Autoblog

Toyota has just raised its profile in NASCAR's top racing series. For the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup (née NEXTEL Cup) season, Joe Gibbs Racing will trade in its Chevrolets for Toyota Camrys (or at least cars with Toyota Camry headlight and grille stickers decorating their noses). In terms of star power, it means that Toyota picks up some very big names in Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, and Denny Hamlin. Stewart showed how receptive he was to the change by announcing plans to sign a contract extension with JGR that keeps him on the NFL coaching legend's race team through the '09 season.

In a piece he wrote for FOXSports.com, Darryl Waltrip (whose brother Michael's team also runs Toyotas) said that the deal is a boon for both Toyota and JGR, because the adoption of the Car of Tomorrow for the full season next year basically levels the playing field where the cars themselves are concerned. The engines will be the difference-makers on the technical front. Waltrip feels that Gibbs' excellent engineering team will work wonders with the Toyota race engine, and that the JGR Camrys should be competitive right away. We'll see how right or wrong he is on Sunday, February 17, 2008, when the green flag waves at Daytona.

Follow the jump for press releases from Toyota and JGR.

Thanks for the tip, Saimin.

[Sources: Toyota Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, NYT Wheels Blog, FOX Sports]

Excessive on-screen graphics and sports telecasts seem to go hand-in-hand. While some truly are innovative, there will always be crap that we can all do without. Some examples are more hideous than others -- the relentlessly annoying "FoxTrack" puck that made its debut in NHL telecasts back in '96 immediately leaps to mind. This week, ESPN introduced something that could become irritating in a hurry if overused. It's called Draft Track, and it's a graphical representation of the airflow over the race cars in the net's NASCAR Nextel Cup telecasts. Nice idea, but it happens to make the cars look like they're on fire in some kind of videogame. Sigh. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should, you know? Since we're talking TV graphics, we'll conclude by taking this opportunity to state that the inventor of the yellow first-down stripe used in football 'casts should have had a new Nobel Prize category created for him.

If you want to see what the Draft Track looks like in motion, head over to Jalopnik by clicking the image above or the "Read" link below. They captured some of the action and have video hosted at their place.

[Source: Jalopnik]

The world of NASCAR was rocked today when Dale Earnhardt Junior, the motorsport's most marketable and therefore most valuable driver, announced he is leaving DEI, the race team originally owned by his father. It turns out that there may be some familial conflict at the center of Junior's departure, as some speculate that Teresa Earnhardt, his stepmother and father's wife at the time of his death, wasn't willing to meet all of his demands.

Junior and his sister, Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, were negotiating with DEI to gain control of 51% of the business and complete control of the race team. The press is speculating that while Teresa was willing to give up 51% of the company to Junior, she wanted Junior's control over the team to be tempered by a board or committee that would approve final decisions. Whatever the case, DEI's offer wasn't enough to keep Junior at the negotiating table any longer, and he'll become a free agent at the end of the season. The news is even worse for DEI, as some speculate that Budweiser, Junior's biggest sponsor, will follow him next year to whatever team that signs him.

[Source: Auto Racing Daily]

It's not a secret that Jack Roush thinks you should be buying American cars. Likewise, he's not a fan of NASCAR's decision to allow Toyota to race in the Nextel Cup series this season. The motorsports legend and tuner of all things Ford has recently gone on record with some fiery wartime rhetoric saying, "I expect to hand Toyota their head over the short term." He went on to say, "Toyota will not find that the established teams and manufacturers will wither in their path, as has been the case where they have tried to engage elsewhere." Them sounds like fightin' words!

The general concern is that Toyota will shore up its three teams with a bankroll that can't be matched by other manufacturers and teams participating in the series. However, as has been pointed out in the past, Toyota is believed to have the biggest budget in F1, yet you don't hear its name on the podium very often with Renault and Ferrari. For Roush's part, he's gone to great lengths to secure additional funding for his NASCAR team, even from Ford which is obviously strapped for cash.

Roush makes a good point, however, that NASCAR's strict limitations on technology means that Toyota's money won't allow it to buy better cars or technology. The real investment in NASCAR is with people and having the bucks to hire the best. But Toyota also knows success in NASCAR is not all about winning, it's about how many billboards, commercials and sponsorships you can slap your logo on. There's little doubt in our minds that Toyota will be successful in that arena.

[Source: Associated Press via Winding Road]

Just because Jimmie Johnson won the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup doesn't mean that it's all about him. At the annual Myers Brothers Awards last Thursday, General Motors presented Jimmie's wife Chandra with the key to a 2007 Corvette convertible. Which is really nice, because that's a $55,000 financial hit he won't have to shell out from the $15,770,125 (!) in prize money he collected at NASCAR awards banquet the following night. Honestly, we don't know what he'd have done otherwise.

For her part, the lovely Mrs. J playfully said that Jimmie could "be her chauffeur."

Jimmie Johnson is, by all accounts, a very lucky guy...

[Source: San Jose Mercury News]

Nine years ago, from his couch in El Cajon, California, Jimmie Johnson watched his future team's co-owner, Jeff Gordon, win the NASCAR Nextel Cup championship (then the NASCAR Winston Cup Series). Last night, he raised the chalice himself after finishing 9th at Homestead, 56 points ahead of Matt Kenseth for the season, as the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup series champion.

