Toyota and NASCAR: Pure “American” Power?
Written by Sheila Scarborough · February 16, 2007
There are a lot of moving parts in the upcoming 2007 NASCAR season. The excitement kicks off with the 49th running of the Daytona 500 in Florida this Sunday, February 18th.
But meantime, back at the garage….
Junior and his step-Momma are having a Dale Earnhardt Incorporated (DEI) control moment.
Juan Pablo Montoya is a one-man NASCAR diversity machine.
It’s Infraction City, baby, as yet another driver, Jeff Gordon, gets popped when his car failed the post-Gatorade Duel inspection.
So let’s talk about Toyota, and whether they belong in NASCAR.
Roush Racing has been vocal in its opposition to Toyota, apparently because it’s afraid of the deep pockets of the Japanese automaker. Unfortunately for Ford-backed Roush teams, they should be worried; Ford just posted the biggest loss in the company’s 103-year history.
Sure, many of the Japanese manufacturers are eating Detroit’s lunch. What else is new?
American carmakers have come a long way in improving against the Japanese, but not everyone has pressed the “Believe” button. U.S. dealers keep selling their vehicles with razor-thin profit margins and big cash rebates/handouts. The Japanese don’t have to damage their bottom line like that to sell their cars. Sorry, guys, people are willing to pay more when it comes down to quality, reliability, resale value and imaginative styling (both interior and exterior.)
(Full disclosure: I drive a Dodge and a Saturn, and have lived in Japan.)
I’m not blind to the pension fund disasters, employee benefits differences and other problems of Detroit-based carmakers, but the bottom line is that this is a competition, and whining from the losers isn’t changing the results.
Do Toyota vehicles belong in top-tier NASCAR events, or only American cars? Here’s the problem — there ARE no “American” cars.
The Ford Fusion is made in Hermosillo, Mexico. The Dodge Charger and Chevrolet Monte Carlo are made in Canada.
And the Toyota Camry? It’s made by Americans in Toyota’s Georgetown, Kentucky plant, near Lexington.
For me, it’s like asking if an American (Lance Armstrong) ought to be allowed to totally dominate the Tour de France, or Yao Ming/Dirk Nowitzski to play in the NBA, or an American to actually medal in the Nordic biathlon. You got game in a sport, you’re in there.
Back to Daytona — this was supposed to be the Toyota Camry’s splashy NASCAR debut at the Great American Race. They got a splash all right; blatant cheating by the Waltrip team to try to overcome power problems they’ve been having in the run-up to the race.
Some might say that this is no story; there is always cheating in NASCAR and if you don’t cheat, you’re doing your team a disservice.
Huh?
Not to throw a culture stink bomb here, but it is hard for me to understand how some of NASCAR’s fan base can give the old wink/nudge/hardy-har-har to cheating, when some of that same demographic talks a lot about “moral values.” Look, you either think cheating’s OK or you don’t, but at least be consistent in your convictions.
A little Japanese hara-kiri by the Waltrip team, figuratively speaking, of course, would seem appropriate.
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Nascar hands all those other penalties for cheating and jeffie cheats and wins and they let him off with a don’t do that again, thats stupid.at least he should lose the win.They are the pits!
Sheila that is one of the most balanced counter arguments to the anti-Toyota brigade that I have read.
I’m yet to hear a balanced viewpoint as to why Toyota should not be allowed an entry.
I second PeterG’s commnet. I have been on a minor (Well a bit more than that)crusade against the xenophobic rants that have sprouted out in some of the blogs and newsprint.
Sad to say it’s an almost never ending job.
What amazes me is Toyota has been in the NCTS for a few years and the xenophobic din was hardly noticable until plan to move into Cup were announced and its gotten progressively louder with time.
I also find it funny some threw bricks at Dale Jarrett for switching to Toyota and all cried he should sell his Ford auto dealerships.
However they grow silent when you note Penske, noted for his commitment to Dodge in NASCAR, owns the Longo Toyota dealership in El Monte, California, that is consistently one of the top-selling Toyota dealerships in the United States.
Also as CEO of the United Auto Group a part of his 150 U.S. auto dealerships sell everything from Toyota, Lexus, Honda, MercedesBenz, Jaguar, and Aston Martin.
Without all that to gain revenue from Penske may not even be in NASCAR to support and run with a CANADIAN made Charger.
Jeff Gordon’s infraction was caused by changes during the actual running of the car causing minor aero advantages (I think), it was not a deliberate ploy by the team. At least so the story goes, which allowed NASCAR to send him to the back without any additional penalties.
As for Mikey slitting open his abdomen, I heard him on radio relating how embarrased he was when his nine yr. old daughter asked why his team had to cheat.
If anyone thinks Michael sanctioned this covert attempt to gain HP at his multi-million dollar team debut they need a check up from the neck up. Too much to lose for too little gain.
if waltrip cant see the back of jrs brite red car he should not be in any race!! now 24 gorden. why is it he can do what ever he wants?? is it becouse he wants (”every-one to race nice” ) give me a brake,
OK race is over..Martin was in the lead when “the wreck” started. Announcers stated if there was a wreck the race was over. Nothing about racing to the line. What gives???
Definetly not ole Mark’s day.Were the heck did Kevin come from,NASCAR better check his car for nitros!
Toyota’s being “allowed” in Nascar is a non-story as all the points listed mention. And FastMachines has always had a balanced and “intelligent” debate.
As far as “cheating” is concerned, since the beginning of time, racers have always looked for the grey area; trying to get an advantage over others by doing what the rules “don’t say”. This is not necessarily cheating, if you can get away with it. But in Nascar’s world as many other sanctioning bodies, it’s sometimes the spirit of the rules, which leaves some open interpretation. Nascar brought this on themselves because they essentially have everyone building the same cars with very little tolerances.
Jeff Gordon’s infraction, whether cheating or not, was as George says, not “deliberate”. As far as Michael’s new operation and major slip up, these things can happen when you have a brand new organization. Mikey was too melodramatic for me but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt … for now. Of course MW has more concerns than our opinions as Toyota has said enough is enough.
BTW, Harvick was leading when the wreck happened (camera’s showed him ahead when the cars were wrecking behind him) and obviously again at the stripe - end of story.
OK, with all the talk about Toyota being foreign or domestic, I never hear anything about Dodge. Isn’t that a German company?
Jeff’s problem might have been caused by the bumping he was given in his 150 race. As far as the 500 race is concerned they should have given it to Martin because the yellow light was out because of the wrecking according to the rules. I believe that Toyota has every right to be in NASCAR as they are the only car built in USA. I do think they went overboard with the fines and points to Waltrip even though most don’t mess with the fuel. Hey, could it be that one of the Rouch boys sneaked into the garage after everyone left and dumped something into the tank? :)
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There is no doubt Toyota makes good vehicles, but there are a lot of contributing factors other than the widely held belief that they are more innovative, smarter, and more industrious than American companies. your reference to how all are “looking for grey areas and what the rules don’t say” pretty well summarizes their mode of operation. They started out by copying American technology and using cheap subcontract labor to supply all of the parts to the shiny assembly plants where workers were glad to make less than half of what our autoworkers made. I understand that they still manipulate their own currency to improve their financial standing. I feel bad that NASCAR felt compelled to enforce these rules. They should be given an unfair advantage and then when they win, we can all stand up and talk about how great they are and how stupid, greedy and slothful the American sponsors are. That’s the American way!
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