Big checks from Toyota a threat or mere myth? (cont'd)

But Roush's gloom-and-doom prospects are a minority view among the sport's major car owners. Richard Childress said that if one of his employees was offered a better deal somewhere else, he'd tell him to take it. Yates said he can see the argument from both sides, having been a race shop employee before moving into ownership. Joe Gibbs Racing president J.D. Gibbs points out that raiding other teams --remember Yates, hiring away most of Jeff Gordon's pit crew in 2001? -- is nothing new.

"The reality of it is, you don't need Toyota to have a cutthroat business. It's a cutthroat business whether they're there or not. There are guys getting hired, guys getting pulled away from teams, it doesn't matter who the manufacturers are. I don't care if there are no manufacturers, it's still going to be a cutthroat business," Gibbs said.

"Obviously, there's a concern there. How that changes the landscape, I don't know. If that means other manufacturers have to step up, OK. But from watching them, I think they're going to have a hard year. I think they're patient. You watch the truck series, they were patient. They took their time, and they're rolling. But this isn't the truck series."

Dodge's Accavitti believes Toyota officials are too smart to overspend at the beginning; what they're paying now is a baseline, he said, and the numbers will only go up. And Rick Hendrick believes the sport's best people want to be in a position to not only make money, but also to win -- something few think Toyota will be capable of immediately.

"There will come a day when it gets completely out of hand, and it's going to hurt everybody. But if you look at what Jimmie Johnson won this year, and he's going to leave to go somewhere else for a million dollars more, and he's going to give up $16 million in earnings and all the royalties that come with it, then he needs to go back to school," said Hendrick, who owns the car of the reigning series champion.

"Right now, I think the good guys want to be with the good teams. It's going to take an awful lot to break up [Greg] Zipadelli and Tony Stewart, or Chad [Knaus] and Jimmie Johnson. They want to win. You win, and all the rest of it will happen. The money will come. I don't see Toyota out there writing big checks for key people right now. I don't see that happening."

Besides, he has bigger concerns as the 2007 season draws near.

"I'm not as worried about Toyota. I'm worried about Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth and [Kasey Kahne in] the 9 car. Those are the guys I'm worried about," he said. "I'll worry about Toyota when the time comes."