Toyota debuts NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow + WALTRIP

[SILVERadoTACOMA]

Originally Posted by 91MR2quickNA

Still, you can have a long green flag run and have to pit, putting yourself a lap or two down. I'm just saying it's more than 1%. That was a little too low for me.

Haha, I understand bud, no hard feelings, I made those numbers up to emphasize how important the driver/crew/and team are to the car, not just the car alone. You know, like "football is 90% mental, 10% physical"? Just my observations after watching NASCAR for over 15 years. I just find it ignorant that people think Toyota will all of a sudden dominate Nascar when the driver and team have more to do with a Win than anything else.

I am disappointed in "the car of the future." I know the cars "look a like" now, but I can still tell them apart. The car of the future will make all teams use the same car. What will even be the point of camry, fusion, charger, and monte carlo? Nascar might as well make them all use the same engine/tranny too. While we're at it, make everyone use the same set-up (I'm joking, I don't want this to happen.)

Now if this were back in the day, camry would HAVE to have a v-8 production car.... did you hear that Toyota? How about a V-8 camry???? (One can always hope, right?)

[marcpunk]

If the list of drivers is to be trusted (I havent heard confirmation of all of them), you have a former Cup champion in Jarret, a 3 time year-end top ten driver in Mayfield, a proven restrictor plate winner in Waltrip, and a solid up-and-comer in Vickers. Not a bad start to building teams. And as for previous NASCAR successes, the Tundra did not come along right at the beginning of the Craftsman Trcuk series. This is only their 3rd year, maybe 4th, and they are already dominating. Plus, in the late Goody's Dash series, Toyota had just begun to dominate when the plud was pulled on the series. They know what they're doing.

[toyota43]

It kind of goes like this NASCAR = WOW Wrestling on wheels and TOYOTA = TRD Total racing domination. Don't worry if it is a slow start it will be a quick rise to the top.

[EchoHoLiK]

Originally Posted by SILVERadoTACOMA

HJust my observations after watching NASCAR for over 15 years. I just find it ignorant that people think Toyota will all of a sudden dominate Nascar when the driver and team have more to do with a Win than anything else.

Wow, if you're referring to me than I'm SO SORRY Just because I don't watch NASCAR for over 15 years like you do, doesn't mean I don't watch all sorts of MOTORSPORT racing for the most part of my life. And aside from Porsche, it's very evident that whatever kinds of motorsport Toyota touches, Toyota usually wins and dominates (not initially of course), aside from Formula-1.
I'm sure you are one of those people who reckoned Toyota would have no chance in their first few years in NCTS, and I'm sure that type of thinking ended up biting you up the ass. I'm not naively saying that Toyota will come in and sweep away the wins in the first few years as if it's a walk in the park, all I'm saying is don't hold your breath if Toyota not being the up and comer is what you have in mind, because time and time again their willingness to win (and eventually winning and dominating) WILL prove you wrong.
We should just forego any predictive arguments, and just sit back and watch the show

[SILVERadoTACOMA]

Hey man, don't take anything you read on the internet as personal. Disagreeing on issues is what makes the internet fun and a good educational tool. If we all thought alike, what fun would that be? I'm nothing more than an IP address

An interesting read:

[quote] Toyota has competed in the Craftsman Truck Series since 2003, and its Tundra came within 73 points of winning the title in 2005. After failing to record a victory in the season's first 11 races, Toyotas won nine of the final 14 events.

But Toyota said Monday that its Nextel Cup teams won't follow the pattern that made it so successful in the Craftsman Truck Series. Toyota always has heavily supported the teams financially and provided the same engineering help, and that will change in 2007.
Unlike Dodge in 2001, Toyota will not enter the sport by providing factory-sponsored teams. Its teams will be expected to find outside funding from existing or new sponsors.
Biffle said that the learning curve for teams is much steeper than in 2001, especially with some top teams simply struggling to win at the Nextel Cup level. [quote]


The article:

http://www.nascar.com/2006/news/head...eax/index.html

(yes, the article is definatly one sided, but there is some good information in it)
The cup series is VERY competitive. (Last year's champion didn't even make "the chase." this year) Gonna be fun to watch next year!

[vasia]

While true that Toyota's Cup teams will not be factory backed, it's still not such a huge issue. Why? TRD was heavily involved with the development of Toyota's "car of today" Camry. In fact, the final car design has already been approved by NASCAR, so that car's development is done. TRD is also currently heavily involved in Toyota's "car of tomorrow" Camry.

Besides, the teams have some solid experience and funding. Bill Davis racing, and Germain Racing are both experienced teams with decent funding. Furthermore, Red Bull and UPS are big sponsors, and should provide plentiful funding. UPS in particular sponsoring Waltrip's team should mean good funding, as Waltrip's team itself is pretty big. Did I mention Burger King and Domino's as sponsors as well?

If Toyota was fielding inexperienced teams, with some low ball sponsors, then a lot of the critics would have a point ... but that's not the case here.