So how did RGM end up switching to Toyota?

Eeverything I've heard all points back to the same chain of events...

Robby was content on sticking with Dodge and moving forward for 2009 after finishing off with an average finish of 29th with Penske motors. Gordon was able to finish the season inside the Top 35, secure sponsorship for 2009 and with plans to move forward. However, like other teams that began to cut cost and scale down on personnel, Penske would not have the resources to continue into 2009 supporting RGM, and Dodge wasn't in position to add anymore support. Dodge even released Ganassi racing one year early from their agreement.

Dodge, GM & Ford are all seeking aid from the government for bail out money to keep the "Big Three" from bankruptcy.

Robby quickly began to call Toyota. Nascar has been strict on allowing teams to switch over to the foreign brand and prevented Gillett Evernham Motorsports from merging with Bill Davis Racing in an attempted switch. Being a single-car owner has been an uphill climb for RGM, but this was a situation where it was a benefit. Toyota was loosing 3 teams with BAM closing shop and HOF leaving Toyota and Bill Davis Racing on the brink of closing it's Cup team down. RGM was granted by Nascar the opportunity to move to Toyota.

RGM will get full factory support from TRD and will reimburse Toyota for it's engines.

Only 2 Toyota teams finished outside the Top 35 Owner points for 2008: #47 MWR, and #96 - Hall of Fame Racing. With Hall of Fame switching manufacturers and Ganassi moving to Chevrolet (which will eliminate 2 spots in the Top 35), the #47 will now be locked inside the Top 35. This means all Toyota backed teams will be locked inside the Top 35 for the first 5 races of 2009.

Toyota will enter it's 3rd year in Nascar Cup Racing, and it's 2nd year with the COT.

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Permalink Reply by Beagle7 on December 17, 2008 at 2:45pm

good insight..but I still contend Marcos Ambrose in the #47 SHOULD NOT be locked in the top 35!!!

Those owner points are the MWR #00 Owner Points...NOT THE JTG/Daugherty racing Owners Points.

JTG/Daugherty, though housed and receiving technical support from MWR, as Brad Daugherty has stated:

"Actually, this puts us about two years ahead of where we would have been otherwise." Daugherty, an ESPN NASCAR analyst, said the alliance includes the #47 team being housed under the MWR roof. Daugherty stressed there was still independence from MWR, however, saying it is not a merger and that the #47 is not a fourth Waltrip team. "We'll work with Toyota Racing Development out of Costa Mesa [Calif.], and all their parts and pieces already flow through MWR," Daugherty said. "It just makes sense for us to be in-house over [at MWR]."

Remember, the last four races was Ambrose running the #00 for MWR with Nascar allwoing them to switch numbers so the sponsor would benefit from not having any confusion of the car number (Little Debbie 00 versus the Little Debbie 47).

as per Jayski: Ambrose to drive final four Cup races: In preparation for Sprint Cup Series competition in a Toyota in 2009 with JTG-Daugherty Racing, Marcos Ambrose has agreed to drive the final four races of the season for Michael Waltrip Racing.

Thus, JTG using the owner points fo the #00 MWR 3rd car amounts to a sale or transfer of Owner Points whihc Nascar prohibits unless the entire team is being dissolved/sold (as the Ginn case to DEI was) and even then the extra "5th" car had to dissappear, not be sold in that case.

Here, MWR is not entirely dissolving. They have a 3rd car with what amounts to now locked in Owners points. They can either choose to run that car, or if they don;t they give up that spot and the next car down gets bumped up.

For JTG to be able to use them amounts to a sale, a FREE one at that, and if so..Nascar is bunch of hypocrites...but would this be the first time? lol

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Permalink Reply by Matt on December 17, 2008 at 3:33pm

Hmm, not exactly. This is an R&D effort for Penske, I'm almost positive. They will move to Toyota for 2010. As for Ganassi, Dodge released them because of the DEI/GM tie. They wanted to keep Ganassi, but instead of putting their foot down they did what was best for the future of CGFS Racing, and Nascar in general.

Penske has plenty of resources, especially considering they just announced another sponsor for the #77. Saying Penske has a lack of personal or resources would be like saying that about Hendrick or RCR.

Also, BAM has not completely shut down. Its really close though.

Here is something to ponder. RGM started the change over weeks ago, this is just the first your hearing of it. Do you really think this was a spur of the moment decision based on hasty calls to Toyota???

You have not heard the last of Penske and RGM working together.

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Permalink Reply by TOG on December 17, 2008 at 8:25pm

unless Penske was sitting on a bunch of old inventory he was looking to move before going to the new engine.

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Permalink Reply by Bigzoom on December 17, 2008 at 9:19pm

Well, I'm just reporting what I've heard. As for layoffs...Hendrick did layoff people...19 people! and ECR (Earnhardt / Childress engines company) layed off 25!

I said this was a time line...not a last second effort. Robby was content and happy to continue with Dodge...IF...Penske was still supplying engines. That was not going to be the case in 2009 and Dodge wasn't going to support RGM in 2009.

Toyota was a perfect move and I know it started weeks ago, after Robby learned Penske wouldn't be able to supply motors for 2009 and Dodge wasn't willing to add any support to RGM.

As for the Penske & RGM theory alot of you have...we will see. I've only heard that type of talk on this forum. The Penkse-RGM deal was a business decision for engines for the remiander of 2008...not a partnership.

