Toyota Is Ready to Enter World of NASCAR
Changes are coming fast for the NASCAR faithful.
It is going to be awkward for them to say “Nextel Cup” next year instead of Winston Cup, the staple of stock car racing for the past 32 years.
It is going to be painful for the traditionalists to adjust to having the 50-year-old Southern 500 in November while NASCAR is racing in California on Labor Day weekend instead of Darlington, S.C.
But that’s nothing compared to what’s coming. How does this sound:
TOYOTA WINS DAYTONA 500.
It will be sometime in the future, but the wheels are turning in that direction. Old-timers will undoubtedly cringe when they realize that Toyota now conforms to the framework of NASCAR’s original eligibility clause, “For American-made steel-bodied passenger car production sedans.”
The Japanese manufacturer, third largest in the world, is building Tundra trucks in Princeton, Ind., Camrys in Georgetown, Ky., and Corollas in Fremont, Calif.
More surprising, perhaps, is Toyota’s decision to abide by NASCAR’s archaic engine rule, mandating the use of out-of-date push-rod engines built to run with carburetors.
In 1989, during an interview with Bill France at the Beverly-Wilshire, NASCAR’s head man said: “I think it would be interesting if one of the Japanese cars qualified. Personally, I would welcome them, but first they would have to meet our size and engine regulations. We run only rocker-arm type engines, so we would not allow the double overhead cams. And all ours are normally aspirated, so there could be no turbocharging.”
Now Toyota has done it, or is in the process of doing it.
Given the manufacturer’s record of winning in every series it enters, throwing money, manpower and know-how into the programs, it is inevitable that in time its cars will be running with the lead pack in Nextel Cup (sounds funny, doesn’t it?) racing.
Toyota’s first inroads into NASCAR country started in 1998-99 when it entered the Goody’s Dash, a low-level series in the Southeast, with a V6 Celica.
“That was an interesting scenario,” said Les Unger, Toyota’s national motorsports manager. “We took a production-based 4-valve engine, configured it to run with a carburetor, and NASCAR approved our formula.
“From that point forward, we gained an appreciation for the way they do things, and they got familiar with the way we do things.”
When Robert Huffman won at Kentucky in 2001, it was the first win in NASCAR history for an overhead-cam, multi-valve engine -- albeit equipped with a carburetor.
The next step was a big one, into the Craftsman Truck series with its Tundra. The plan was announced last February, with expectations that there will be six Toyota trucks when the 2004 season opens in February.
“We still have a lot of balls in the air, but we’re getting close,” Unger said. “We submit our chassis designs and body style to NASCAR next Tuesday, along with the other manufacturers, and wait for our final aero evaluation.
“On a parallel path, we are building an engine, designed from the ground up as a purpose-built racing engine with NASCAR specs, which means it is built to run with a carburetor. To that extent, it uses the same block and engine that can be used to run the Busch or the Winston Cup series.”
Which, of course, means that as soon as the Tundra is competitive, the Camry or some other model eligible for Winston Cup won’t be far behind. The pattern is likely to follow that of Dodge, which started with trucks before hiring Ray Evernham to develop a Cup program.
At this point, top-level Toyota people -- perhaps not wanting to appear greedy, or overly aggressive -- claim their full concentration is on the truck program. Toyota builds 100,000 trucks a year in Indiana and has a facility under construction in San Antonio that will produce another 150,000 by 2006.
“Trucks are our entire focus,” Unger said. “Our whole emphasis is to generate more exposure for our trucks in Middle America. That’s why we are in Texas. It’s far and away No. 1 in truck sales.”
To further solidify its relationship with NASCAR, Toyota is launching a first-ever event, the Toyota All-Star Showdown, which will showcase the best drivers of NASCAR’s weekly touring series in November at Irwindale Speedway -- even though there will be no Toyotas eligible.
“Our thinking is, down the road, that if we are successful in the truck series, it will not take much modification for our truck engine to be made adaptable for other touring series,” Unger said. “We look at it as an opportunity to grow our involvement at the grass-roots level. After all, talent for the truck series, and the Cup series, has to come from somewhere and we believe it will come from the touring series. So this way we will establish a relationship with some drivers who may become the stars of tomorrow.”
Unger expects to have his drivers and teams in place in the next 60 days.
Ivan Stewart made the Tundra trucks famous in off-road circles with a series of wins in Baja, but the Tundras in NASCAR will bear no relationship except the name. The ones Stewart raced had multi-valve engines, a modern concept not allowed in Winston, or Nextel, Cup country.
NASCAR claims its fans are devout in their loyalty to sponsors, but the claim will be put to the test by Sen. Bob Graham of Florida, who is sponsoring a Craftsman Truck in hopes of reaching rural and small-town voters in his Democratic presidential campaign.
Two problems: 1. Jon Wood, who drove the “Bob Graham for President Ford F-150” truck to a win at Kansas Speedway, says he knows nothing about politics, and had to ask his father if he is a Democrat or a Republican. 2. The vast majority of NASCAR fans are registered Republicans.
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Supermoto Is Here
A new motorcycle series, the AMA Red Bull Supermoto championship, has brought supercross superstar Jeremy McGrath out of retirement. Supermoto, which was showcased at California and Irwindale Speedways before becoming an AMA series, combines motocross and road racing on a course with about 80% pavement and 20% dirt.
“I feel like a kid again, it’s so much fun,” said McGrath, 31, a seven-time supercross champion.
The first official AMA Supermoto will be this weekend at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway as part of the Honda Superbike Classic, which features national and world superbike championship races.
Three U.S. riders, Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom and Yoshimura Suzuki teammates Mat Mladin and Aaron Yates, will race against world superbike regulars such as points leader Neil Hodgson of Britain, who rides a Ducati, in two 28-lap races Sunday.
The AMA national is Saturday.
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Passings
A memorial service for Vic Hickey, a pioneer in drag racing and off-road racing, will be held July 26 at the Grace Bible Church, 100 Rodeo Drive, Arroyo Grande.
Hickey, 84, died June 13 in Arroyo Grande of natural causes.
When he was 16, Hickey built his first race car, a hot rod. One of his cars appeared on the cover of Vol. 1, No. 1 of Hot Rod Magazine in 1948. He helped inaugurate the off-road movement by building his Trailblazer in 1958 and in 1969 his Chevy-powered Baja Boot won the inaugural Baja 500. Later, he designed and built the prototype Humvee for the military.
Hickey is survived by his wife of 63 years, Leona, son Jim and daughter Gail Prior.
