<TABLE style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px; WIDTH: 481px" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0 minmax_bound="true"><TBODY minmax_bound="true"><TR minmax_bound="true"><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px" minmax_bound="true">Toyota unveils the Camry that will be used in Nextel Cup.
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Jan. 23, 2006, 11:00PM
Engines revving, Toyota to join NASCAR in '07
Team will reveal part of its lineup, sponsorship today
By NEIL HOHLFELD
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
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-->CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Toyota, the maker of the most popular car model in the United States, will make the expansion to NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and Busch Series in 2007.
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The Japanese automaker will use a car based on its Camry model, which has been the largest seller in the United States for eight of the last nine years. Toyota has raced Tundra trucks in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series the last two seasons, winning 13 races.
NASCAR chairman Brian France and Toyota vice president Dave Illingworth made the announcement Monday at a media tour hosted by Lowe's Motor Speedway.
"If you want to compete against the best in American racing, that means NASCAR," said Illingworth. "From our experience, we believe the time has come to step up."
The company is expected to announce at least a portion of its team and sponsorship lineup for the 2007 Nextel and Busch series tonight.
One major change announced Monday is that Toyota will not have full say in how its cars are built and modified — something it does with the trucks in the Craftsman series. There had been concerns among other Nextel Cup owners that Toyota could use its deep pockets to gain an advantage over U.S. companies.
Instead, Illingworth said Toyota will provide cars and engines to owners, but technical support will "vary depending on the needs of individual teams."
"We have to keep the American manufacturers involved," said Jack Roush, who owns five Nextel Cup teams. "We can't make it a Japanese-owned-and-operated series. We've got to keep it affordable in terms of all the things that go into our cars."
France said NASCAR had several talks with Toyota over the last year concerning not having a centralized operation at the Nextel Cup level.
"They (Toyota) really took the time to understand the NASCAR culture," said France. "It was why we talked to them about not centralizing everything. They understood that.
"I think this will go down as a very important part in our history. I know how competitive they are and what they can do to help grow our sport."
In addition, NASCAR released its rollout schedule for its car of tomorrow. The new car has a boxier frame that is expected to improve safety and heighten competition because of lower costs.
In 2007, there will be 16 races in which the new car will be mandated, all of them on tracks shorter than 1 1/2 miles except for the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway and road courses at Sonoma and Watkins Glen.
In 2008, the new car will be run at 26 races, but still not at the seven 1 1/2 -mile tracks.
In 2009, tomorrow becomes today. The new car will be used at all 36 Nextel Cup races.
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Jan. 23, 2006, 11:00PM
Engines revving, Toyota to join NASCAR in '07
Team will reveal part of its lineup, sponsorship today
By NEIL HOHLFELD
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
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-->CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Toyota, the maker of the most popular car model in the United States, will make the expansion to NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and Busch Series in 2007.
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The Japanese automaker will use a car based on its Camry model, which has been the largest seller in the United States for eight of the last nine years. Toyota has raced Tundra trucks in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series the last two seasons, winning 13 races.
NASCAR chairman Brian France and Toyota vice president Dave Illingworth made the announcement Monday at a media tour hosted by Lowe's Motor Speedway.
"If you want to compete against the best in American racing, that means NASCAR," said Illingworth. "From our experience, we believe the time has come to step up."
The company is expected to announce at least a portion of its team and sponsorship lineup for the 2007 Nextel and Busch series tonight.
One major change announced Monday is that Toyota will not have full say in how its cars are built and modified — something it does with the trucks in the Craftsman series. There had been concerns among other Nextel Cup owners that Toyota could use its deep pockets to gain an advantage over U.S. companies.
Instead, Illingworth said Toyota will provide cars and engines to owners, but technical support will "vary depending on the needs of individual teams."
"We have to keep the American manufacturers involved," said Jack Roush, who owns five Nextel Cup teams. "We can't make it a Japanese-owned-and-operated series. We've got to keep it affordable in terms of all the things that go into our cars."
France said NASCAR had several talks with Toyota over the last year concerning not having a centralized operation at the Nextel Cup level.
"They (Toyota) really took the time to understand the NASCAR culture," said France. "It was why we talked to them about not centralizing everything. They understood that.
"I think this will go down as a very important part in our history. I know how competitive they are and what they can do to help grow our sport."
In addition, NASCAR released its rollout schedule for its car of tomorrow. The new car has a boxier frame that is expected to improve safety and heighten competition because of lower costs.
In 2007, there will be 16 races in which the new car will be mandated, all of them on tracks shorter than 1 1/2 miles except for the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway and road courses at Sonoma and Watkins Glen.
In 2008, the new car will be run at 26 races, but still not at the seven 1 1/2 -mile tracks.
In 2009, tomorrow becomes today. The new car will be used at all 36 Nextel Cup races.
