No More Humble Pie: Toyota Will Win in NASCAR 2008

The overriding value at the core of Toyota’s corporate culture is humbleness. Rarely, if ever, does the company toot its own horn. It avoids comparing itself with its competitors. It keeps its head down and focuses on the details, convinced that a never-ending pursuit of small improvements will eventually lead to big accomplishments.

So we were caught a bit off guard when Jim Aust, Toyota Motor Sales’ vice president of motorsports, recently proclaimed to Open Road that there was no question that a NASCAR-spec Camry would win in Sprint (formerly Nextel) Cup in 2008. The only uncertainties, in his mind, were when the first win would occur and how many would follow.

Keep in mind that Toyota posted just two top-five finishes and 11 top 10s in 2007, the brand’s first in NASCAR’s premier series.

Why will 2008 be different? Here are three key reasons:

• Toyota’s original Cup teams have settled in—Toyota went into its inaugural Cup season with three teams of seven cars, and two of those teams were completely new. As such, only two of its entries had guaranteed spots in the first five races, leaving the other entries to battle the field and one another at each event for the few remaining qualifying spots. By necessity, the focus was on making the cut, leaving little preparation time to do well in the race. With a full year of experience under their belts, all are poised to fare better in the new year.
• Its engine has been sorted out—Going into 2007, Toyota had hoped to leverage the pushrod V-8 that had powered its Tundras in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series in 2005 and 2006. But NASCAR approved it for use only in the Busch Series, requiring modifications for Nextel Cup. Now that the in-the-heat-of-battle development is behind it, Aust is convinced Toyota’s engine will deliver competitive horsepower and reliability, race in and race out.
• New teams will raise the talent pool—Perhaps the biggest news for Toyota’s NASCAR effort occurred off the track when Joe Gibbs Racing—which has taken three Cup drivers’ championships so far this decade—announced it would put Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch in Camrys in 2008. All three are locked into the top 35 in owners points, meaning they are guaranteed spots in at least the first five races. Former Gibb’s driver J.J. Yeley, now with Hall of Fame Racing, will also pilot a Camry. He has a guaranteed spot as well. Do the math and you come up with as many as 11 cars on the starting grid with a minimum of five in the first five events.

The surge in confidence doesn’t mean Aust expects to compete head-to-head with Ford, Chevy and Dodge for a championship in 2008. But Toyota could well be knocking on that door in 2009. If so, it would be—even if out of character—something to boast about.

~ Contributed by Dan Miller, Corporate Communications

Comments

[Fokus]

God I hope FORD does the right thing here. I love my '02 Mustang GT but I have begun to realize I have to get better fuel mileage and to do that it seems I have to get a lighter car. For me this will be in about 2 years as I have to pay of the F250 first as I can't afford to make two vehicle payments but what to get? However it still has to be as FUN to drive as the GT is. As I can't afford a BMW 135 what will it be, a MazdaSpeed 3, a Mini Cooper S, A Subaru WRX? None of these gets that much better mileage...