion to give Gibs a winning edge..
I'm glad 2 dodges proves in the long race at the end of Daytona.. that the japs don't have the tech to get the job done...
No Daytona for toyota this year.. they ran good with the extra half billion Gibs tean got.. heck who wouldn't with that extra money?
Als odn't give in the being called a biggot so the import lovers can shut you up.... this is not about RACE, it's about pride in our country.. pride in american engeniering (spelling sorry).
A lot of people see Japan as the super human race, with the tech.. but what have they invented.. much to nothing, just mak improvments on what we make..
In WWII they was avout the only country that could not produce a 400 aircraft.. yet the USA and German and Britain were making jets that exceeded 500 mph.. nuclear weapons, guided misses., Raidar, and other high tech stuff, japan was stuck in the stone age.. yet THOUGHT (like Hitler) (no wonder they was friends with each other) they too was the super race..
The event of Toyota in Nascar is another attempt to show us americans they are superior.. but it's all money, not brains.
They (Toyota) need to take it elsewhere...Nascar today is the big 3... who have little money to compete vs the rest of the world who pays no benifits or little overtime.... The big 3 can't give money to the teams, so they have to fend for themselfs mainly... toyota, is dumping billions... into teams who have Toyota's..
Yet, Dodge or America, beat them still at the big race... without the extra billion dollars.
Because you don't mess with american technoligy, even at a finacial disatvantage!!
Proud to be an american!!!
Sorry for all the typos ansd errors.. I have only 20/70 viosion
I'm a huge supporter of Toyota coming into the sport. Because you know what it is? It's competition. I didn't start watching NASCAR for the speed, or the drivers, or the wrecks, I started watching for the competition. If Toyota does well? That forces everyone else to do well in order to keep up. That helps the sport progress, progression is good. Progression also means change, and not everyone likes change but you can't stop it.
People should be excited about Toyota. This opens the door greatly to the expansion and growth of the sport that we love. This breaks a barrier that's been up for far too long.
Everyone tends to choose a manufacturer that they prefer and that's fine. My problem is that most of the Anti-Toyota people are just flat out racist. Certainly not all who are Anti-Toyota are racist, but you know as well as I that there are a number of them who are at least fueled by the difference in the races.
That's one of the worst things for our sport right now. ESPN is huge and they're starting to show Nationwide Series races, plus they're giving NASCAR a LOT of exposure which is great, it's also very new. But if the fans of NASCAR present themselves as racist, anti-global fans that hate the idea of anything non-American then that's going to turn a lot of people off to the sport.
I mean, I've met fans who seriously thought that NASCAR stood for "North American Stock Car Auto Racing." How depressing is that?
Also, if you're the die-hard Anti-Toyota guy who doesn't want foreign made products racing, then start clearing out your closet, turn off most of your electronics, get rid of most of your food, tear down your house, sell most of your car -- You know why? Because almost everything Americans use is either manufactured in another country, or created by people from another country. It's a global economy. If you're not willing to stop using foreign name-brand products then why should NASCAR?
If you think Toyota coming into NASCAR is going to somehow help the Japanese economy and hurt America in some way then you're short sighted. Secondly, Japan is in no way a threat to most other nations right now, they're in a declining economy.
It's good for the sport, it opens the doors for growth and expansion. NASCAR is actually starting to lure drivers from other types of racing away after YEARS of being criticized by fans of those drivers.
But now with these new drivers, new cars, new sponsors, new tracks, NASCAR is gaining a lot of respect and a lot more fans. And you know what that means? All those new fans that are possibly from other countries are going to see Chevy, Ford and Dodge cars too, they're going to see advertisements for those manufacturers. That's good for those manufacturers. It's good for everyone.
If you really love the sport, you should be happy for their growth. It's new, and different, but necessary.
I'm a huge supporter of Toyota coming into the sport. Because you know what it is? It's competition. I didn't start watching NASCAR for the speed, or the drivers, or the wrecks, I started watching for the competition. If Toyota does well? That forces everyone else to do well in order to keep up. That helps the sport progress, progression is good. Progression also means change, and not everyone likes change but you can't stop it.
People should be excited about Toyota. This opens the door greatly to the expansion and growth of the sport that we love. This breaks a barrier that's been up for far too long.
Everyone tends to choose a manufacturer that they prefer and that's fine. My problem is that most of the Anti-Toyota people are just flat out racist. Certainly not all who are Anti-Toyota are racist, but you know as well as I that there are a number of them who are at least fueled by the difference in the races.
That's one of the worst things for our sport right now. ESPN is huge and they're starting to show Nationwide Series races, plus they're giving NASCAR a LOT of exposure which is great, it's also very new. But if the fans of NASCAR present themselves as racist, anti-global fans that hate the idea of anything non-American then that's going to turn a lot of people off to the sport.
I mean, I've met fans who seriously thought that NASCAR stood for "North American Stock Car Auto Racing." How depressing is that?
Also, if you're the die-hard Anti-Toyota guy who doesn't want foreign made products racing, then start clearing out your closet, turn off most of your electronics, get rid of most of your food, tear down your house, sell most of your car -- You know why? Because almost everything Americans use is either manufactured in another country, or created by people from another country. It's a global economy. If you're not willing to stop using foreign name-brand products then why should NASCAR?
