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New engine may give Toyota teams another boost
Other automakers are struggling to keep up with newcomer
AP Photo
Carl Edwards (left) has been one of the few Ford drivers able to compete with Toyota driver Kyle Busch.
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Published: May 20, 2008
CONCORD
Consider it a shot over the bow, that new Toyota engine design that Joe Gibbs' drivers -- Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart -- put on the track at Lowe's Motor Speedway last weekend.
Yes, it broke midway through the All-Star race, but even on seven cylinders, Busch was outrunning most others in the field. With a little bit of polish in the new valve-train still to be done, Toyota appears ready to turn things up another notch, and that should worry the competition even more.
Busch has dominated all three of NASCAR's touring series this spring, and he leads the Sprint Cup standings. If he wanted to, he could easily challenge for all three series championships.
No wonder Lee White, Toyota's NASCAR field boss, is all smiles.
"No, no one's gloating," White said.
But last year was such a flat-out disaster for Toyota,
NASCAR's newest manufacturer, that this spring's results might provide reason to gloat.
Yes, it has been a major turnaround for Toyota. Do this season's successes simply validate the equipment and expertise that Toyota has had all along … or did Toyota really make this quantum leap in knowledge? Or was Toyota simply sandbagging last season, keeping some of its goodies under wraps, to avoid riling the competition?
Only Mark Cronquist, Gibbs' veteran engine man, might know for sure, but he isn't talking, and he's being kept under tight wraps.
Earlier this season, engine builders with knowledge of the various motors pointed to several still-questionable areas in the Toyota engine. But in the weeks since, not much has been questionable. At any track and in any series, Toyota has had its act together.
Then again, maybe Toyota's success -- like Carl Edwards' with Ford -- comes more from chassis engineering. Maybe the "cantered" rear-end housing, with something of a "bent-axle" design, helps the cars go through corners better … although it makes them look like ducks wallowing sideways on the straights.
"Things have improved since last year, in terms of the shape of the engine power curve," White said, referring to more balanced power and acceleration through the RPM range from coming off one corner and going into the next. "That's evolutionary. And we've seen other manufacturers doing the same, especially the Roush-Yates-Ford guys.
"The car is evolving. But having Joe Gibbs' guys drive this stuff and compare it to what they had last year, that's helped."
And White isn't likely to bite on the numerous -- although typically private -- complaints about the winged car having such terrible handling characteristics, particularly in traffic. White is a big fan of the new car.
"I happen to think the race at Talladega was a great race; I saw moves by drivers down there I've never seen guys make," he said. "Give NASCAR a little credit. That car is the product of several years of evolution.
"The complaints about the car's higher center of gravity? Hey, some people say the Trucks series racing is the best racing in NASCAR, those Trucks have an even higher center-of-gravity than the Cup cars.
"It's all relative to what's going on at each individual track as to what the drivers are saying.
"Go ask young Mr. Kyle Busch what he thinks about it? He's winning in all three series."
And Busch, remember, was one of the most vocal critics of the NASCAR stocker last season.
This season Busch might not exactly be singing its praises, but he has certainly toned down his complaints. Hey, with eight wins since February … what can you say?
"Kyle is having a great year … but now there are some really good drivers this season, and not taking anything away from Kyle, who is an unbelievable talent, but there is a lot more going on here than just the driver," White said.
"I still think Tony Stewart is one of the best drivers today. And I go back to the days of Parnelli Jones and A.J. Foyt, guys who could get into any type of car and win -- and Tony Stewart can do that, and I don't know if there's anybody else around who can do that."
Busch said that Toyota's Formula One division is talking with him about testing later this year, and Busch said he's looking at IndyCar racing, too, now that it's on the comeback trail.
Toyota has been building passenger cars in the U.S. for some 50 years but only became a household name in big-time auto racing when it stepped into IndyCar in 1996. But with TV ratings and fan appeal for that branch of the sport fading, Toyota made the leap into NASCAR, finally moving into the Cup series last year … but with virtually no success. That has to be the frame for this year's success.
Even Chevrolet, which has done so well the past two seasons, has generally struggled this spring to keep up with the Toyotas. Ford's Edwards is essentially the only man who can run with them.
But White still puts on the "golly, gee whiz" face when pressed about Toyota's amazing run of success, and hints that Toyota, at the moment, might be over-achieving.
"We're still a work-in-progress; we're still learning," White said. "We've enjoyed winning a few races, particularly in the Nationwide series, which has been surprising, and which is a tribute to Joe Gibbs' program.
"We've won some Cup races, some poles, and we've got two or three guys who might be championship contenders down the stretch. And frankly we're surprised to be holding our own in the manufacturers' championship … which wasn't really something on our scope this year."
■ Mike Mulhern can be reached at mmulhern@wsjournal.com.
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