Jack Roush declares war on Toyota in NASCAR

[1931Chevy]

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/01/25/j...ota-in-nascar/
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.

[dindak]

I hate that Toyota is in NASCAR, they don't belong there in my opinion and are rubbing their new found success and big money in the face of the big 3.

I hope Jack is right, I think he is but ya never know when Toyota very clearly is spending big bucks alreay. Of course you look at F1 and they have had very little success there.

[Kappa]

Seems like a case of big money and no experience. Even if Toyota has more money to spend and such on cars and teams, it dont always mean they going to win races. At this rate if Toyota succeeds then NASCAR will be nothing but Toyotas on the field, and who wants to watch that. Im no big fan of NASCAR, but if Toyota keeps this up and fumbles then they are going to hit the ground hard with all they spent. So lets hope Jack is right, and maybe he can shut Toyota up.

[SDRacing]

I'm as diehard as they come with chevrolet/nascar/America!! I am totally with Jack Roush on this. I will pull for Ford to win before any yoyota. Good for Jack!!

[chadbarb99]

Jack is my hero

[RamJet502]

The Cat in the Hat fires the first shot! Hopefully Toyota gets slapped around all year long!

[smk4565]

Nice words. I am glad Toyota is in NASCAR so their Camry can get beat on week after week.

[fastball]

Originally Posted by dindak

I hate that Toyota is in NASCAR, they don't belong there in my opinion and are rubbing their new found success and big money in the face of the big 3.

As much as I agree with you, you have to be honest: Toyota is doing it's damnedest to infiltrate American culture. The reason is because they can. If GM or Ford can't match dollar to dollar with Toyota, Toyo is going to cause problems for NASCAR. But here's the catch 22: GM is sinking boku bucks into their production vehicles to improve them and compete on the sales end. Where do they put the money? NASCAR or your next Malibu? Toyota, on the other hand, doesn't have that dillema. Sad but true, they have more money in their pocket than GM could dream about right now. So, as you say, they're rubbing it squarely in the nose of the big 2.5.

From a purely business standpoint, it's very clever. My American pride notwithstanding, Toyota is advancing their name with rather brilliant marketing.

Not this year, not next year, and maybe not the year after that, but somewhere down the line there's going to be a Toyota crossing the finnish line at Daytona first. It's not a matter of if, but when. If we've learned anything from them in the last 30 years is that they don't play not to loose, they play to win. America took them lightly 30 years ago, so I hope NASCAR doesn't today.

[stevecmh]

good to hear it.. Go FORD CHEVY AND DODGE

[F@#$IMPORTS]

NASCAR regretably is all about money not tradition. Toyota will make a number of fans including me eventually loose interest in NASCAR. Lets just hope the Toyota's suffer the same reliability problems as there street cars & trucks.

[Slack]

Toyota doesn't belong in NASCAR just like Pontiac doesn't belong in Formula D....Wait, what??

[Rick 2000]

I hope the negative publicity Toyota will get from elbow their
way in too Nascar will result in loss in sales . I wish all the nascar
fans could get together and completely boycott 1 race this season
have pickett lines , that would send a clear message before this
get completely out of hand ( next Honda ) .

[AutoGrifos]

If Toyota doesn't do well, look for rules changes to ensure that they do find at least some success--this is NASCAR after all... Besides, does it even matter whose "sticker" is on the car in the farce that has become NASCAR?

[lkimura]

I applaud Jack Roush for taking a stand. I fear however, that Toyota's ability to allocate extremely large amounts of money to this endover will eventually allow them to get their way. They are currently doing this with Formula 1 where they are able to throw hundreds of millions of dollars a year into their effort.

I amazed by their patience. After years of trying, and spending over a billion dollars, their Formula 1 team have yet to produce any credible results, yet they continue to press on, and I think this will happen in NASCAR until Toyota dominates.

[PhishPhood]

Originally Posted by F@#$IMPORTS

NASCAR regretably is all about money not tradition. Toyota will make a number of fans including me eventually loose interest in NASCAR. Lets just hope the Toyota's suffer the same reliability problems as there street cars & trucks.

Everything is all about money..especially cars. It's about making money for the shareholders. Nothing else. All the rest is smoke and mirrors.