Toyota Package Getting Checked by NASCAR

leave it to hendrick, and rousch to cry. what a joke

Reply

Jack Roush must have been whining something fierce. (Then again, I'd want to shut Jack up too. It's annoying for me, and I'm just a NASCAR fan.)

And, um...major props on the headline. Probably inadvertent, but I laughed like a 12-year-old boy.

Reply

The monkey in the NWS 20 car learned how to take a loose car around the turns so well he's no longer happy with just Bananas, he's asking Joe Gibb for a cage in the Hawaiian Islands.

Reply

Kevin, at no time do they mention Hendrick complaining of anything.
I had always heard that the Japanese had a smaller package but that is what I get for listening to rhumors. It appears that size does matter and the Americans are upset that we have less power in our package than do the Japanese.
MBL

Reply

Awesome article, Geoffrey! It does make one wonder, doesn't it? As you know, I have argued that Toyota is no different than the other manufacturers as the only one that seems to dominate is Kyle Busch. That being said, I have started following the Nationwide Series more closely this year and it doesn't seem to matter if Busch, Stewart, Hamlin, or Lagano is in the number 20 JGR Toyota. It wins, period. That is a tad bit suspect. And you are right about Edwards, too. What happened? He's still amazing in the Nationwide Series, so why the lack of domination this year? Also with the Hendrick boys, you are correct. They had a handle on the COT last year when no one else did, so why the troubles this year? Something sneaky is afoot, indeed. I guess we will never know, because like you said, NASCAR is a business afterall and they are in the business of entertainment. What better way to bring in new NASCAR followers than to have the most hated driver in NASCAR winning & dominating not one, not two, but all three series at once? Interesting, indeed!

Kim

Reply

Nice post Kim, but you missed a couple of things. Toyota does have a slight horsepower advantage as things stand now. Drivers, crew chiefs and the media have been saying it all season long. They are being forced to use a different engine next year by Nascar. If you remember, a few weeks ago a couple of Toyotas left the race with blown motors. They were in fact, testing the motors to be used next year. As you can see, they still have a few bugs to work out of it before next year. Then too, when Joe Gibbs Racing signed with Toyota, a vast improvement in aerodynamics and suspension set up were gained by their engineering dept. which resulted in increased track performance. As for Nascar, it is in the entertainment business, and has over the years made changes, and allowed favors to those teams that needed it to become competitive or stay in contention. Nascar cut Toyota some slack this year to help them get a foothold in the sport, and then it will be business as usual. As bad as Nascar is run today, I have to give them credit for trying to keep the playing field as even as possible in the long run. Works for me.....

Reply

That was exactly one of my points too in the other blog. It was OK in the past for nazcar to facilitate the big3 nascar adventures at one time or another, but is unfair now to help toyota estabilishing it's foothold in NAZCAR. Anything is a good motive to join the anti bush,anti toyota histerya in progress for months.MOST SETTLED LONG TIME NAZCAR TEAM OWNER know who was favored at one time or another
and that's why they are shutting up about.If nazcar was really a nazcar unfair by now some of the teams would be on strike
and the media would have plenty of whistle blowers (owners/drivers) to be on the front pages everyday and tv news headlines.NAZCAR would see it's regime beginnig to plunge as fast as a rocket to the other side of life. WORKS FOR ME...

Reply

Oh and grouche now finnfish also, has a crying history and CRUSTEY wallace credibility is as good as he was in reporting
nascar racing on ESPN on ABC last year.HE got ejected.

Reply

You make some interesting comments Don, but you make statements as if what you say is factual. If that is so then please tell me where you obtained these "facts." Or are these just opinions? You have been asked several times by myself and others to reveal where you get your information but you never reply. Why is that? I try to stay in touch with the racing world and I'm not hearing what you claim. I don't believe unsubstantiated rumors so if would clue me in on your source I sure would appreciate it.

Ron

Reply

There will not be a reply Ron, it's all media related quotes taken by angry people (owners/or owner/drivers) in Nascar with much to lose when any Toyota wins. All of these accusations are driven by an anti foreign manufacturers motive. I'd like to see them all put down their Budweisers if Anheuser-Busch takes the 46.3 billion offered by Inbev out of Belgium.

The possible Bud sale isn't creating jobs for Americans like Toyota has, it's taking jobs away yet which one of the finger pointers is going to put down their Budweiser?

Reply

There will not be a reply Ron, all these accusations are created by people with much to lose when any Toyota wins a race. ( Owners-Owner/drivers) I'd like to see them all put down their beer cans if Budweiser takes the $43.4 billion offer from Inbev out of Belgium. That wouldn't create jobs in America like Toyota has, it will take American jobs to foreign soil.

Reply

I heard that, Bernie!

We have a huge Anheiser Busch plant here in Columbus, OH. I know many people who work there. I believe they make all the Bud Light for the US here at our plant. They employ hundreds from the central Oh area. I know quite a few people who work there whom are very nervous as they head about this possible sale through the media and not from Anheiser Busch (their employer). I fear these people are going to lose their jobs. Some have been there their whole adult lives. I know one guy who is a third generation Anheiser Busch employee at this Columbus, OH plant. His father, the second generation employee is nearing his full retirement. They are very concerned as to if they shut down the plant and if he will get his retirement benefits he has been counting on his whole life. To make the story even sadder, the only reason he hasn't retired yet is because his wife was diganosed with cancer last year and he has to continue working for the health care benefits.

