Subscribe to this blog's feed« A Buffet of NASCAR Thoughts | Main | NASCAR Went to Loudon and a Race Showed Up »
June 30, 2007
Oh, what a feeling!
By DAVID GREEN
Congratulations to Dave Blaney and the Bill Davis Racing team for claiming the pole at New Hampshire. I'm wondering, halfway through this historic season, how most fans feel about Toyota's participation in Cup Series racing; as for myself, I'm getting used to it.
It took some getting used to, I must admit. I won't get into all the debate over whether the Camry (assembled in my home state, by the way) is more of a "domestic" automobile than its NASCAR competitor models, but I'm old-school and Japanese brands are definitely not something I associated with American stock car racing.
That reaction is not something that's limited to supposedly "redneck" NASCAR, either. When Honda made its first appearance in the Indianapolis 500 in 1994, there were more than a few "boos" from the crowd. Funny how when Spaniards cheer for Fernando Alonso or Brits for Lewis Hamilton, they're just being nationalistic, but when Americans voice a preference for American cars and drivers, they're being xenophobic.
Anyway, looks as if the Camry crews are making progress. It doesn't surprise me that it's Blaney and the Bill Davis team who are showing the way. It is mystifying how Jeremy Mayfield has not done any better than he has done in the other Davis Toyota.
The difficulties for new entry Red Bull Racing don't really come as such a shock, either. Not too many upstart teams have come in and kicked butt in this series -- not only recently, but historically, except for Carl Kiekhaefer in 1955-56. No team has ever dominated NASCAR the way those Mercury Outboard-sponsored Chrysler 300s did for two seasons, but that's another story for another day.
Obviously, the biggest surprise for Toyota has been the struggle of Michael Waltrip's team. For one thing, it's not a new team in the sense that Red Bull is. It had its basis in the long-standing Michael Waltrip Racing Busch Series endeavor and it had last year to get ready for the move to Cup in Waltrip's partnership with Davis.
Also, the inconsistency among the three MWR cars represents a huge puzzle.
Ostensibly, the Davis and Waltrip efforts were considered the primary standard bearers for TRD in NASCAR, no disrespect intended toward Red Bull and drivers Brian Vickers and A.J. Allmendinger. BDR has delivered, and Blaney is rewarding those who pipped him as the Toyota driver most likely to succeed in 2007. Victory is within reach for these guys, I believe.
June 30, 2007 | Permalink
Comments
I think it ia AWSOME!...ok so I'm a lil partial to Toyota, But give them time and they'll be competing for the Championship! If DJ doesn't step it up I'm applying for the JOB!...David the #55 might be inviting?!
Posted by: Fan #5 | Jun 30, 2007 8:45:10 AM
David,
A great job by Blaney and BDR.
I didn't have any problem accepting Toyota. They employ a ton of americans. And, the COT is so alien, compared to street cars, that without decals it would be tough to guess it's lineage.
Posted by: Keith | Jun 30, 2007 11:25:20 AM
I, for one, AM NOT GETTING USED TO IT, AND I WILL NOT !!!!! The nascar that I have loved since 1963 was an American sport with American drivers and American cars. Where is your national pride? If the good people of Japan or Columbia or any other country want to go stock car racing, they can build some tracks and race in THEIR country,in their cars, with their drivers, and leave my sport to me and my fellow AMERICAN fans. And while I'm at it, Brian and his pals can keep their COT. Lots of us used to follow Indy car racing, but then it became all the same cars and engines and who cares any more? I've been a fan for all these years to see a Ford beat a Chevy, or a Dodge beat 'em both. Show some American pride and spirit.Tell the outsiders to find their own game to play.
Posted by: Sterling | Jun 30, 2007 11:27:45 AM
ass backward,backwood s*^theads like this are why we are the laughing stock of the world.Join the F$$###G 21st century.
Posted by: Tee-Moan | Jun 30, 2007 12:58:36 PM
David might I interject, I am mad as hell that Brian Vickers got sent packing this week, But wasn't Jeff Gordon's car too low a few races back? Hell they got to FIX there cars last week AND still got to race!
Posted by: Fan #5 | Jun 30, 2007 2:31:41 PM
Sterling, how far back would you apply that standard? The Chevrolet brothers came here from France, you know. As for national pride, I'm an Army veteran and my U.S. flag is flying as Independence Day approaches. Not that I'd be much help at my age, but I would volunteer to defend this country against any enemy. I just don't figure that Toyotas racing in NASCAR constitute such a threat.
Tee-Moan, I appreciate your point, but I'd counter that America as a whole is a laughingstock only to people in other countries who are as narrow-minded as ... well, to be polite, as some of us Americans.
Fan #5, you mean NASCAR's officiating is not always consistent?!?
Posted by: David Green | Jun 30, 2007 4:30:10 PM
I am sorry. It is going take me a real long time to accept Toyota being in NASCAR. A real long long long time.
Posted by: WBinCC | Jun 30, 2007 4:32:46 PM
Fan #5, the #24 was penalized for being too low. He lost his starting position and had to start at the back of the field. Vickers would have had the same penalty if he was in the top 35. Since he wasn't, he had to go home.