The #48 Lowes Home Improvement Chevrolet team overcame a hole in the grille and no tape to fix it, a fantastic call by crew chief Chad Knaus, catching a loose left front lug nut before Jimmy left the pits that kept them from going a lap down, and a near-miss with Robbie Gordon in the closing laps to complete the chase for his first NASCAR Nextel Cup championship. Greg Biffle, who finished second to Tony Stewart for the championship last year, won the season-ender Ford 400 for the third year in a row.

Follow the jump for a brief history lesson on how the 10-race NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship Race went for Jimmie Johnson.

This Sunday the Chase for the 2006 Nextel Cup will cross the finish line. At the end of the day, as long as No. 48 Jimmie Johnson finishes 12th or better at Homestead-Miami Speedway, he will walk away with his long-awaited championship. According to the guys who crunch the numbers, that's even if No. 17 Matt Kenseth, who trails Johnson by 63 points, wins the race and leads the most laps.

But No. 29 Kevin Harvick, third in the standings going into this weekend's race, will not end the year empty-handed. Harvick's done even better in the Busch Series. He had that title wrapped up in October. He can just coast through Saturday's Busch race (Ford 300 on TNT at 7 p.m. ET). No. 11 Denny Hamlin, fourth in Nextel Cup standings, looks good to take home rookie-of-the-year trophy.
Sorry No. 8 fans, at 115 points behind Johnson, Earnhardt Jr. is a long shot. There's always next year, Dale. Rounding out Nextel Cup's top 10 are No. 24 Jeff Gordon, No. 31 Jeff Burton, No. 6 Mark Martin, No. 9 Kasey Kahne and No. 5 Kyle Busch.

Watch the Ford 400/Nextel Cup Series Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

For the Craftsman Truck Series championship, Johnny Benson trails Todd Bodine by 112 points before Friday's Ford 200 in Miami. Watch that race on Speed Channel at 7:30 p.m. ET

Check the NASCAR TV schedule for official airing times.

click on image to enlarge

Ford probably paid a lot of money to sponsor NASCAR's season ending series of races at Homestead Miami Speedway in November. Dubbed Ford Championship Weekend, season enders for the Craftsman Truck Series and Busch Series will precede the Ford 400 on November 19th, the last race of this season's NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. Where there's NASCAR racing there's going to be wrecks, and when wrecks occur you need a trusty pace car to lead the field.

Yesterday Ford unveiled its trio of pace cars for the Championship Weekend, which include an F-150 FX-2 to pace the Ford 200 Craftsman Truck race, a Ford Edge to pace the Ford 300 Busch race, and a Shelby GT500 to pace the race with top billing, the Ford 400 Nextel Cup race. The vehicles will be stock save for pace car decals and a light bar, which essentially prepares them for anything they might encounter during their pace duty. With as frequent as crashes seem to occur in NASCAR races seem as of late, we expect these three vehicles will rack up some decent mileage before the Championship Weekend is over.

Matt Kenseth was on hand at the unveiling of the pace cars, which took place at Homestead Miami Speedway itself before a test session. Currently Kenseth and his DeWalt Fusion are 45 points out of first place in the race for the cup with just a few races to go. Fellow ROUSH Racing teammate Mark Martin is ranked No. 4 in the standings, 102 points out of first place. Jeff Burton and his Cingular-sponsored Chevy Impala are currently the cup race leaders.

[Source: Ford]

Perennial open-wheel and sports car fan favorite Massimiliano (Mad Max) Papis will become the first Italian in NASCAR's modern era to compete in NASCAR when he pilots the Furniture Row Racing entry at the Watkins Glen NEXTEL Cup road course event August 13.

Papis is having quite a year, racing at the Daytona 24 Hours, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Indy 500, and a host of other races, including NASCAR's IROC series. Papis has seemingly raced in nearly everything with four wheels, with an extensive Formula 1, Champ Car, and sports cars resume.

Regular viewers of the Rolex Sports Car series will know that Max is no stranger to NASCAR-style beatin' and bangin' - he should fit right in!

Denver-based Furniture Row Racing is new to NEXTEL Cup this year. Watkins Glen will mark the team's first road course race. Papis and the team recently completed a right turn/left turn test session at Virginia Interational Raceway.

[Source: Furniture Row Racing]

McLaren bad boy Juan Pablo Montoya will leave Formula 1 at the end of the 2006 season to drive in NASCAR for his old boss, Chip Ganassi. Somebody get this guy a beer.

Despite his impressive open-wheel resume - CART (Champ Car) champion, Indy 500 winner, seven-time F1 winner - Montoya never really settled into the Formula 1 team environment, either with Williams or McLaren, and it looked as though McLaren was set to let him go at the end of the year in any event. With championship-contending seats looking pretty scarce for 2007, Montoya evidently decided to follow the money and return to the U.S.

For his part, F1Racing.net reports a happy Juan Pablo said after the announcement Sunday, "I am so happy to be entering the fastest growing racing league in the world... I know the transition will not be easy but I can't wait to get behind the wheel."

The Colombian will drive the #42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge in the full Nextel Cup schedule, along with a number of Busch series races. Montoya's seat at McLaren will likely be taken by long-time McLaren protege Lewis Hamilton, currently competing in GP2, although the dominos aren't likely to start falling until Kimi Raikkonen makes his intentions clear.

[Source: F1Racing.net] Thanks to Judd for the tip!