America has major problems! I know this isn't a political blog, but our country needs to WAKE UP! The dollar is at its lowest value in years as is silver and gold. We are sending too many jobs overseas and too many good hard working Americans are losing their homes and livelihood. When is our government going to step up to the plate and start worrying about its own citizens right here at home? And then there are people on here (this blog) who want to trash Toyota, a company like you said, who manufacturers quality vehicles right out of the good old USA, keeping many Americans employed! (Head shaking) I'd like to say, THANK YOU to Toyota for being here! JMO

Kim

Reply

You're probably right Bernie. Fact is I believe everyone is making waaaaaaay too much out of this. If everyone would just set back, let the dust settle and wait for some facts to come out before everybody goes off the deep end, we will all be better for it. Of course I know that will never happen. Some just can't stand not having some damn conspiracy going on mostly because they are unable to see the forest for the trees.

Kim, as far as HMS having a handle on the COT last year better than most doesn't necessarly mean they had "thee" handle on it. All these upper tier teams have some pretty sharp individuals working on this problem car not exclusive to HMS. JMO

Ron

Reply

I can back up one thing I heard during a Sprint Cup race that Don says. There was a race when 2 or 3 Toyota engines went out and the announcers did say that they were testing new motors for next year. Sorry, I do not remember them saying it was a mandated motor switch. If you want to know what race that was just go back and check to see which race had 2 or 3 Toyota Engine related DNFs.
I am a little confused on how JGR gained any aerodynamics advantage. It is the aerodynamics that Nascar has worked hardest to equalize and penalizes the most for cheating on. I have heard it dozens of times, you cannot mess with the body of the car. It has to be this high. The rear spoiler is only allowed to be put on the car this way.
If the ONLY advantage they have gained is thru the setup that Nascar allows than I say "Good for them." After all, that is exactly what they are supposed to be doing.
The reason there is so much speculation and rhumor spreadiing in Nascar is because they do everything behind closed doors and things are not published and printed and available for public inspection and scrutinization.
mbl

Reply

I learned many moons ago that announcers words are not a reliable source of information and are where most rumors are conceived. I prefer to let the facts bear out rather than listen to microphone puppets attempting to "wow" the audience with their knowledge.

Ron

Reply

We shouldn't talk politics on this blog. No one is going to agree with what I say on this subject. I wish that Budweiser wasn't being sold to an overseas company. When people invest in companies they expect to make money or they wouldn't be investing in the stock. The Bud stock stayed at approx the same price for 2 years plus. When a company comes in and offers the shareholders a much higher price for their shares then they sell. It's possible that the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to lose the team because someone has offered the owners brothers a lot of money for their shares. The union problems in this country and the management have killed the American car makers. If you sold a $ 1,000,000 machine to GM that included a 12 month warranty, the union wouldn't let you work on it. We would have to have a guy stand and tell a union employee what to do. They worked short days and had plenty of breaks. If our employee touched anything they would run straight to their union steward and complain. Why are they selling cars overseas that have better fuel mileage but they can't do it here until 2010?

I worked hard for my house and I took on a loan that I can afford. There are a lot of people that took out loans they couldn't afford and they had to know it. The banks that gave out these loans should accept the loss and go out of business. The banks and funds that bought these loans should have to pay the price and not the rest of us. This country is all about capitalism. It should also be about personal responsibility. This crap about bailing out the banks, the savings and loans, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, homeowners is just wrong. It's taking responsible peoples money and using that money to help companies and people that were irresponsible. I think that is very close to socialism.

GM announced today that they are cutting back on Nascar support. I don't blame Toyota for that. I think it's ironic that GM builds their cars mainly in other countries while Toyota builds their cars here.

.

Reply

Kim, sorry to hear about your friend and his wife. That's very tragic news. If I were anyone of them I would start looking for a job now. It seems Anheuser/Busch is handling the possible sale of their shares as Nascar is handling their dealings with Toyota which is their prerogative, they avoid public scrutiny like a plague.

Ron, what bothers me about this is whoever started all of this is convinced that JGR is going to be a thorn in their side for a long time with these Toyotas unless they turn it into what has been happening a discredit to Joe Gibbs, Steve Adington, Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, well the entire organization by calling them all cheaters. When has JGR been accused of cheating in the past? I haven't been around Nascar for very long but as a Headcoach he was a well respected by his peers as a coach, friend and family man.

As for the down force you reffered to Mike, I heard again on the NASCAR radio that JGR has an entire team of aero dynamic engineers dedicated to the NWS # 20 car that has been the headliner in all of this because of the success they have been having. They can in fact make adjustments to the body, not sure where but they have made several legal adjustments according to the boys on the program. They also are saying that if we do have a HP advantage where are the rest of the Toyotas like we have been asking. I agree with Ron, too much out of the mouth of reporters.

Reply

Mike, on the NWS 20 car, I do remember Denny Hamlin on one occasion and Kyle on another after winning a race saying that the car handled great thanking the crew and adding that it felt like it was riding on rails. Now correct me if i'm wrong but that is a direct effect of aero dynamic excellence in a car when it is driven around a turn at a high rate of speed. A great example was the Richmond race, no one could touch that car I believe that was when Denny made that statement.

Reply

its about time! if the common template cot was supposed to make sure 1 car make didnt have an advantage, the engine should be the same way too. and if kyle or whomever dominates than kudos to them right now the racin is so predictable its boring. i dont like toyota in nascar but if they can win on a level playing field then more power to them i just wont watch

Reply