A.J. Allmendinger's top speed at testing was 182.689 mph. Credit: Autostock

Toyota frets as Daytona tests prove inconclusive

NASCAR newcomer guaranteed only two of eight cars for opener

One month before the Daytona 500, Lee White was sitting in a Charlotte airport waiting to board a flight to Daytona Beach for Busch Series testing. And at the same time, wondering if all eight of Toyota's fledgling Nextel Cup cars were capable of making NASCAR's biggest race in their first attempt.

"I'd be lying if I told you it wasn't daunting. I'd be lying if I told you I was confident that those eight cars will even run the race, because only two of them are guaranteed in," White, senior vice president and general manager of Toyota Racing Development, said Thursday afternoon.

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"Nobody's doing us any favors. We're going to have to knuckle down and earn it. And you know what? If it doesn't happen, we're going to go back to work and we'll be a lot more ready for the second one, the third one, or the fourth one. We're going to be here a long, long time."

Speeds from the two Nextel Cup sessions of Jackson Hewitt Preseason Thunder, which wrapped up Wednesday at Daytona International Speedway, produced decidedly mixed results. Dale Jarrett, one of two Toyota drivers who doesn't have to worry about qualifying for the race, posted the seventh-fastest overall speed and drove one of two Camrys to crack the top 20.

The other belonged to rookie David Reutimann, whose speed ranked 19th. The other six Toyota drivers were scattered, from Blaney in 21st, to Jeremy Mayfield in 44th, and Michael Waltrip in 59th. Come Speedweeks, everyone but Jarrett (who has a past champion's provisional) and Blaney (whose car was 27th in 2006 owner points) will have to either qualify on speed or race their way in through the Gatorade 150s.

If the manufacturer's testing results were a movie title, White told Toyota executives, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," would scroll across the marquee. But Team Red Bull drivers Brian Vickers and A.J. Allmendinger concentrated heavily on qualifying setups, White said, and everyone tested under conditions that will be markedly different from those next month.

"It doesn't mean squat, frankly, because the weather is different, the track is different, you've only got half the field there, and you're not even being measured against everyone," White said. "You really don't know what people are doing and what people are working on. It doesn't matter, at least in terms of your relative performance to everyone else. When we get there in three weeks, we'll see how it shakes out."

"It doesn't mean squat, frankly ... By no means are we at the point where we're going to be when we go back to race ... When we get there in three weeks, we'll see how it shakes out." - Lee White

Drivers from rival manufacturers certainly took notice of Toyota's performance -- or lack thereof.

"If anything, I felt like the Toyotas weren't as fast as I thought they would be," said Chevrolet driver and four-time Nextel Cup champion Jeff Gordon, who then added ... "I can remember coming down here [in 2001] and Dodge sandbagging until we got here. So you never know what's going to happen."

Gordon was also under the impression that most of the Toyotas were using souped-up Craftsman Truck engines, which NASCAR's newest manufacturer did employ during a Car of Tomorrow test at Michigan last season. Now, every Camry is running an approved 2007 Toyota engine, White said, although there are still some tuning issues that need to be worked out.

"By no means are we at the point where we're going to be when we go back to race," White said. "It's still something that's evolving day-by-day, because it's so new. We only got the final version of the cylinder heads a month ago, and we're racing in a month. That's a massive amount of work when you consider just the number of finished cylinder heads you need to go to Daytona with eight cars."

Although Toyotas had tested twice previously on Nextel Cup tracks alongside vehicles of other manufacturers -- at Michigan and Homestead -- Preseason Thunder marked the first time Camrys had rolled on the most famous 2.5-mile oval in stock-car racing. But White seemed more concerned with speed than significance.

"This is just another step. Another racetrack, another step," he said. "Is it momentous? Sure. Getting to the Daytona start line will be momentous. If we get more than a couple of them into the field, it will be momentous."