NASCAR: Ford contingent says Toyota wont be competitive

http://www.nascar.com/2006/news/headlines/cup/01/23/ford.toyota.reax/index.html
"They don't stand a chance," Biffle said. "The Toyota teams are going to be tough guys, but I am telling you what, this sport is so hard, so tough, there isn't anyone that can come in and be competitive right off."
Biffle's teammate, Carl Edwards (http://www.nascar.com/drivers/dps/cedwards00/cup/index.html), said that Ford's work with the Fusion will help offset some of Toyota's advantages.
"This Fusion, they have put a lot of work into it and no one will let something happen that we don't want to happen without someone voicing our opinion," Edwards said. "Speculation is a pretty big thing."
Team owner Robert Yates, who has fielded Fords for nearly 20 years in the Nextel Cup Series, agreed that NASCAR's strict templates will make it tough for Toyota to dominate.
"I know our whole point is to race on Sunday and sell on Monday, so that's the part that I want to make sure we kick their butt," Yates said. "I'm sure they want to kick ours, but I think NASCAR handles the competition side of it so we can be competitive."
Anyone who thinks that Toyota wont be competitive is only fooling themselves.
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What an idiot. I hope Toyota kicks his ass.

http://www.autoblog.com/2006/01/24/toyota-wins-usac-midget-racing-debut/
Toyota wins USAC Midget racing debut
I will give them good odds to win the 07 Daytona 500:)

the problem is, if toyota gets good too quickly (or is too good at any point), NASCAR will make "competition" rules changes to equalize everything. All GM and Ford have to do is complain enough and BAM! rules change in their favor.

Like I said in my other post, it's going to be really interesting. (not interesting enough for me to watch the races, though:) I'll just follow the news online)

First time in my life, I will be a NASCAR fan !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I won't be surprised if people are throwing tomatoes/eggs at the Camrys there..
That happened the when the first Toyota hit the US soil so what difference does it make.

Even at that time Ford must have said, "THEY DON'T STAND A CHANCE...."

So funny................... :lol:

Ford can come suck the clean fumes out of my Toyota's exhaust pipe, it will be cleaner than the mineral water sold at the Ford headquarters.

What ever happened to the Celica Nascar they debuted? Was it too "girlie" for it? I believe the Tundras are also in the stock truck races as well.

Hmmm......if that's the case, if the Camry NASCAR does do well, Ford and GM should stop whining like little sissies and start to rethink on how to reengineer their cars.

"You don't gain anything by whining, but by finding your mistakes."

i thought it all came down to the ability of the driver anyway. the cars are so regulated and equalized there's not too much room to modify for performance.


soo...i 'm thinking they are talking out of their arse

i thought it all came down to the ability of the driver anyway. the cars are so regulated and equalized there's not too much room to modify for performance.


soo...i 'm thinking they are talking out of their arse

Pretty much. Most of the cars are so close in HP and torque and everything that the maker of the car doesn't really matter. I think the only things that really the crews can change is like the fuel to air ratio and maybe gear ratios? I don't really follow NASCAR that much.

the celica was only used a few years ago in the Winston West series (I believe aka Goody's Dash series or something like that).

I don't recall them ever having a lot of success, but that series was regional and really flew under the radar

In the truck series, they said the Tundras won't be good cuz they never built carburated engines (or something like that). Now they got a couple of wins under their belt. The Camry's will do the same.

HTey have been farily competitive in the Truck series and have only been racing there for two years. NO I dont think Toyota is going to comeout and win a Nextel Championship in their first year or even two or three years. But I think they will be competitive in that time frame. I have not heard yet who the team owners are or who they are looking at that might be a team owner. It will be interesting to see if any of the bigger names currently in NASCAR will jump ship from the domestic manufacturers over to Toyota.

As for Biffle, wouldnt it be funny if he ended up driving for one of the Toyota teams.

Isn't stock cars, not really stock cars? I remember reading a piece on how the Taurus was being raced, but shared no underpinning with the production Taurus.

