Toyota does NASCAR's Busch series...
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From: West Henrietta UPSTATE NY
Toyota does NASCAR's Busch series...
Very interesting...
I'm no NASCAR fan but I do believe when Toyota came into the truck series they came in hard and they came in competative.
I'm no NASCAR fan but I do believe when Toyota came into the truck series they came in hard and they came in competative.
JUNE 28, 2005
Exit Toyota
Toyota has announced that it is pulling out of open-wheeler racing in the United States after 12 years involvement with CART and more recently IRL. The Japanese company says it will leave IRL at the end of 2006 and is moving into NASCAR. This programme began last year with a number of teams in the Craftsman Truck Series. The company is expected to expand next year into the Busch Series and will eventually move into the Nextel Cup, possibly in 2007 if things go well. It will then be in direct competition with GM's Chevrolet, Ford and DaimlerChrysler's Dodge. The Nextel Cup series is already bracing itself for the attack with some existing teams investing heavily in technology and infrastructure, while others look to be involved in the Toyota programme. None of this will have any effect on the Toyota F1 project.
There is still talk of a plan to run a second F1 operation with the Lexus brand. This makes a great deal of sense given that the California-headquartered Lexus brand is expanding into the global markets, aiming specifically at the lucrative luxury car markets where BMW and Mercedes-Benz provide the main opposition. This is classic F1 territory.
A few months ago at the Geneva Auto Show, Lexus unveiled its models which will be used in Europe and there were suggestions that these will be followed by an exotic sports car.
"It is our intention globally to become the pre-eminent luxury car," said Lexus Vice President Dennis E Clements at the time. As part of the strategy Lexus has built an engineering and design centre in Nagoya, Japan and has stylists and designers working in satellite studios in Nice, France and in southern California. Lexus currently sells only 25,000 cars in Europe and ia hoping to lift this number to 65,000 by 2010. These number are still dwarfed by BMW and Mercedes-Benz. The two German companies say they are taking the Japanese seriously but above all remain intent on competing with one another.
In August Lexus will launch for the first time in Japan and a rollout in other Asian countries, notbaly China, will follow.
Toyota created Lexus in 1989 to market premium-level cars and sport-utility vehicles in North America. It has since expanded the brand to 49 other countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. In 2000, Lexus became the top-selling luxury brand in the US.
Exit Toyota
Toyota has announced that it is pulling out of open-wheeler racing in the United States after 12 years involvement with CART and more recently IRL. The Japanese company says it will leave IRL at the end of 2006 and is moving into NASCAR. This programme began last year with a number of teams in the Craftsman Truck Series. The company is expected to expand next year into the Busch Series and will eventually move into the Nextel Cup, possibly in 2007 if things go well. It will then be in direct competition with GM's Chevrolet, Ford and DaimlerChrysler's Dodge. The Nextel Cup series is already bracing itself for the attack with some existing teams investing heavily in technology and infrastructure, while others look to be involved in the Toyota programme. None of this will have any effect on the Toyota F1 project.
There is still talk of a plan to run a second F1 operation with the Lexus brand. This makes a great deal of sense given that the California-headquartered Lexus brand is expanding into the global markets, aiming specifically at the lucrative luxury car markets where BMW and Mercedes-Benz provide the main opposition. This is classic F1 territory.
A few months ago at the Geneva Auto Show, Lexus unveiled its models which will be used in Europe and there were suggestions that these will be followed by an exotic sports car.
"It is our intention globally to become the pre-eminent luxury car," said Lexus Vice President Dennis E Clements at the time. As part of the strategy Lexus has built an engineering and design centre in Nagoya, Japan and has stylists and designers working in satellite studios in Nice, France and in southern California. Lexus currently sells only 25,000 cars in Europe and ia hoping to lift this number to 65,000 by 2010. These number are still dwarfed by BMW and Mercedes-Benz. The two German companies say they are taking the Japanese seriously but above all remain intent on competing with one another.
In August Lexus will launch for the first time in Japan and a rollout in other Asian countries, notbaly China, will follow.
Toyota created Lexus in 1989 to market premium-level cars and sport-utility vehicles in North America. It has since expanded the brand to 49 other countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. In 2000, Lexus became the top-selling luxury brand in the US.
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And what 'car' template will it be? The Camry I suspect.
The NASCAR formula in terms of car templates is utterly ridiculous now - still, a fair amount of the fans actually buy into the whole Monte Carlo vs Taurus vs whatever thing.
It's crazy to realize that there is actually more bleed down from the super high-tech FI to your BMW/Mercedes/etc than in NASCAR today.
Anyway, good for Toyota
The NASCAR formula in terms of car templates is utterly ridiculous now - still, a fair amount of the fans actually buy into the whole Monte Carlo vs Taurus vs whatever thing.
It's crazy to realize that there is actually more bleed down from the super high-tech FI to your BMW/Mercedes/etc than in NASCAR today.
