Toyota History in NASCAR
Toyota first entered NASCAR via the NASCAR Goody's Dash Series. Toyota entered the Celica in competition there in 2000, scored their first victory in 2001, and then won the Championship with Robert Huffman in 2003.
Toyota followed that success by entering the Toyota Tundra in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2004. Last year Todd Bodine drove his Toyota Tundra to a series high five wins and was in the Championship hunt right down to the final race. He ended up third in points.
Toyota has been able to find success in every motorsports series they have entered and there is no reason to believe that they won't win in NEXTEL Cup.
How Foreign is Toyota?
Many will point out that NASCAR rules state that vehicles that compete in NASCAR must be based on American vehicles. Lets get this out of the way right up front. Toyota does a significant amount of manufacturing in the US.
The Toyota Camry which is the foundation for the 2007 race car is manufactured in Georgetown Kentucky. Also, this same Toyota Camry has been the best-selling car in the United Stated for eight of the past nine years. Clearly Toyota is now an American manufacturer as much as GM and Ford with build a significant number of vehicles in Mexico and Canada.
This year Toyota will build about 1.6 million vehicles in the US and employs approximately 142,000 Americans. That's good enough for me. They can race in NASCAR if they want to.
Toyota's Impact for Fans
The Toyota Camry debut in NEXTEL Cup in 2007 will bring us four different manufacturers. If you love Toyota then you are in luck. However, if you hate Toyota you are also in luck as now NASCAR has a new villain for you to root against. Lets face it, the sport is more fun when there is a villain.
Fans should expect a lot of media attention when the Toyota Camry takes to the track in 2007 but success in NASCAR's highest levels takes time. Depending on what team owners they lure away (Bill Davis seems to be high on the list) a win might come as early as June. Then Toyota's first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Championship might follow as quickly as 2008.
One thing is for sure, Toyota races to win and they will be a force to be dealt with next year... and beyond.
