| | | | | | WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU... | Not exactly a running start | |
| | From ThatsRacin.com Toyota entered Cup competition without luring established, top-tier teams away from other manufacturers, so Bill Davis Racing and two brand-new operations -- Team Red Bull and Michael Waltrip Racing -- helped bring the first foreign-based company into full-time competition in stock-car racing's top series.Things went haywire from the first day of competition for a points-paying event as Michael Waltrip's car failed prequalifying inspection at the Daytona 500. A "foreign substance" was found inside the car's intake manifold, and NASCAR impounded the car and expelled two members of Waltrip's team for their role in the infraction.
With Toyota's new teams fighting uphill against NASCAR's rule guaranteeing starting spots to those in the top 35 in car owner standings, qualifying day became the biggest day of the week for the Camry crews.
None of the teams made every race in 2007, with Dave Blaney coming closest by qualifying for 33 of 36.
Blaney and Waltrip each won a pole, and Blaney's third-place finish at Talladega was Toyota's best of the season. Blaney also finished 34th in the owner standings, meaning he'll have a spot in the starting lineup for the first five races of 2008.
With those first-year growing pains out of the way, however, how much better will Toyota's second Cup season be? That figures to depend largely on how well Joe Gibbs Racing fares in its transition to the manufacturer.
The Gibbs team, which has won 58 races in its 16 seasons of competition, will send star drivers Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and new team member Kyle Busch onto the track this year trying to get Toyota its first taste of NASCAR victory.
| | Posted December 21, 2007 , 7:44 pm EST
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