We can all remember when Joe Gibbs Racing left Chevy for Toyota in September 2007. What happened soon after was that out of all Nascar cars, Toyota started to pull in most of the serious talent. Back then the move paid rich dividends as Toyota soon after had won its first Nascar – Thanks to Denny Hamlin who bagged the Second Gatorade Duel qualifying race held at Daytona in February. This win had a lot to do with Denny’s teammate Tony Stewart who held off an aggressive Jeff Gordon so that Denny could make it to the checkered flag. With Denny at First and Tony at second, that meant that among all the Nascar cars there were to be three Toyotas in the initial three rows of the Daytona 500 the following weekend.
Ford and GM have already been raising concerns about Toyota’s entry into the top three touring series – and the reason has been that it would raise the financial stakes tremendously for Nascar cars.
Toyota has a knack of buying in big when it comes to racing and this knack has been seen in their Indycar programs which are by far one of the best funded programs in the industry. So there is no reason to doubt the fact that the primary reason why Toyota does well in the Nascar is because of their big dollar deals.
Provided that Nascar can continue to keep costs in check by ensuring that manufacturers don’t spoil the spirit of the sport – the focus for all manufactures should be the Nascar cars’ driving and not the dollar.
But I have to say that out of NASCAR’s four manufacturers, Ford is the one that is most team-oriented. There is no doubt that Toyota has really stepped on the paddle in their 2008 program which has made them look outstanding among the Nascar cars. Chevrolet has been very impressive with Hendrick, Childressa and DEI being the three big players. Chevrolet has not sponsored a car since year end 2006.
As mentioned Ford is the most team-oriented Nascar car manufacturer and they have helped Doug Yates’ No. 28 car for 3 seasons, including the Darlington when Ford was on the front hood. The No. 28 car had been without a sponsor for a number of races but during this season Ford sponsored them for 3 races.
The Nascar cars and the teams ought to be thankful to Ford as the manufacturer’s success can be attributed to the fact that they stick with their teams and had there been no Ford, there would have been a mess with many cars and teams folding up – an example is the 21 which had it not been a Ford, would have folded up.
Toyota has pumped and continues to pump millions of dollars into developing competitive engines for the Nascar cars and for driving sharp marketing programs that inspire confidence in the blue collar Nascar fan that the manufacturer is committed to the sport. As for other Nascar car Manufacturers, Chevy and GM, it cant be denied that they are in their worst state in years with stocks falling for the first time since 1955.
The bad news for Nascar cars in general is that the American economy is currently tottering and American car manufacturers are in a generally poor state. Whereas companies like Toyota are taking over with big dollar budgets. Like other American industries; Nascar - Nascar cars, their manufacturers, and the Nascar teams will take some time to get back on track.