Anyway, good for Toyota
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From: West Henrietta UPSTATE NY
I watch 2 NASCAR races a year, Sears Point now Infinion and Watkins Glen, so, I just watched a race last weekend. I absolutely could not figure out the Ford and the Chevy, the nose of the car is the weirdest distorted looking thing. If that is a template for a production car my eyes must have really gone to the chitter...
I just want Nissan to get into the truck races, I would love to see the Titan kick all their buts!
I just want Nissan to get into the truck races, I would love to see the Titan kick all their buts!
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From: Covington WA, USA
Originally Posted by Triple-H,Jun 28 2005, 09:27 AM
I just want Nissan to get into the truck races, I would love to see the Titan kick all their buts!
No different than Ferrari or Toyota in F1 or Audi and Porsche at Le Mans. Those sure aren't anything but purpose-built race cars either.
How many people know who made the chassis of Dan Weldon's car which won Indy? I'm sure there are a few fans who do, but I don't.
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I actually see a pretty big difference in F1, especially in the teams you mentioned. They both build virtually every component of their F1 cars. Doesn't matter that there's no FW{whatever} for sale, it's purely a Ferrari or Toyota. In NASCAR - it's a Roush car with a Ford template so for example, making the switch from say Chevy to Ford is barely an issue.
Doug, I think I'm with you now. Until Infineon, I hadn't watched a Cup race since early March. I may watch The Brickyard if there are is no Autox that weekend, and will watch the Glen - including quals regardless (thank god for DVR). That will be it for me and NASCAR until Daytona next year Still Ricky Rudd made a good point this weekend - since they emasculated Sears Point, it no longer is the drivers track it once was; I used to love watching races there (on TV) in the 90's. I'm not sure the Cup cars could handle the carousel, but I'd love to see them at Laguna Seca.
Doug, I think I'm with you now. Until Infineon, I hadn't watched a Cup race since early March. I may watch The Brickyard if there are is no Autox that weekend, and will watch the Glen - including quals regardless (thank god for DVR). That will be it for me and NASCAR until Daytona next year Still Ricky Rudd made a good point this weekend - since they emasculated Sears Point, it no longer is the drivers track it once was; I used to love watching races there (on TV) in the 90's. I'm not sure the Cup cars could handle the carousel, but I'd love to see them at Laguna Seca.
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From: West Henrietta UPSTATE NY
Originally Posted by vroom,Jun 29 2005, 07:55 AM
I'm not sure the Cup cars could handle the carousel, but I'd love to see them at Laguna Seca.
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I can see the Texans 20 years from now getting into bar brawls between the Toyota guys and the Honda guys... NOT! I wonder if the good ol' boys'll be able to accept non-American cars in NASCAR. 
If you think the NASCAR cars would have trouble handling Carousel, they'd never make Corkscrew.
Not only does NASCAR avoid Carousel at Infineon, but they also skip turns 5 and 7 which are also quite tricky. WIMPS. 
btw... Having driven both Infineon and Laguna, I have to admit to having a big preference for Sears Point. It's a GREAT racetrack and much more fun that Laguna. (imho)
If you think the NASCAR cars would have trouble handling Carousel, they'd never make Corkscrew.
Not only does NASCAR avoid Carousel at Infineon, but they also skip turns 5 and 7 which are also quite tricky. WIMPS. btw... Having driven both Infineon and Laguna, I have to admit to having a big preference for Sears Point. It's a GREAT racetrack and much more fun that Laguna. (imho)
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yeah - my concern for them is the corkscrew at Laguna. Sears (Infineon) in NASCAR configuration is a big dissapointment. They used to drive the old config.
Hey, at Watkins Glen the exclude the boot!
...I heard A LOT of NASCAR fans upset last year when Toyota entered the truck series. Oh well. Anyway, there are alot of new NASCAR fans that have no relation to the old "no ferriners" crowd. They're definitely a more open minded bunch, but they don't seem as knowlegable.
Hey, at Watkins Glen the exclude the boot!
...I heard A LOT of NASCAR fans upset last year when Toyota entered the truck series. Oh well. Anyway, there are alot of new NASCAR fans that have no relation to the old "no ferriners" crowd. They're definitely a more open minded bunch, but they don't seem as knowlegable.
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From: Covington WA, USA
Originally Posted by vroom,Jun 29 2005, 05:55 AM
I'm not sure the Cup cars could handle the carousel, but I'd love to see them at Laguna Seca.
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Originally Posted by drewchie,Jun 29 2005, 12:10 PM
btw... Having driven both Infineon and Laguna, I have to admit to having a big preference for Sears Point. It's a GREAT racetrack and much more fun that Laguna. (imho)
THill and Sears are high on my wish list. It would also be fun to go back to Laguna now that I'm a better driver. That was only my fifth or sixth track day when I was there.