Toyota eyeing great leap forward in second season (cont'd)

For Toyota, the Gibbs organization is the key to any potential turnaround. The three-time championship team, lured away from Chevrolet after 16 years under the General Motors banner, brings a wealth of technical knowledge to augment what Toyota already has. Two Toyota engineers are working on a full-time basis with Mark Cronquist, Gibbs' head engine builder, as Gibbs and TRD work to get on the same page. Going from one Toyota hauler to another this week is Ronny Crooks, a Gibbs shock specialist, who's become a liaison to help the entire fleet's chassis aerodynamics.

"I will tell you categorically, that was J.D. Gibbs' idea," said White, referring to the Gibbs team president. "J.D. Gibbs came to us and said, 'You know what, I've got this guy and he is really, really good. We've used him as much as we can use him, we want to keep him busy, and we think he can help these other guys.' So we worked out a program with Gibbs for Ronny Crooks. He's been working on A.J.'s car, [David] Reutimann's car, and Jacques Villeneuve's car. You talk about the bump coming off [Turn] 4, there's a guy who can help you get across it. That alone may explain why they're all in a bunch."

The results have Toyota thinking about a legitimate chance to win the Daytona 500. "You'd like to think so," White said. "I'm optimistic that we'd have a shot to compete and contend for the pole, to win one if not both of the [150s], and have a couple of guys contend to win the race. That's why we're here, to contend and compete and have a shot. We'll see how it turns out."

Yet numbers from testing, where there is no inspection process and teams can use telemetry systems that are illegal during race weekends, can sometimes be deceiving. Still, the idea that Toyota could claim its first Sprint Cup victory in what's known as a Great American Race certainly raises some eyebrows.

"Boy, that would be huge, huh?" said Roush Fenway driver Carl Edwards. "I'm not surprised at how fast the Toyota cars are. I'm surprised at how relatively fast the Hendrick cars are. They are really fast in single-car runs. The trouble with testing is, it's still so far from the race, you kind of don't know what everybody's doing. The true test will be on qualifying day."

For half the Toyota fleet, there will still be the familiar hand-wringing on qualifying day -- Villeneuve, Allmendinger, Brian Vickers, David Reutimann and Michael Waltrip still need to make the races on time, and Dale Jarrett will have to do the same if Penske's Kurt Busch [who switched points with Sam Hornish Jr.] needs the past champion's provisional. But at least five Camrys are in the show from the start. And with Gibbs championship contenders Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, and Busch in the fold, Toyota even holds out hope of placing multiple cars in the Chase.

"Absolutely, I think so," agreed Yeley, whose Hall of Fame Racing team switched from Chevy to Toyota over the offseason. "You add three cars with Joe Gibbs Racing, with my learning curve last year and how much better I think I am and this team is, I think we have a shot at it. You look at some of the other Toyota teams that really came on strong at the end of last year. It still takes luck, and you still have to go through the entire season and make sure you don't have engine failures. You can't get caught up in wrecks. If you can consistently run top-10, top-15 every race like some of the guys did last year, you obviously can make it."

But the Daytona 500 is the first step.

"If you're able to pull it off against the odds and win the Daytona 500 in only your second year, that would be a very, very big deal," White said. "It would be very popular and well-received. That parking lot come race day is going to have a lot of Toyota product in it."