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Everyone has a Toyota....
Half of the new teams attempting races this year are running Toyota (including Mayfield & the newly annouced team featuring Geof & Todd Bodine). From what I've been able to gather, they've all (or almost all) bought cars from BDR & Redbull. (hard to believe Red Bull has so many useless cars laying around the shop. Maybe Speed won't run anything but virgin cars?)
My question is this- Did RG do the same thing, or is the 7 team building cars from scratch? Which is a better decision?
My question is this- Did RG do the same thing, or is the 7 team building cars from scratch? Which is a better decision?
Views: 26
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by James Tallant on
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I read something about RGM converting the existing chassis to Toyotas made possible by the COT design. I believe it is Motors,Noses, wiring and a few small parts that make up the brand...
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Permalink Reply by NIKAL on
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RGM from day 1 has been buying bare chassis and finishing them in house. I think RGM might have received 1 Roush chassis when he was with Ford and he did get a few chassis from GEM last year. The only thing RGM has not done is their own in house motor program. When they first started and John Menard was building and supplying motors to RGM and that was done in Indy and not out of RGM.
I think your seeing most new teams jumping on the Toyota bandwagon because of the TRD motor support program. You know if you chose to run a Toyota you can get the TRD motor package and supposedly all TRD Toyota motors are the same. So no one team is suppose to be getting better parts or power over another. Toyota is the only manufacture that has their own motor program. Chevy, Ford and Dodge only give technical support and they leave the motor building to the teams. For a start up team to sign a contract to have Hendrick, RCR, Roush or GEM build your motors is so expencive that most of these start up teams would probably spend 1/2 of there budget on just motors, and these companies want full season contracts too.
It would not surprise me if that was not a huge reason RGM moved over to Toyota. When with Chevy Menard picked up the Menard Engineering motor program cost and then when he changed to DEI power I was "told" that Menard helped pay for that too. Once RGM went to Ford his deal was that Ford paid Roush for his motors. Then the 11 hour move to Dodge was because of RGM's deal to be bought out by GEM and I'm sure GEM was giving motors to RGM for a reduced cost thinking they were buying RGM at seasons end.
Now that the GEM deal fell threw RGM needs find a manufacture that can support his motors. I dont think RGM could afford Hendrick or RCR, if even those companies could take on more customers. If he was to go back to Ford, I'm sure RGM's deal would not cover his motor program considering he left last minute to go to Dodge. Dodge does not really have anyone building top motors except for GEM and that is not an option. So what does that leave? Toyota where RGM knows he will be getting the same HP as Red Bull and MWR.
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Permalink Reply by Keith on
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Penske still building DODGE motors.
With GEM's failed attempt at going TOYOTA themselves, they now find themselves
at least 6 months behind on the new DODGE motor.
It also now makes PENSKE the DODGE flagship... for what that's worth.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Kenyon on
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JB7, I'm happy your enjoying your new CRV! Mike
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You can add another start up team to Cup and they to are running Toyota's too. This kinda confirms my thoughts about why new teams are choosing Toyota's, because it's easier to get signed up on a motor program. I wonder how many teams Toyota can provide motors for before a quality control issue becomes an issue?
Gunselman, Bodine's start new Cup team:
Journeyman driver Larry Gunselman is the latest to make an attempt at the Cup Series dream in 2009 as the Washington native has formed a team for himself and a pair of veteran brothers, Geoff and Todd Bodine. Gunselman, who won races in the old Winston West Series and its most popular driver award in 1996 before traveling east in 2000 to seek his racing fortunes, is the principal in the team that will field #64 Toyotas. He said Wednesday morning he's backed by a group of investors who are new to the sport and is still seeking primary sponsorship. "Right now we're looking at running for purse money while we try to come up with sponsorship dollars," Gunselman said. "The more sponsor dollars you get, the harder you can run. I tell people all the time, if you don't have money, you've got to race smart, and you can race hard if you do have money." If a team had been able to make all 36 Cup races last season and finish in the least-paying position, it would have won $2,880,640 in purse money. Gunselman has six Camrys -- three each that were purchased from Bill Davis Racing and Red Bull Racing -- and Wednesday he'd just come from the NASCAR R&D Center with his crew chief "for as long as I can keep him," former champion Doug Richert, and the second chassis they'd had certified. Gunselman, who has previous Cup team ownership experience from when he fielded the #98 Mach 1 Motorsports cars in 2004 with Chris Edwards, made 26 of 36 races and finished 39th in the owner standings, said to start the season attempting the races was critical. "There are so many people out of work out there right now that I believe the whole industry is going through a major correction factor -- the whole economy of the United States is going through a correction factor at the moment," Gunselman said. "There's an opportunity for a guy who's willing to go out there and take advantage of an opportunity and find a good group of people who really want to race, and we've got that. I think the current economic conditions are going to weed a lot of people out of our sport that didn't get in it for the right reason to begin with, and the real racers are going to figure out a way to survive and come out of this economic situation still involved in the sport."
While the team wasn't sure who'd be in its car for Speedweeks, when the #64 will attempt to make the Daytona 500 as a "go-or-go-home" car, Gunselman said Todd Bodine would definitely drive at Fontana and Las Vegas, the second and third races on the schedule. Bodine is the 2006 Truck Series champion, who also has 15 wins in the Nationwide Series and 228 Cup starts, with five poles, seven top-five and 21 top-10 finishes. Geoff Bodine, who won the 1986 Daytona 500, 18 Cup races, six in the Nationwide Series and hundreds of Modified races -- but who hasn't made a NASCAR national touring start since 2005, when he made eight starts in the Nationwide Series, may run at Daytona. Gunselman, 48, most recently made spot starts in all of NASCAR's national tours -- including 20 in the '08 Nationwide and Truck series.(NASCAR.com)(1-29-2009)
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