Filed under: Motorsports
Red Bull joins Toyota in NASCAR
Toyota Motorsports have unveiled the first three teams that will run its Camry in Nextel Cup and Busch Series races in 2007: Bill Davis Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing and newly-formed Team Red Bull.
BDR brings long-time sponsor Caterpillar, while NAPA remains the primary sponsor for Waltrip. Bill Davis Racing was an early Toyota partner in the Craftsman Truck Series, while former Cup champion Darrell Waltrip is Toyota Motorsports most visible NASCAR spokesman.
Most interesting of the three is Team Red Bull. The entry of the youth-oriented beverage company and all-round adrenalin junkie into NASCAR Nextel Cup racing should shake things up quite a bit, if their impact on the Formula 1 paddock is anything to go by.
No official word on drivers, although Robby Gordon is rumored to be part of the Red Bull equation, and Michael Waltrip is certain to drive the NAPA Camry. More pics after the jump!
[Thanks, dinges!]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jaimie B 7:18PM (1/25/2006)
Red Bull on a Toyota is more like it. Looks like a match made in heaven. It's as appropriate as Bud/Coors/Miller on a Ford/Chevy.
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idave101 8:12PM (1/25/2006)
Red Bull and Vodka (RBV) is a drink from the gods. Try it with "Vox" brand vodka (not the flavored ones) and you'll have a new favorite drink.
Directions:
2 shots Vox Vodka
1 can Red Bull (not sugar free kind)
plenty of ice
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JW 8:51PM (1/25/2006)
thats a bunch of bull crap! toyota in NASCAR! I know people are turning over in their graves! Especially Dale Earnhardt. What next Kia? Toyota needs to stay out of american racing and stick to just making cars.
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Whydrive 9:25PM (1/25/2006)
JW - just like how Europeans can't play basketball right?
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starlightmica 9:45PM (1/25/2006)
Heh. CAT and Camry, the We Hate UAW team car.
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mickster 11:32PM (1/25/2006)
#2 I prefer Kettle One with Red Bull over Vox but I do agree it's a perfect mix (introduced to me at a party, my company sponsored it), by Carson Daly and Topher Grace.
#3 Chrysler is German Owned. GM & Ford build a lot outside of the U.S. and Toyota builds boatloads of Camrys here in the U.S. so your argument is moot. The day when Hyundai or Kia is in NASCAR, we'll all be speaking Chinese or Korean as our national language...
The NASCAR Camry looks better than any of the other vehicles...once again, Toyota trumps the Domestics on their home turf.
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Jeff 11:48PM (1/25/2006)
man, I gotta say the front end on a camry looks fast (the second picture)
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Andy 11:57PM (1/25/2006)
Why on earth did Toyota decide to join NASCAR?? NASCAR is for auto companies who lack the technical expertise to compete in real racing.. You'd never see Ferrari or McLaren in NASCAR. After an admirable season in F1, this is a step back for Toyota.
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Ed 12:26AM (1/26/2006)
Why aren't they using their new 2007 Camry for headlight/grill/taillight design? They aren't gonna race 'til 2007 anyways...
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wally 12:44AM (1/26/2006)
Wishing Toyota same success as in other racing circuits. Winning a few races but never a manufacture championship. That's why they quit other racing circuits.
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YoYo 1:52AM (1/26/2006)
Toyota NASCAR ... awesome.
Red Bull and Caterpiller is a waste.
All I have to say is ... Team Hello Kitty.
Bow down to your new master.
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babj615 2:34AM (1/26/2006)
NASCAR =
National
Association for
Stock
Car
Auto
Racing
NOT INTERNATIONAL....
I think NASCAR is NO LONGER......
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RayRay 4:50AM (1/26/2006)
Wow, this is extremely interesting. I'm pretty sure more people would be looking forward to this since many people in NASCAR are closeminded about international competition. This in fact will probably help NASCAR a great deal in future seasons. Base on what I see in the domestic auto sales, the current cars you see racing will die out, and replacement will be needed. If less and less people are out there buying domestic cars, there might as well be less and less people paying attention to NASCAR.
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Snakebte65 7:06AM (1/26/2006)
Ummmm..... shouldn't Toyota be using the Solara body for the race car? They quit making the 2 door Camry when they rolled out the Solara, just seems to make sense, use the 2 door model for the racer... of course the camry is the flagship model... so I can understand that point... and as far as the Camry not being an american car.... MOST of the camrys sold in the US are built in the US. And let's not forget that they have been partners with GM since the early 80's... they prizm/corolla were, and the vibe/matrix are built at NUMMI, even though the company is still based in Japan, most of their vehicles sold in the US now are built in the US. you can't say that for a lot of the US makers anymore... most of the US plants have moved to Canada and Mexico...
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Toolz 8:35AM (1/26/2006)
RayRay,
If you believe people will stop paying attention to Nascar because they can't buy the vehicle they see on the track I think you're dead wrong. The old adage wins on Sunday = sales on Monday no longer holds true when the equivalent to what's racing is a 22k POS with a V6 engine. However, that being said people haven't stopped liking Nascar just because they couldn't get an equivalent in the showroom.
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JM 9:13AM (1/26/2006)
Yes the Camry does look fast but unless any of the teams sign a good driver or find some young unknown talent they will suck. So far as drivers they have Michael Waltrip (he sucks except at Daytona and Talledega and now he doesn't have Dale Jr. helping him) and Dave Blaney with at BDR who isn't exactly a household name in NASCAR. The upside to the Toyota entry is that they have already had some decent success in the truck series so they obviously have a good engine.
My .02 is that they could not have picked a worse year to enter into NASCAR especially with the rollout of the "Car of Tomorrow" being rolled out that year.
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Von K 9:48AM (1/26/2006)
Toyota getting into NASCAR just means they have a clear idea of who thier target is. Namely people who think those things going left on the TV have something in common with the taurus they drove to the Wing Shack.
NASCAR "purists" need to realize the series has been a joke for a loooong time. The "stock" cars bear no resemblance to anything anyone can buy in a showroom. The motors are built only for the series, not to mention they are pushrod v8s. Fine motors, but the only reason they use them is because A:that's what they started with and B:that's what was hot when the target audience was young. The cars are basically all the same tube frame with molded body parts and stick on lights. Not to mention they just go roundy-roundy-round for hours on end. Riveting "strategy" racing for bench racers everywhere.
Let NASCAR die -- who cares what marquees are involved? We all know Toyota's latest venture is only going to last long enough to get sales to target levels, anyway.
Give me racing with left and right turns. Give me a variety of series. Give me a variety of marquees from all over the world racing head-to head, on and off-road. Give me touring cars built from actual production cars. Enough of this fanasty pushrod circle nonsense.
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PG 10:54AM (1/26/2006)
hey... idave101
your drinking too much redbull!!
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JW 11:38AM (1/26/2006)
Toyota should start their own racing series and let any import cars race in it and stay out of the nextel cup.
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John 12:12PM (1/26/2006)
To add to Mickster's comments, the Camry sold in the U.S. is built in the U.S., unlike the domestic manufacturers' cars. IIRC, the Monte Carlo and Charger are built in Canada, and the Fusion is built in Mexico.
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