David, great article - thanks for the unbiased reporting and your honest opinions. Some fans let emotions get in the way of their race/driver/team enjoyment.
Posted by: SrRaceFan | Jun 30, 2007 7:01:32 PM
Sterling:
"I, for one, AM NOT GETTING USED TO IT, AND I WILL NOT !!!!! The nascar that I have loved since 1963 was an American sport with American drivers and American cars."
WOW Sterling, I never knew Mario Andretti was of American ancestry. I always thought he was born in Italy. Not to mention your "American sport" hasn't always been contested with "American" cars.
Guess you're to young to know Al Keller driving a Jaguar won NASCAR's first road course event, and other brands in the 43-car field included Austin-Healey, MG, Porsche and even a Morgan. In all, 21 entries were foreign brands.
A few questions Sterling, How do you watch any of the NASCAR events? With your attitude it can't be via your television, there have been no TV's "made in America" in a couple decades.
I'd also be willing to bet the PC you typed your tripe with was on a box built in Japan, Taiwan or China.
Do you avert your eyes when the foreign born place kicker boots a field goal in the NFL?
How about when a Hispanic steps into a MLB batters box or a foriegn born NBA center dunks the ball?
NOTE to David Green... There is a VAST difference between having a Nationalistic attitude and being a xenophobe.
Sterling is a poster child (emphasis on CHILD) for xenophobia.
Posted by: Marc | Jun 30, 2007 7:28:38 PM
All you have to do is look at the Truck Series. The Japs will eventually run the American Manufactures out of the Cup Series. It might take a little longer but they will get there. And Gibbs might be the first stepping stone.
Posted by: jeff | Jun 30, 2007 8:32:08 PM
"...dancing on the ceiling..."
sorry, couldn't resist the title.
It is about time Toyota's roared to life. Half of the season, most of their teams were packing up and heading out the track gate early. After all the hooplah raised when it was announced Toyota joins Nextel Cup and Roush declared war.
It was a matter of time before Bill Davis team showed the muscle, of course after a little give by NASCAR....
Toyota, possible sandbagging for the first dozen races to get leniency in the engine department. Heck Vickers was a man on a mission a few weeks ago after the engine allowances. Pit problems were his downfall. I bet this pole is only a sign of things to come and Toyota will reign in '08. Especially if rumors hold and Gibbs moves over.
Posted by: anonymouse | Jun 30, 2007 9:37:03 PM
I've said it since Day One: Toyota will do just fine. Will Toyota "reign in '08?" Well, that's a bit optimistic, but they'll do just fine. And as much as I'm a Waltrip fan, they might do better if MW stopped driving. Even DJ might be well advised to step aside and let some youngsters step up. Kyle Busch??
Posted by: Doug in CA | Jun 30, 2007 11:37:46 PM
Toyota sandbagging? I doubt it. Most of their teams didn't have the luxury of being in the top 35 in points at the start of the season so they had to qualify on time. Why would they sandbag when that would all but assure that their teams would continue to be outside of the top 35 for the entire season?
As for MWR. I don't think it's a suprise at all. You're talking about a rookie, a has been and a never was behind the wheels of their cars not to mention Michael Waltrip running that team, not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Posted by: Ken | Jul 1, 2007 10:05:00 AM
Marc -- WBinCC's comment expresses an honest aversion. There's nothing wrong with someone having a preference, as opposed to an overt hostility. Most of us understand that, and most of us accept WB's opinion and recognize that it's just the way he feels, and he has no ill will toward Toyota -- he'd just rather they had stayed out of Cup racing.
However, it is the kind of thing that many people -- particularly self-styled intellectuals, with the condescention and smugness that breeds -- dismiss as "xenophobic." Those are the people I was referring to. Many of them live on the Continent, but a good many of them live in America, too. Around the globe, bashing all things American is highly fashionable nowadays.
SrRaceFan, thanks for a very nice compliment.
Jeff, I think you're overstating things. The American manufacturers have not exactly been "run out" of the Craftsman Truck Series. They have been outperformed, no question, for a period -- just as Chevrolet has been the butt kicker for most of this Cup season. These things go in cycles. The causes are myriad.
Anonymouse, I have to agree with Doug in CA on the "Toyota will reign in '08" prediction. That might be a stretch, even if the Gibbs team switches brand names. As you might have guessed when I wrote, "Victory is within reach" for the Caterpillar-sponsored 22, I also agree with Doug that Toyota "will do just fine."
I think Ken has it right about the sandbagging. They might have been tempted to throttle back if they'd come out with a dominant car, but people who are struggling to make the field don't usually resort to that sort of thing.
Posted by: David Green | Jul 1, 2007 10:11:10 AM
Ken, I have to take issue with you in your dismissal of MWR. I covered the sport closely when Waltrip was coming up, and a lot of very, very credible people (does Dale Earnhardt count?) had a healthy regard for Michael's driving ability. Toyota, an international corporate giant with a pretty good record for making business judgments, chose Waltrip to field one of its teams.
The MWR Busch Series team was always very, very competitive at that level. True, all winning Busch Series drivers and teams don't succeed at the next level, but most do if they have the resources and financial support. It is safe to assume, I believe, that MWR has that now.
