Permalink Reply by jack on December 16, 2008 at 11:15pm
well i'm not sure if I like idea of Robby going to Toyota on a personal note... But I do think this is a great move for RGM. They way Toyota does the manufactures support is definatly a big deal for a single car team!
Whether or not Robby wins a race this year in a Yota I think will depend on 4 things.
1, RGM picking to use the right technical information from TRD
2, Fuel economy from the TRD engines
3, Making the right calls during a race
4, (Most important) RACING LUCK!!!! (this involve 1,3,4 & sometimes 2).
Permalink Reply by jack on December 16, 2008 at 11:22pm
Another huge note! RGM learned to leagally kick the RT side out more than any other team and was really starting to progress with that set up.
Does that mean Robby has to share the info on how he does that? (in order to improve on it). Or does he throw that info away and start using setups from TRD???
Im happy with this Toyota switch. At least he's done it in more time than 2 weeks before the 500! Should have the correct stickers for the nose at least.
Permalink Reply by Matt on December 17, 2008 at 9:22am
Its completely confusing to read people are upset about this switch, mainly because:
1. RG has had Toyota affiliation since he was 19!
2. RG ran Toyotas for many years in Cart, with PPI, his own team, etc.
3. RGM was almost the original Toyota Nascar team, but he got that deal snaked away by Michael Waltrip. You dont really think the New Hampshire melt down in 05 was really just about the wreck, do you?
These cars on the track share zero parts with the street version, so why care? Look at a manufacturer as a sponsor, and this new sponsor is bringing more money and technical assistance to the table. Who cares if its Kia, as long as it gets RGM closer to winning.
Looking at the Toyota competition, we saw that JGR was great out of the box but really faded towards the end of the season. RBR along with MWR made improvements all season and were really creeping up the pecking order at the season end. BDR was consistent in their finishes over the season and had some bad luck that push them down in the standings, while HOF could not get their program going. If TDR forces data sharing, it will be a good year for Robby.
The real question is how will his SuperSpeedway car run with a Toy nose. This is a must finish good race as the next two are intermediate tracks at which RGM has struggled last year.