Toyota Looks for Clean Slate in ‘08

It’s been a rough first year in Cup racing for Toyota this year, there’s no denying that.  And, when I say a rough year, I mean extremely rough.  After NASCAR originally opened the doors for the Toyota brand to compete in the Craftsman Truck Series and the teams performed very well there, there was a lot of controversy and anticipation regarding what would become of them in stock car’s leading series.  Those debates were put to rest, however, in 2007 as the combined effort from all of Toyota’s teams have produced no victories and only a handful of Top 10 finishes.  In fact, the car owners feel fortunate if their drivers are even able to qualify for the weekend’s event.

After signing several of the top names in the sport to begin the 2007 Nextel Cup season – such as Dale Jarrett, Michael Waltrip, Jeremy Mayfield, and Brian Vickers – the Toyota car owners have felt nothing but disappointment and morale has been low in the garage week in and week out.  Last weekend at Talladega, however, things seemingly began to turn the corner.  Toyota teams were able to have 7 of the 10 fastest qualifyiers for the race, including starting the race with both the inside and outside pole positions.  The race itself did not produce quite the results that they were probably hoping for, but Dave Blaney was able to bring home a solid third place finish, marking the best run for a Toyota all season long.

Things likely won’t change much for the teams for the remainder of 2007, but as we look to the future in 2008, things to seem a bit brighter. For starters, Toyota has struck a deal that will bring Joe Gibbs Racing on board … this is a team that has won championships in both a Pontiac and Chevrolet, and has also landed at least one driver in the Chase for the Cup every season since NASCAR moved over to the new playoff format. This deal will bring two-time Cup Champion Tony Stewart, and 2006 and 2005 Rookies of the Year, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch to NASCAR’s newest brand. 

Additionally, Dale Jarrett has announced that he will retire after the first six races of 2008, which will bring youngster David Reutimann over to drive the UPS Car.  Reutimann currently drives the 00 car, and this vacancy will be filled by one of the young Busch Series drivers currently racing under the Michael Waltrip banner. 

With the makeover the Toyota teams are receiving for next year, you look at the stable of drivers they will be sporting … Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Michael Waltrip, Brian Vickers, Jeremy Mayfield, David Reutimann, Dave Blaney, and others.  Will they win a couple of races next year?  I would tend to think so, but it’s definitely a possibility that they will not.  Will they win the Sprint Cup Championship?  Highly unlikely.  Will they be able to land one or two drivers in the Chase for the Cup?  It’s possible.  The point is that after next year, Toyota still will be nowhere near being the big dogs on the block.  But, they’re going to put together some solid finishes.  The addition of JGR is going to help their engine programs.  They’re going to have more recognizable NASCAR sponsorship. There’s still going to be a long way to go, but the future is definitely looking much brighter for Toyota in 2007.