And so, my surprise that they have done so badly. Note, please, that I'm not surprised they have not won six or seven races; I am surprised that the 55 car has failed to qualify so many times, and the odd comparison of the performance of Reutimann vs. Jarrett makes no sense at all. Assuming the cars have some measure of similar capability, has DJ stumbled so badly or is DR just that good?
Maybe you're not surprised. I am.
Posted by: David Green | Jul 1, 2007 10:22:15 AM
David, How much support are the other manufactures actually giving the Truck series. I'm pretty sure the American manufactures cut way back if not all support. This will continue, it will just take longer.All it's going to take is for Toyota to land a top shelf team and the snowball will be on its way. The only series that the Japs have failed in is F1.
Posted by: jeff | Jul 1, 2007 10:23:39 AM
Thanks Dave,
In reality, I just don't know why I find it hard to accept Toyota in NASCAR. It isn't "US against THEM" type thing. It just that this was an American sport division; I know all manufactures have factories in other countries. National Auto Stock Car Association Racing means something to me. I am going thru this as logical as I can here. LOL The rumor is that JGR maybe going to Toyota and that makes things real tough for me being a Tony Stewart Fan. I never own "Foreign" car. I alway brought American. I know. I know. Its just the way I am about certain things. Oh hell, I guess this isn't make any sense at all. LOL
Posted by: WBinCC | Jul 1, 2007 11:37:36 AM
The Chevrolet Bros. American company had been building American cars for a long time before nascar got started. They didn't bring a French car to crash the party, they helped throw the party.
I'm well aware of the lonely Jaguar win, in an era when nascar sanctioned several races every week in several different series.
Foreign made tv and pc - exactly my point! How many things are we willing to give away? The American auto industry is in deep trouble, just as the American electronics industry once was, when too many Americans turned their back on the companies that helped build America.
I don't watch the NFL, MLB, or NBA. I'm a race fan.
Call me all the names you want, this is still the land of free speech, and I just made mine.
Posted by: Sterling | Jul 1, 2007 11:56:31 AM
C'MON! This rant against Toyota is just plain silly, Toyota's have long since been built in the USA, GM even SELLs cars that are Toyota based...Corolla /GEO, Matrix/Pontiac Vibe, Tacoma/Colorado. Who care if some of the profits go to Japan...so far Toyota isn't shutting down facilities and putting millions of worker out if a job, Do the CEO's get a cut in pay then?...think NOT! I'm sure that the folks in St Paul Mn, would welcome a Toyota plant there!
Posted by: Fan #5 | Jul 1, 2007 12:56:18 PM
Fan #5,
Yes, I know that Toyota has some factories in the USA. I am just having a hard time accepting them in NASCAR thats all. I have nothing against them really as a company nor as a race team. Right now, I just find it un-natural thats all. Like I said, it is going take me some time to accept them being in NASCAR. Thats all. So there! :p LOL
Posted by: WBinCC | Jul 1, 2007 6:36:24 PM
First of all,let's address MWR.Toyota has a 3 year plan and they will stick to it.2009 will be the year they will have the most success.They seem to have a lot of patience.MW and DJ have both said they can not drive Reutimann's set up and that's to bad.
Second,Sterling,I think your opinion has a lot of merit.I'm not sure what that name was he called you either.We're all race fans or we would not be here!
Happy 4th everybody!
Posted by: Short Lady | Jul 1, 2007 6:39:03 PM
Toyota may have plants in the U.S but
the money all goes back to Japan. It does
not stay here in the U.S. I will not buy
a Toyota or any foreign car. I support our
U.S. car companies 100%. Sterling, I agree
with you all the way. I hope my favorite
driver never goes to a Toyota team and if
he did, he just lost a fan. Toyota just
doesn't have it this year.
Posted by: American Car | Jul 1, 2007 6:54:36 PM
Short Lady:
"Second,Sterling,I think your opinion has a lot of merit.I'm not sure what that name was he called you either.We're all race fans or we would not be here!"
Then look it up.
American Car:
"Toyota may have plants in the U.S but
the money all goes back to Japan. It does
not stay here in the U.S. "
Tell that to the thousands that earn their living via manufacturing plants, dealerships and parts companies.
Tell it to the ad companies and their thousands of employees that rake in millions via Toyota advertising directed at the U.S.
Tell it the hundreds that are earning compensation, like say MWR, Bill Davis and others via Toyota being in NASCAR.
Just how is all THAT money going back to Japan?
Posted by: marc | Jul 1, 2007 7:31:16 PM
Someday when all of our manufacturing facilities are long gone. We will then be depending on foriegn manufactures just like we are for oil. Who is going to build our military hardware, China, India etc. That makes me feel real secure.
Posted by: jeff | Jul 1, 2007 7:51:46 PM
The two things that are destroying the American Auto Makers: Corporate Greed and Unions. Why should GM pay someone $28.00/hr. for someone to sweep floors? Give me a break!
Posted by: SteveH | Jul 1, 2007 9:16:51 PM
Post a comment
Advertisements