As for Ganassi, you need to do your homework....Dodge letting Ganassi out of their deal had to due with finances on Dodges part, they gladly let Ganassi out. They planned to support GEM & Penkse only in 2009. There's several articles online I'm sure you can read that go into details. Do you really think Dodge would let a 2 -car team with sponsors like Target & Wrigley's out of their deal becuase they're nice people? Dodge will only have 7 teams next year. (GEM & Penske).

BAM was last heard of in August 2008.

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Permalink Reply by Matt on December 17, 2008 at 9:28pm

Who are your sources?

Dodges head of motorsports clearly stated they wanted to keep Ganassi, as recent as on Sirius yesterday. They also plan to support Petty, regardless if the merger goes through or not.

What do you have to prove Penske said no to supplying engines for this year?

Once again, sources.

Hendrick layed off a similar amount of people in prior years, maybe a few more. No one keeps a head count on how many people those organizations have hired after cleaning house.

August 2008 might have been the last time YOU heard from BAM. Does that mean Beth closed shop?

This post on "how RG switched to Toyota" is nothing more than a rehash of things read online and your opinions or guesses. Just curious, how old are you, and have you worked in the Nascar industry?

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Permalink Reply by Bigzoom on December 17, 2008 at 9:36pm

Matt...Chill!

You have your opinion, I report what I've been told.

I agree 100% Dodge stated if it was best for Ganassi they would let them out...but come on, that's all media gravy...just like Auburn University said Gene Chizek had the best plan for their football program...and Tommy Tuberville didn't get fired, he quit...but, since he's such a nice guy we paid him $5.1 million anyway! I have been associated with media people long enough to know what's real and what's a bunch of media garbage.

And I guess Dodge is shutting down all their plants for 30 days because they're so nice they wanted to give all their employees 30 days off for the holidays! A total of 46,000 employees will be affected. They will be paid during the time off through a combination of state unemployment benefits and Chrysler contributions, but they will not receive the full amount of their working pay, a Chrysler spokesman said.

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Permalink Reply by Matt on December 17, 2008 at 9:42pm

I am chilled. I am just trying to see what your sources are, who told you this info.

I have my info as well, gotten from teams (RBR), suppliers (Goodyear), and locals of the Charolette industrial area. Its just that many times your info looks and sounds exactly like the stuff on Jayski, Fox, etc and is completely backwards of the real, internal story.

Just saying, no worries either way.

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Permalink Reply by Bigzoom on December 19, 2008 at 10:29am

Chrysler plans to slash its overall NASCAR budget by more than 30% in 2009, Dodge Motorsports director Mike Accavitti told ESPN.com on Thursday. That reduction is due in part to the team-merger between Dale Earnhardt, Inc. and Chip Ganassi Racing, which removes Ganassi's former three-team Sprint Cup operation from the Dodge fold. (Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing will run Chevrolets.) But Dodge will also cut back on at-track car displays, track sponsorships and promotions. It will, though, continue to support Penske Racing, Gillet Evernham Motorsports and Petty Enterprises as planned, Accavitti said. "We'll definitely be on the track in 2009," Accavitti said in a phone interview. Chrysler announced Wednesday it would, starting Friday, shut down all 30 US-based manufacturing plants for a month. Accavitti said that will have no bearing on any NASCAR relationship. Accavitti said Dodge evaluates return-on-investment annually "on every dime spent on NASCAR" to determine whether NASCAR should remain part of its advertising plan. Some wonder how cash-strapped automakers can choose to spend on auto racing when the market is so poor. To date, Accavitti said NASCAR has helped move product. And, he continued, there is but one way out of the current abyss: sell more cars.(in part from ESPN.com)(

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Permalink Reply by Bigzoom on December 22, 2008 at 10:14pm

Well Matt, here's more evidence of what I stated straight from Mike Accavitti of Dodge....

Q: When you look at the big picture, when Chip Ganassi came to you and said his organization was considering a merger with Dale Earnhardt Incorporated that would involve a manufacturer change and cutting short their deal with you, was the timing good for that given the current economic issues?

You know, I like Chip a lot and I respect Chip as a businessman and as a friend, and the timing just really did work out well. We'd made the decision internally that we were going to honor our contracts, and we did have a contract with the Ganassi folks.

So when Chip approached us and we started this discussion about the things that he needed to do with his racing team, it just all worked out in everybody's favor. And it shows you, really, and it demonstrates to me just a beautiful example of how partners work together. It all worked out for everybody and it was a win-win-win.

It was a win for us because we did get to reduce that spend, it was a win for Chip because the merger is going to help the viability of his racing team and as far as I'm concerned it's a win for the other guys because they're picking up some great drivers -- Juan Montoya is an excellent driver.

Losing him [is tough]. He's also become a personal friend and I just hate to see good drivers leave for the other manufacturers, but I understand how it works in this sport and it's a win-win-win for everyone.

See the whole artcle here:
http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/features/12/22/accavitti.q.a/1.html

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Permalink Reply by Bigzoom on December 17, 2008 at 9:22pm

AOL Sports

With news this week that both the newly-merged Chip Ganassi operation and Robby Gordon would be switching to Chevrolet and Toyota, respectively, the number of teams in the Dodge camp is decreasing pretty noticably. The lower amount of teams may temporarily help Penske with the engine program because of the resources won't be stretched as far, but the amount of research on engine packages will also be diminished