This guy says Toyota won't be competitive? What a horse's ass!

Isn't stock cars, not really stock cars? I remember reading a piece on how the Taurus was being raced, but shared no underpinning with the production Taurus.
The cars that are raced in NASCAR have nothing to do with the production model and it's been that way since the late 80s when GM began discontinuing the rear drive Monte Carlo, Cutlass Supreme, and Regal. That's why the sport is such a joke...there is nothing stock about it. Everything is regulated so much (even the bodies) that you essentially have the same car for each manufacturer with different stick on decals. I've heard that the hoods and greenhouses are usually loosely based off the production model car, but otherwise they're cookie cutter bodies. NASCAR is like the WWF..."racertainment."

yup -- headlight decals are the main difference. So it's all about making the cars purdy.

First time in my life, I will be a NASCAR fan !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I won't be surprised if people are throwing tomatoes/eggs at the Camrys there..
That happened the when the first Toyota hit the US soil so what difference does it make.

Even at that time Ford must have said, "THEY DON'T STAND A CHANCE...."

So funny................... :lol:

Ford can come suck the clean fumes out of my Toyota's exhaust pipe, it will be cleaner than the mineral water sold at the Ford headquarters.
Thats right. When Toyota first came to the US, Henry Ford said his company would "push them back into the sea". I wonder what Mr. Ford would have to say now? :lol: (especially with Ford's 2nd restructuring plan in less than 5 years)
In every racing series that Toyota has entered, be if F1, or WRC, or Le Mans; everyone said they wouldnt stand a chance. Well, guess what? They were wrong in every instance.
Laugh it up while you can, Ford boys, you wont be laughing in '07 and beyond.

Its DEFINATLY not all about driver skill. The reliability of the car is proberly the MAIN factor. sorry to butt in here, but yes i watch Nascar and i thought that was rather stupid of Biffle to run his mouth. More importantly though. Is TOYOTA STUPID ALL OF A SUDDEN? Not supporting thier cars in the first years????? How ass backwards is that. How do you think they were so competitive in the Truck series..........

LOL...Thats Greg Biffle for you. He often speaks before thinking.
As to Toyota not supporting the teams, I wonder if maybe NASCAR told them they couldnt because it wouldnt be fair to the other makes.
Im sure GM, Ford and Dodge cryed foul on that one and considering how much NASCAR favors GM in terms of rules changes, I cant see them letting Toyota come in a dominate the "good ole boys".

Pics from NASCAR's golden days, when stock actually meant something.

http://hotrod.com/thehistoryof/113_0311_nascar_01_z.jpg
http://hotrod.com/thehistoryof/113_0311_nascar_06_z.jpg
http://www.bakerracingpix.com/86WW500_1-29.jpg

http://maddoggs69.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/21.jpghttp://hotrod.com/thehistoryof/113_0311_nascar_22_z.jpg

Who cares what they think. I'll be laughing my azz off at these morons when a Camry takes its first checkered flag. I'm so incensed after reading all the bashing, the misconceptions and the outright lies about Toyota on forums like blueoval, GMInside, Allpar, and C&G that I'm to the point I can only laugh at them now.

Besides, NASCAR is racertainment anyway. If anything, I'll be glad to see how much this pisses off those drunken hillbillies when a Camry starts practice at Daytona in 07.


Way to go, Toyota

I can't even tell the Nascar cars are supposed to be Monte Carlos, Stratus' or whatever they're based on without the badges.

I can't even tell the Nascar cars are supposed to be Monte Carlos, Stratus' or whatever they're based on without the badges.
Monte Carlo, Taurus, and Charger are the current ones. The Taurus is soon being phased out, replaced by the Fusion.

When is the final race day for the Taurus?

I'm not sure...I don't really follow NASCAR. They just announced the Fusion NASCAR a few months ago. I know when the Thunderbird was phased out for the Taurus, they allowed teams to hang on to their Thunderbirds for a year or two extra until a set date when they had to convert them over by.

