NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France, left, and Toyota senior vice president Dave Illingworth show off the new Camry for 2007. Credit: CIA Stock Photo

Toyota's plan for Cup Series not a surprise

Manufacturer could open door for more foreign companies

Is there any worse place for a company to try and keep a secret than NASCAR?

In an announcement that surprised absolutely no one on Monday, Toyota said it would field cars in the Nextel Cup and Busch Series beginning in 2007.

	Toyota could open the door for more automakers to enter the NASCAR business. Credit: CIA Stock Photo
	TOYOTA TO CUP NASCAR and Toyota announced Monday the manufacturer's plans to expand its racing program by competing in the Nextel Cup and Busch series starting in 2007, fielding the Camry model.  •   Click here for complete story REACTIONS Toyota's decision to go Nextel Cup racing will fire up the competitive juices of teams representing the other three makes.   •   Click here for complete story

Somewhat like what happened to Dodge in 2000, rumors of the anticipated announcement were running rampant long before any official announcement was made, and in fact, the story that there was to be an announcement was itself published before company officials could use the occasion of the annual Lowe's Motor Speedway Media Tour to do so.

Be that as it may, Toyota is finally here, and now the rumor mill can get going on some other facet of the sport. We've talked about the rumor mill here before -- it's as constant in NASCAR business as it is in the garage area.

But since the cat is well and truly out of the bag, and Toyota will indeed field its Camry model beginning in 2007, it's time to examine why exactly the auto maker wants to be here in the first place.

Though most news outlets reported that Al Keller raced the last foreign car in a NASCAR race in 1954 (when he won in a Jaguar at Linden, N.J.), a quick look at "Forty Years of Stock Car Racing" by Greg Fielden revealed the following: the last time a foreign car competed in NASCAR was in 1958, when the Crown America International Stock Car Race was held at Riverside International Raceway in California. On that day, 46 cars started the 100-lap, 263-mile event -- including two Citroens, a Goliath and a Renault. Eddie Gray won the race in a Ford.

This is big news from a business standpoint. If Toyota is willing to come and spend money developing a NASCAR stocker, then what's to stop BMW, Audi, Nissan, et al, from doing the same?

If you look at what it costs from a competition standpoint, the highest-dollar NASCAR team has a budget that is approximately one-tenth of a top-notch Formula One operation. This excludes Ferrari, which spends the equivalent of the gross domestic product of Bolivia on its F1 racers.

To the American audience, NASCAR's exposure is better than F1's, and the company does not have to sponsor the Cup and Busch teams it fields, though Toyota does sponsor its factory Truck Series team for Bill Davis Racing.

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So why don't BMW, Audi, Nissan and others come knocking? Now that the door has been opened a smidge, they just might. But it will be long after 2007 before any of them make it to Busch or Cup, given that Toyota started in the now-defunct Goody's Dash Series and then moved up to the Truck Series for the past two seasons before announcing the jump to Busch and Cup.

All in all, NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France said the move by Toyota will be a good one, no doubt using the rationale that a rising tide floats all boats.

"Toyota's entry into the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and the NASCAR Busch Series is good for drivers, teams and the fans," he said during the announcement. "This move provides for even more intense competition on the track between drivers and manufacturers, which will provide more excitement and fan interest. Toyota's entry also provides more options for drivers and teams, which will increase the competition between manufacturers."

Competition being a good thing, Toyota's announcement also comes at a time when the Big Three are experiencing their own brands of financial misery -- both Ford and GM have announced plant closings and layoffs.

"It's a great pleasure to announce Toyota's entry into the NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch Series with the Toyota Camry," said Dave Illingworth, senior vice president and chief planning and administrative officer for Toyota Motor Sales, USA Inc. "We look forward to February of 2007 when the green flag waves to start the Daytona 500 and the starting lineup features the Toyota Camry."

NASCAR has spent much time and energy on developing a strategy for the global marketplace, and Toyota's arrival signals that strategy is now in full form.

Toyota has tried nearly every form of motorsports, with NASCAR's Cup and Busch Series being the last hill the Japanese company has to climb. The company is active in Formula One, the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series and off-road racing, while it wrapped up its involvement with the Indy Racing League a year early to come to NASCAR.

Toyota engines have powered winners in Champ Car, the IRL, off-road and sports-car racing, in addition to formula car racing with the Toyota Atlantic Series.

The choice of the Camry is not lost on observers of the automobile world. Locked in a struggle with Honda and the Big Three for market share, Toyota is entering the sport with its leader in terms of sales. For years, the Ford Taurus, the Camry and the Honda Accord all duked it out for showroom champ.

The Taurus is gone, replaced by the Fusion, and the Accord doesn't race in NASCAR, so Toyota picked its spot with this announcement. Nobody ever said that marketing was fair, just that it was ongoing.

Now that it's no longer an open secret, watch the fur fly as Toyota amps up its promotion and marketing efforts to take advantage of the new NASCAR tie.