 | | Michael Waltrip is trying to prove he still has what it takes, while David Reutimann is trying to prove he belongs. Credit: Autostock |
By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM
January 3, 2007
06:10 PM EST (23:10 GMT)
When Dodge, the last manufacturer to enter NASCAR's premier division, did so in 2001, it had a roster replete with championship teams, drivers and Daytona 500 winners -- but it also had teams and drivers looking to make reputations for themselves. As the 2007 Nextel Cup season approaches, Toyota enters the sport's highest level with a couple fewer teams, a couple less drivers -- but maybe more to prove.  |  | | Toyota has held the headlines since it announced a move to the Cup Series in January. Credit: CIA Stock Photo |
| |  | TOYOTA TO CUP | NASCAR and Toyota announced in January the manufacturer's plans to compete in the Nextel Cup and Busch series in 2007, running the Camry model.
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| REACTIONS | Toyota's decision to go Nextel Cup racing will fire up the competitive juices of teams representing the series' longstanding three makes.
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| LOOKING UP AT TOP 35 | Toyota's biggest problem is actually a Web page on NASCAR.COM, writes Ryan Smithson. It's called the 2006 Nextel Cup owner standings.
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In just three seasons in the Craftsman Truck Series, Toyota grew from winning poles and races in 2004 -- and placing a driver in the top 10 in the standings -- to absolutely dominating the series in 2006. Toyota's win total has ratcheted up from four in 2004 to nine in 2005 to 12 last season. The Bud Pole tally has been similar, with five in the manufacturer's first season, 13 in 2005 and 15 last year. No one expects anything even close to that to happen with Toyota in Nextel Cup, but those totals prove that the manufacturer that has designs on owning the North American car market, has processes in place it hopes will have a similar effect in Cup. Toyota executives have said they plan to walk before they run, mind their P's and Q's and do all the right things. But make no mistake about it -- they don't do anything in motorsports without expecting to win. What remains to be seen is where and when the avalanche of money that everyone fears will appear, and when will it become most apparent. Jim Aust, vice president of motorsports for Toyota USA and the president and CEO of Toyota Racing Development -- the company's racing arm -- says he can't put his finger on the concern. "The company is very successful in the automobile business, and perhaps that has something to do with it," Aust said last year on a Sirius Satellite Radio interview. "Our perspective is that we would like to come in and just be a part of the series. "It is not our intention [to take over]. We have a great organization -- Toyota Racing Development -- that we have built over the years, and we have a lot of capacity that we would like to put to use, but certainly not to the detriment of the series." Jeremy Mayfield is one of the drivers most in position to benefit from Toyota's largesse. Mayfield went from a consistent top-10 performer in the first two seasons of the Chase for the Nextel Cup to out of work last season. More than anyone, Mayfield has to rebuild the reputation he fashioned while winning five times in Cup, including a dramatic triumph at Richmond in 2004 to get into the inaugural Chase. "I'm as involved as anybody up there [at Bill Davis Racing] is right now and I feel I'll be a lot better off," Mayfield said. "I'm pretty excited that I'm able to talk to the crew chief and to Tommy [Baldwin, BDR's competition director] and I can suggest things and what I feel in the car they believe what I'm saying, and that means a lot to me. "That makes my confidence get back up to where it needs to be. Every time we've gone testing we've been good -- and that makes me feel good about what Toyota has done and what Bill Davis has done." Mayfield will team with crew chief Derrick Finley, who has an engineering background similar to that of Kenny Francis, with whom Mayfield had most of his success at Evernham Motorsports. Finley also has something to prove. "Derrick is a great guy and there is nothing I'd rather see than him and I win championships and a bunch of races," Mayfield said. "There's no ego there, and he doesn't have to be in charge of everything. He's a team player all the way." After owner Ray Evernham fired Mayfield last August, he had plenty of time to observe and reflect on what Toyota is doing and trying to accomplish -- and coming from a driver who's worked with two of the other three manufacturers in the sport, he has some valid insight. "They really, truly are humble people and they've come into this in a humble way -- though in a high profile way at the same time, if that makes sense," Mayfield said. "How professionally everything has been done has impressed me, yet in a humble way. Everything's been done smart, and it's been done right. "I wondered, when I came over here, how we were going to get from Point A to Point B in such a short amount of time -- and every question I've had has been answered." Michael Waltrip faces a little bit of double jeopardy, as his driving reputation took some hits in 2006 when he fell from the top 35 in owner points, and in the process missed three races -- his first qualifying failure in 20 