Chevrolet will persevere, but so will Gibbs at Toyota

Joe Gibbs Racing's announcement Wednesday that it would switch its Nextel Cup manufacturer alliance from General Motors' Chevrolet brand to Toyota Camrys in 2008 came as no surprise.

But the fact is, the move is the most significant manufacturer swap in nearly two decades of Cup competition.

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And proving how much the landscape in racing, like everything else in the world, has changed, the man at the center of the last such earth-moving switch -- which occurred 19 years ago when Junior Johnson moved from Chevrolet to Ford for the 1989 season, said there's a big difference in why he changed and why he feels Gibbs' organization did.

"It's all a money thing," Johnson said Wednesday afternoon from his North Carolina home. "Gibbs' operation is going to get a lot of money for the switch, so I think money, basically, was the whole reason because he could not have any more successful of a team than what he's got. So it's a total money thing."

Johnson on Wednesday said his decision was based on what he called a betrayal of trust by someone he didn't identify in GM's motorsports hierarchy. The result was a decision he said he'd make exactly the same even if he had to do it today.

Chevrolet, which in recent weeks has said it's in the process of renewing agreements with its Nextel Cup teams, on Wednesday exhibited the demeanor of a rejected suitor -- and rightfully so, as it has a major hole to fill.

But it's got a deep lineup already with multiple teams from Hendrick Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing, which currently has six spots in the 12-team field for the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

Gibbs, with drivers Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin, has two more Chase positions as it tries to leave Chevrolet with its fourth title with a GM brand.

But looking down the road, JGR saw itself as perhaps one more buffalo in a pretty sizeable GM herd -- and by positioning itself to take a lead role in the continuing development of Toyota's first-year Nextel Cup program, an opportunity to elevate its competitiveness.

That certainly hasn't been lacking to this point, which adds to Chevrolet's pain in their loss. Since entering Cup competition at Daytona's Speedweeks in 1992, JGR has amassed three series championships and 58 race victories.

But if GM's record since the last time it suffered an impact like this one -- specifically at the end of the 1988 season when the legendary driver/owner Johnson switched from Chevrolets -- one of three GM nameplates he'd raced for 15 years, with six championships, all gained in a 10-year span from 1976-85 -- to Fords is any indication, they'll survive.

If they survived Johnson's departure, after the Wilkes County icon amassed 94 victories for GM in 15 seasons -- they can weather any storm, even the worst that can come up in this turbulent financial and competitive era.

"Oh yeah, there's no question Chevrolet will do very well next year," Johnson said. "Rick Hendrick's got a great operation and he's going to have three great drivers; so [Chevrolet] will not go under, just losing Joe Gibbs." (Continued)