The Fusion will be raced this year, I am sure all Ford teams will race it.

While the cars do not have much to do with their stock brethren, the series is by no means all identical cars.

Each team creates its own engines, etc, and while their are certain restrictions, there are some major differences between each team.

while the mechanicals are surely different btwn teams, I think many people's complaints stem from the common body template. A Charger/Intrepid, Taurus/Fusion, Monte Carlo, Camry are all the same except for the headlight stickers!

This gie is just upset b.c he knows if Toyota enters nascar that he will get his ass kicked

NASCAR went to a common template because of the politicts that were involved with certain brands having a supposed "aero advantage".
Every year you would have the BS of a certain brand having a slight aero disadvantage and the teams would sandbag to get an advantage. It was almost never-ending.
NASCAR wants things to be fair, and thats why the cars are all very similar.
As to the Taurus, its done. The teams should all be running the Fusion this season. It might not happen though, when the Taurus first came out the aerodynamics of it were so bad that a lot of teams still ran the T-bird for the first year.

NASCAR went to a common template because of the politicts that were involved with certain brands having a supposed "aero advantage".
Every year you would have the BS of a certain brand having a slight aero disadvantage and the teams would sandbag to get an advantage. It was almost never-ending.
NASCAR wants things to be fair, and thats why the cars are all very similar.
As to the Taurus, its done. The teams should all be running the Fusion this season. It might not happen though, when the Taurus first came out the aerodynamics of it were so bad that a lot of teams still ran the T-bird for the first year.
To add to that, in the late 80s GM released limited edition "Aeroback" versions of the Monte Carlo and Grand Prix in order to justify having the aero rear window on the NASCAR versions. The Thunderbird with its 1983 refresh was kicking butt due to its fastback window and lower drag coefficients. The Monte Carlo and Grand Prix's notchback rooflines created too much drag on the rear end.

After 1988 when GM began dropping the rear drive G-bodies, everything went to hell and that's when we began seeing common template bodies.

1986 Thunderbird
http://www.dragtimes.com/images/1096750600IMAG0019.JPG

1986 Monte Carlo SS Aeroback
http://www.montecarloss.com/images/Erics86Aero.jpg

1986 Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2
http://www.pontiacserver.com/gph3_2+2.jpg

Id personally really like to see NASCAR get back to real stock car racing. I say take the car off the showroom floor, put a rollcage and other safety equipment in it and race.
Id like to see them do something like what they do in Touring Car racing: let them make the cars go as fast as they can with the stock design.
As it stands right now, NASCAR is little more than a low-tech, sedan bodied version of F1, IMO.

Id personally really like to see NASCAR get back to real stock car racing. I say take the car off the showroom floor, put a rollcage and other safety equipment in it and race.
Id like to see them do something like what they do in Touring Car racing: let them make the cars go as fast as they can with the stock design.
As it stands right now, NASCAR is little more than a low-tech, sedan bodied version of F1, IMO.

I agree. I've heard that the Impala SS is actually about as fast 0-60 as a Charger R/T despite the FWD. I'm all for reviving the "race on Sunday, sell on Monday" mantra. With the Fusion receiving the 3.5L V6 soon and the next Camry coming with 268 hp, I'd be more interested in seeing those four race than the current NASCAR setup. The Charger would have the advantage being the only RWD car of the bunch, but hey...that's the way it goes.

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Yeah, but Toyota isnt going to offer the teams full factory support in Busch and Cup like they did in the truck series. BIG difference.

I'm glad Toyota's getting in on the NASCAR circuit. Hell, people shouldn't say shit about it at the races. Toyota has become about as american as any other brand. Besides they're actually adding jobs to our economy while GM and Ford are cutting dozens of plants and thousands of workers due to lousy sales, and partly due to lousy engineering!!!!!!! They'll be some growing pains in the sport but they've been pretty competitive in the truck series.