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Written by:
Tom Jensen
09/04/2007 - 07:00 PM
Harrisburg, N.C.
Toyota has added significantly to its NASCAR army with JGR and superstar Tony Stewart. (LAT photo) MORE NASCAR PHOTOS ยป More Photos
As expected, Joe Gibbs Racing announced Wednesday that it will switch from Chevrolet to Toyota for 2008, marking the first time since the team's inception in 1991 that it will campaign cars from a manufacturer other than General Motors.
As recently as 5 p.m. Monday, team spokesman Mike Arning said a decision had not yet been made on which manufacturer to go with, but on Wednesday, team President J.D. Gibbs confirmed that Toyota was the winner.
"We have 420-plus families that are our No. 1 priority, and taking care of them for the future is very important to us," said Gibbs. "Our people have made us as successful as we are today, and it's those same people who will ensure our success in the future. When our teams win, those families win. We're thrilled for everyone at JGR who will benefit from this."
"What we're here for is to win races," said Tony Stewart, who has won two championships with the team. " At the end of the day, it's about winning races and championships."
The move is both bold and risky. With General Motors, Gibbs would never be more than No. 2 in the pecking order behind Hendrick Motorsports, despite winning three of the first seven NASCAR Nextel Cup championships this decade. At Toyota, Gibbs has the opportunity to become the clear-cut No. 1 team, something J.D. Gibbs stressed was a key part of making the decision. "For us, this is the right partner," he said.
J.D. Gibbs: finally able to make it official. (Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR) MORE NASCAR PHOTOS ยป More Photos
The three current Toyota Nextel Cup teams Red Bull Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing and Bill Davis Racing include two start-ups and an established team, BDR, which has had top-10 points finishes but no championships.
Of the seven full-time Toyota drivers in Nextel Cup, Michael Waltrip, Jeremy Mayfield and A.J. Allmendinger have failed to qualify for more than half the races this season and in the races that Toyotas did make, there have been at least 10 engine failures since the start of the season. The best finish by any Toyota Nextel Cup driver this season was the fifth-placed scored by Brian Vickers in the Coca-Cola 600.
Jim Aust, vice president of Toyota Motorsports and president and CEO of Toyota Racing Development, USA, said all three of the current Toyota teams will remain with the manufacturer next year and additional teams could be added in the future. Hall of Fame Racing, which is a Gibbs satellite team, may switch to Toyota as well.
"Joe Gibbs Racing is one of the most respected teams in NASCAR, a championship-caliber race team and a first-class organization," said Aust. "We are confident that partnering with the Gibbs team will raise the level of our entire Toyota NASCAR program, and will be beneficial to all of our current teams racing the Toyota
The addition of JGR gives Toyota a powerhouse, championship-level team and increases its presence to roughly one-fourth of the NASCAR Nextel Cup field. The move is a huge step up for the manufacturer, without question. The short-term challenge will be for the team.
With the Car of Tomorrow mandated for all 36 races next year, there will be virtually no issues for the team changing over to Toyota in terms of bodies and chassis. The chassis won't change and the bodies are aerodynamically equal, so they aren't an issue. The challenge for Gibbs will be ramping up their motor program to adapt to an all-new motor.
Mark Cronquist, who heads the team's engine shop, said he expects the changeover will go smoothly. The team already had to adopt to an all-new GM engine this season the R07, which replaced the SB2 and Cronquist said he expected it would be easier to change from the R07 GM motor to the Toyota engine, which the current Toyota teams are using this year, then it was to changeover from the SB2 to R07.
Another issue is just timing. Because the team is under contract with GM until the last day of the 2007 season, it cannot start building Toyota engines or cars now, while all other top-line teams are already working on their 2008 cars, something that could potentially handicap the Gibbs effort early next season.
It also could result in Gibbs getting less support from GM than Hendrick, Richard Childress Racing or Dale Earnhardt, Inc. during the Chase for the Nextel Cup. Chevrolets have won 18 of 25 races so far this season, including four victories by Gibbs drivers Stewart and Denny Hamlin.
Still, the team said it's the right move. "This decision was made by all of the key leadership at JGR," said Jimmy Makar, senior vice president of racing operations for JGR. "It was a decision made by the people in our competition department, who live by the one question whenever a decision is made regarding Joe Gibbs Racing: 'Will this make us more competitive on the race track?' The consensus answer was yes."
General Motors issued the following statement after the announcement: "General Motors has been associated with Joe Gibbs Racing for 16 years working together winning races and championships. While we understand the business nature of racing, we are disappointed in J.D.'s decision and announcement today. With our long-standing relationship and record of winning with them, we hoped they would remain with Chevrolet. We will continue to support our JGR drivers in this year's Chase for the Championship. We wish JGR well as they go forward, and Chevrolet will compete against them on the track next year to defend its title as the winningest name in racing."
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