If you think Toyota coming into NASCAR is going to somehow help the Japanese economy and hurt America in some way then you're short sighted. Secondly, Japan is in no way a threat to most other nations right now, they're in a declining economy.
It's good for the sport, it opens the doors for growth and expansion. NASCAR is actually starting to lure drivers from other types of racing away after YEARS of being criticized by fans of those drivers.
But now with these new drivers, new cars, new sponsors, new tracks, NASCAR is gaining a lot of respect and a lot more fans. And you know what that means? All those new fans that are possibly from other countries are going to see Chevy, Ford and Dodge cars too, they're going to see advertisements for those manufacturers. That's good for those manufacturers. It's good for everyone.
If you really love the sport, you should be happy for their growth. It's new, and different, but necessary.
I'm excited.
I have nothing personally against you Shimsham, bot calling people names to try and win an argument doesn''t prove anything, and shows you have no reply to the truth..
What I mean by NAMES is, RACIST... Being patriotic does not mean one is hateful or racist..
The Japanese RARELY buy any american autos, they are loyal to thier country and own people to try and boost thier own economy...
Americans buy what ever is cheaper... or are told is better.
Yet when a few of us stick to our roots and buy American to suport our own, we are called "RACISTS".
it's like that in other issues, if one is against Afirmative action (racist in itself), one is called a racist or bigot.
Back to importing..
You say we need to clean out our closets and all.. becuase it's mostly imports..
Here is the thing...
We all can accept buying lose junk that is imported, even expensive TV's, but when we sell out to Japan in buying autos, we are selling out our biggest money spending.. What I mean is Americans spend more on Car payments than anything else except maybe house payments..
We can't afford to sell out our jobs like this..
Avg family might spend $500 a month on car payments... back in the 50's we had tons of good jobs, now it's few and far between... what are our kids to do in the future??
Don't give me the argument of how American cars have parts made in other countries crap.. sure it is true, but you can bet more parts are made in Japan on a Toyota than a GM from Japan or any nation..
Sure we have a toyota Assymbly plant here in Indiana,, but where are all tthose parts made?? Land of the Rising sun!
There are so many people like you that just plain HATE America.. always talking about how better Toyota or honda is than american cars.. bla bla bla..
I know people like this.. there Ford gave them lots of trouble, yet when something gors wrong on thier Tundra.. like a Transmission problem, or needed a new Timming chain or belt.. then they say.. "Just needed periotic repairs!"
A billion excuses I hear all the time.
How lame is that excuse??
I often tell them MOVE AWAY, if we are so bad here... don't let the door hit you in the arse. on the way out!
Another Friend of mine had a Camrey that gave him problems galore, yet he swore toyota was the best..
All preferance, nothing more..
Toyota is spendinmg billions to keep up with the big 3 in nascar, while GM, Ford, and Dodge are spend nothing to the teams...
It is not competition... it's Toyota doesn't have the labor history, or employee rights the big 3 has.. so they make much much much much more profit.. pay workers less or slave labor... so they have the profits to blow on advertizing in nascar... blow it on giving teams half billion dollarsm, when we all know good and well the big 3 are struggling over employee wages, Toyotas slave labor doesn't have to pay...
You call this fair??
We need to Tex 20 fold all imports... and lower our own taxes here..
I'm glad to see 2 Dodges win... who did not need an extra half billion dollars to make 10-30 more hp, beat out the jap crap Toyotas.
I used to be a Dodge Fan, but now I am for Chevy, dodge or Ford to beat out the high dollar slave labor import team.
And before you come on here and tell me that Japan doesn't have sweat shops or slave labor, let me tell you, I've seen the documentries on the Japanese workers in Japan, who work overtime for FREE, to honnor the sompany.. or should we say work for free to keep thier jobs..
Over here in the USA, we have RIGHTS, we get paid to work overtime, we get paid 1.5 times the pay even.. so BOTH the company and people get good profits...
Toyota, rips off people, has more profits, and can afford to pay nascar teams who have Toyotas half a bllion dollars for tech ,and better equipment.. etc..
And you call that competition?..
If Toyota would have started up here in the USA back in the 20's or 30's, They'd have the same problem sthe big 3 have.. labor and benifit cost.. or be torn down by the labor unions..
Yet they come in established through many decades, come here after the union labor control movement, and get a free ride...
I know I sound like a broken record, but we need to think befoe we buy.. I'd rather buy a Dodge or Ford that is 40% American, than a Toyota that s only 5% American..
it's not a RA CE issue, ir's a NATIONALITY issue.. don't try and food others and call them racists because they are pro american..
Japanese don't but American autos because they can't. Our emissions are deemed to be unsafe to be sold in China, Japan etc, etc.
And all this patriotic stuff is ********. Move on with your life. There is more to the world then just "America" Thats why I dislike people like you, you give us REAL Americans a bad wrap. Your everything thats wrong with America today. A majority of us are stuck up, hard headed ******. We think the world revolves around us and has no care for everyone else. Well guess what, the world doesn't revolve around us. And in 5-10 years we won't be this "super power" Because eventually, our idiotic spending habits, the war and our inability to sufficently lower our pollution emissions will lead to our eventual demise.
Sorry, but I had a lot to get off my chest as a proud, blood in blood out Texan.
Last edited by mrsmopar12 : 02-19-2008 at 09:51 PM.
Reason: please keep your languge G-rated!
Toyota pins improvement hopes on Gibbs shops, teams sharing
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