years. At the same time he worries about qualifying for the first five races of the season, at least, his operation has assumed the flagship role as Toyota's leader heading into Cup racing, running three teams from a new-age shop complex centered in a former movie theater. Gives new meaning to the phrase, "this is show biz," don't it? But Waltrip has already found it won't be all roses as he lost one of his crew chiefs within days of announcing his hiring. And Waltrip will work for the first time with crew chief David Hyder, who will be under an intense spotlight for the first time in his Cup career after coming from BAM Racing. Waltrip's lead driver Dale Jarrett has the most to gain, but perhaps the least to lose. From 1996-2001 Jarrett's Robert Yates Racing Ford never finished out of the top five in the Cup standings, and Jarrett won 24 races. His reputation was rock solid. In the five years since, Jarrett has only been in the top 10 once, and his average points finish is 17.6. He's won four races, but only one in the last three years while going through numerous crew chiefs and a steady decline in top-five and top-10 production. When he moved to MWR, Jarrett said 2008 would be his last season, and here's hoping that's not three years beyond D.J.'s useful career span. Jarrett will work with crew chief Matt Borland, another who's trying to build upon a formerly stellar reputation forged when Ryan Newman won eight races and 11 poles in 2003. Waltrip's rookie David Reutimann will labor under the extra strain of racing full schedules in both Cup and Busch, while he tries to build a "rep" at NASCAR's highest level. Mayfield's teammate Dave Blaney had his best results when he drove for Davis earlier in his career and had a couple near-misses with Victory Lane. Ironically, his best season came in Dodge's first, when he scored a career-high six top-10 finishes. Davis, who has labored since 2003 without manufacturer support in Cup after he got himself caught in the middle of a Dodge-Toyota crossfire, has ramped up his staff and they're showing the effects of the "Toyota way" of doing business, Mayfield said. "In just a couple years, Bill has put together at least two really competitive truck teams," Mayfield said. "That's happened pretty quick, and I know it's the Truck Series and not Cup, but their Toyota program is awesome. "I didn't see that until the end of the season, but now that's all part of what I've got. And since the end of the season, Tommy has hired a bunch of people and it looks like a whole new Bill Davis Racing -- everybody is pumped up and has a great attitude. "I honestly feel really, really good about what I'm seeing up there because everybody's pulling together, working hard and they've hired a ton of great people. "I don't know how we can not run good, and not be noticed and right off the bat to be a contender to win races and run up front. I won't be devastated, because I know we're going through a building process, but I'll be very surprised -- and that's how much support we've got from Toyota. "It's all about credibility. Toyota has done a great job of it in the Truck Series and they're doing the same thing in the Cup Series." Finally, Team Red Bull will have the chance to establish itself in NASCAR as well as possibly cross-pollinate some ideas it's used to make a splash in a number of other venues. After four years and a Busch Series championship with Hendrick Motorsports, Vickers finally scored his breakthrough first Cup victory at Talladega in October 2006 -- but he was already leaving HMS to go to Red Bull, where he'll be team leader. Vickers, who is an electrifying qualifier, will need that entire prowess to make it to race No. 6 in an acceptable position in the standings, and if he hits it off with crew chief Doug Richert, who has a championship and plenty of race victories in his background, he could quickly become Toyota's individual standard bearer. A.J. Allmendinger proved he was quick and that he could win races in a very short Champ Car career, and he's enjoyed his initial NASCAR forays. But they were in the Truck Series and he may find he's in against a more heavyweight opponent than even he imagined. The biggest challenge to Toyota and its teams might be making its noted "one team" approach work in Cup's excessively warm water. Mayfield thinks it can, saying that he's experienced lip service to the same doctrine with other manufacturers. "I've been with two other manufacturers," Mayfield said of his experience with Ford and Dodge. "And I can honestly say that this has been one team, and that's what's so cool about it. "We get so much support from Toyota itself and I think it's going to make a big difference for all of our race teams. Every week the teams are meeting, and whatever we're doing, it's as a group effort. "One team will be working on something for the Car of Tomorrow, and another will do something for the speedway program, and another will be working on the shaker rig. I know Tommy, before we got a pull-down rig he spent a lot of time over at Red Bull working on theirs. "It just seems like it's been a real tight-knit group and everybody's been working together trying to achieve the same thing -- but that all starts at the top. "The way the sport is, you just don't see that [cooperation] among teams that are competing, but I haven't seen [disagreements] yet among the Toyota teams." Let's give it until about Race 3 this season, and we'll see. | 
