http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/ Autoblog Comments for Toyota's racing investments finally paying off? http://www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/Mar 18th 2008 7:31PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/Mar 18th 2008 7:32PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/
Motorsports is really an advertising medium for these manufacturers designed for a specific target audience. Not everything is about race and nationality. ]]>Mar 18th 2008 7:47PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/Mar 18th 2008 10:46PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/Mar 18th 2008 11:39PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/
Count the number of Toyota hats at a Nascar race...

I'll give you a hint...starts with Z...ends with ERO]]>Mar 18th 2008 7:36PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/Mar 19th 2008 7:21AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/
February 2008
General Motors –16.7% at 270,423 (2/07: 311,763)
Ford Motor Co –10.6% at 196,681 (2/07: 211,150)
Toyota Motor Co. –6.6% at 182,169 (2/07: 187,330)]]>Mar 19th 2008 10:09AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/
And I'd love to see our domestic makes compete in some top-level motorsports that don't involve ovals. And I don't mean GT.]]>Mar 18th 2008 7:41PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/Mar 18th 2008 8:39PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/Mar 19th 2008 8:24AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/
I could be wrong but I think most of the SuperGT drivers are European, maybe even a couple of Americans. In other words I think Japanese drivers aren't in the majority in that series. Not that it means anything really, but it would be interesting if NASCAR were more diverse.]]>Mar 18th 2008 8:04PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/Win on Sunday,
Sell with arrogance and sarcasm on Monday,
Deny all problems on Tuesday,
Hang up on customer complaints on Wednesday,
Deal with lawyers on Thursday,
Send crews out to pick up fallen off Tundra parts on Friday,
And Friday night thru Saturday morning celebrate getting away with it one more week. ]]>Mar 18th 2008 7:54PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/I to will not watch or attend!!!]]>Mar 18th 2008 7:59PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/
Really?

Allowing a variety of manufacturers into the series is certainly nothing new. With Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford and Toyota, the 2007 Nextel Cup series will have four manufacturers.

Check the entry list of the NASCAR Daytona Speed Week race on February 11, 1951, and you'll find cars from Buick, Chrysler, Ford, Hudson, Kaiser, Lincoln, Mercury, Nash, Oldsmobile, Packard, Plymouth, Pontiac, Studebaker and even a Henry J.

That's 14 brands, and it would have been 15 had a Chevrolet shown up.

All-American? Nope.
Sure, you say, but at least those were all American brands, since NASCAR has always been all-American, right?

Wrong. Check the lineup at NASCAR's first-ever road race in Linden, New Jersey, on June 13, 1954, on the grounds of the local airport. Yes, you had Lee Petty in a Dodge, Buck Baker in an Oldsmobile and Herb Thomas and Dick Rathmann in a pair of Hudsons. But the race was won by Al Keller in a Jaguar, and other brands in the 43-car field included Austin-Healey, MG, Porsche and even a Morgan. In all, 21 entries were foreign brands.

Fine, you say, but that was on a road course. NASCAR would never let foreign cars onto its oval tracks, right?

Wrong. The International 200 at Langhorne, Pennsylvania, was run on a 1-mile dirt oval track on June 21, 1953. There were six Jaguars — one was a fast qualifier — and there were a pair of Porsches, a Volkswagen and even an Aston Martin.

It was a bloody race. Driver Frank Arford was killed, Ray Duhigg suffered a broken neck and Lawrence Shultz was hospitalized with multiple injuries. They were driving, respectively, an Oldsmobile, a Dodge and a Plymouth. None of the foreign cars crashed. Dick Rathmann won in his Hudson with Lee Petty a close second in his Dodge, with Dick Allwine the top-finishing foreign car driver in his Jaguar, which came in 6th, 16 laps down.

When NASCAR returned to Langhorne the following year, none of the entries wore an import label — which meant the starting field dropped from 38 cars to 24 — though Wimpy Ervin made the race in his Henry J, which I mention because NASCAR does not have enough drivers now with names like Wimpy, Slick, Goober and another Wimpy, last name Sipple. Or Bub, Buckshot, Edsel, Elbert, Otis, Pop, Slim, Snuffy, Speedy, Tubby, and, of course, Fireball — all racers from the 1953 season.

Parnelli beats a Renault
But Linden and Langhorne weren't the last time foreigners raced at NASCAR. In the 1958 Crown America 500 NASCAR race at Riverside, California, a pair of Citroëns finished ahead of Parnelli Jones' Ford, though Parnelli did trounce a Renault.

In the now-defunct NASCAR Goody's Dash series, several foreign brands competed. That is, in fact, where Toyota started, before moving into the NASCAR Craftsman truck series, and now at the Nextel Cup level.

So if you're peeved about Toyota entering NASCAR, that's fine.

But listen, Wimpy, or Bub, or Goober, or whatever your name is: Think again about claiming tradition as your reason.


I
]]>Mar 18th 2008 8:25PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/Mar 19th 2008 1:18AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/Mar 18th 2008 8:15PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/
God bless America is right.]]>Mar 18th 2008 9:24PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/
One can very well say "dumb-arse hick" - and pretty much every country has a term to describe such people.

And yes - God Bless America.]]>Mar 19th 2008 1:23AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/18/toyotas-racing-investments-finally-paying-off/
The Ford Fusion - Based on the Japanese-designed Mazda6 chassis, available with Mazda engines, and assembled in Hermosillo, Mexico.

The Chevrolet Impala SS - Built in Ontario, Canada.

The Dodge Avenger - Based on a Mitsubishi platform, with a four-cylinder engine joint-designed with Mitsubishi and Hyundai. Built in Michigan; Dodge's previous entry, the Charger, is built in Canada.

Um, yeah. That Camry sure is a slap in the face to NASCAR's American heritage. Automakers are globalized. Deal with it.]]>Mar 18th 2008 8:59PM