Toyota 'frustrated' through first quarter of Cup season (cont'd)

Only two Toyota teams, Dave Blaney's No. 22 Bill Davis Racing team and Dale Jarrett's No. 44 Michael Waltrip Racing outfit, started the season with guaranteed starting positions under the current system that locks-in starting positions for the top 35 teams in car owner points.

When 2007 points went into effect for determining guaranteed spots, none of the Toyota teams were in the top 35.

Engine ruins top-five for Reutimann

Proof of Toyota's unfortunate luck can be seen at Talladega where David Reutimann was putting together a solid top-five finish until his engine blew with four laps left.

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"It's the same effect if they were all competing for first, or fifth," White said of the current level of competition. "Since they're all competing for 43rd -- just to get in the race -- the competition is absolutely fierce. So it's very challenging."

Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate David Reutimann has dealt with the pressure best of Waltrip's three drivers, qualifying for seven of 10 races. But he admitted it's a strain.

"The thing that screws with your head and changes your perspective on everything is all you're worried about is outrunning those [non-guaranteed] guys," Reutimann said. "And after you make sure you outrun those guys you're like 'Well, where did we end up overall?'

"So it's completely opposite of what normal people do."

Team Red Bull GM Marty Gaunt echoed Reutimann's concerns about qualifying and said his team has suffered with consistency while trying to concentrate on getting into races in a tough environment.

"We've put a lot of effort into our Car of Tomorrow program and we hope that continues to pay off," said Gaunt while watching A.J. Allmendinger score the two-car team's best qualifying performance, 13th, while making his third COT race in four tries.

Unfortunately, Allmendinger has failed to make all the speedway and intermediate events, a total of six others. Brian Vickers, on the other hand, while scoring the team's and Toyota's best three finishes, has missed three of the four COT races and also missed Talladega, the venue where he scored his inaugural Cup victory last fall.

Waltrip Racing general manager Ty Norris and Jarrett, one of the team's three Cup drivers, in an hour-long media briefing agreed with White in that they -- and team owner / driver Waltrip -- knew what they were getting into when they decided to go with Toyota.

But White was pretty honest in his assessment of what might amount to the entire 2007 season.

"We're not here for results in the short term -- we're here for results in two or three years," White said. "Just like we've said right along, it's going to take a long time to get there -- and this is very, very difficult and very, very challenging.

"So we just look for steady progress as we move along. No, we're not happy with [the progress], but all you do is go back to work every day and keep on working."

Norris said time would be a better judge of his organization.

"For us to be judged so much in the first eight races, it is what it is," Norris said. "There's not a team with the Toyota mark on it that is real proud of their program. We all have a lot of work to do.

"The best thing we know is we're with the right manufacturer. There's not another manufacturer who will put the support behind us like they have. We're in the right place -- we just have to hold our breaths to see if we can get through this first year."

After nine Nextel Cup races and 10 qualifying sessions, Toyota's success rate of even getting into the races is only 51 percent. Only Blaney's Camry team seems to have figured out the art. (Continued)