To deal with Toyota, stop complaining, go compete

This is more like what Toyota had in mind when the automobile manufacturer decided to get into running in the Sprint Cup Series.

And it very well may be the beginning of what Jack Roush and so many other Toyota haters feared.

When Kyle Busch wheeled his No. 18 Toyota across the finish line first at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, capturing the Kobalt Tools 500, he made history. It was the first Sprint Cup win for Toyota and the first for any foreign-make manufacturer since the not-so-legendary Al Keller drove a Jaguar to Victory Lane in 1954 on an equally obscure track in Linden, N.J.

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The question left in the aftermath of Busch's win is this: Is it just one win, or is it merely the tip of a very large iceberg that ultimately will sink the other three American manufacturers who have long ruled the sport?

As with many difficult questions, the answer is neither easy nor immediate. It will take more time to tell for certain just how good -- it's way too early to say "dominant" -- Toyota can be in Sprint Cup.

But one thing that is abundantly clear after the 1-2 Toyota finish of Busch and Tony Stewart at Atlanta is that the marriage last offseason of Toyota with Joe Gibbs Racing is one that is not only bearing immediate fruit for both parties, but is likely to continue doing so for many races to come. So in that sense, yes, Toyota has arrived and is obviously a serious threat to Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge.

Asked to point to one specific factor that led to Busch's historic victory, Jim Aust, president and CEO of Toyota Racing Development, was somewhat at a loss. But he did admit that it couldn't have happened without Toyota adding the JGR organization to its stable of Cup teams.

"It's the hard work by everybody that has been involved in the program. It's the guys at TRD [Toyota Racing Development] working on the engine," Aust said. "Then, of course, it always takes more than just the engine to have success. You have to have a great team and certainly Joe Gibbs Racing brings that into the fold. It is a great organization, obviously, with a trio of drivers that anybody would like to have.

"It is a combination of things. I don't know that we point to any one thing. It is hard work, a great team and great drivers."

The big picture
Who would have thought that four races into the 2008 Cup season, Hendrick Motorsports would be without a single victory? Who would have thought that Kyle Busch would get his first win for JGR in a Toyota before Dale Earnhardt Jr. got his first win for Hendrick in a Chevrolet; or better yet, that Busch would put his Toyota in Victory Lane before either Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon, Busch's former Hendrick teammates, would in '08?

But to all those who say that this long-predicted and much-feared emergence of Toyota means the end to all that is sacred and good about NASCAR, it's time to say this: Grow up. (Continued)