"It's obviously something we would look at jointly with NASCAR," he says. "It would happen only if we continue to have success in Dash. That's the first if, which means we can't take our eye off that ball. Secondly, we would have to be able to reallocate some of our resources. Thirdly, it would have to make sense from a NASCAR-Toyota standpoint."
Toyota's mid-size Tacoma pickup is an approved model for competition in the ARCA truck racing series sponsored by Lincoln Welders. There is no factory participation by TRD USA, but privateer competitors are helping spread the Toyota name into another arena of American racing.
Challengers WelcomedJust as American car companies have made bold attempts to compete in international racing from time to time, representatives of the traditional U.S. brands have positive comments about expanded participation in U.S. racing by other manufacturers.
"We would welcome any other manufacturer, European, Asian or what have you," says Pontiac's Tony Sapienza. "Our take is that competition is great. We feel that we have great products, and that competition only improves the sport, both for the fans and for us. We're ready to take anyone who's interested in coming into the ring."
Chevrolet NASCAR program manager Doug Duchardt says Chevy has no trepidation about going up against any other manufacturer. He points out that General Motors' Indy Racing engine, a Chevrolet, will go up against the Infiniti this year and the Toyota engine in 2003.
Everybody-even Honda-agrees that there are benefits to be derived from a manufacturer's participation in a highly popular auto racing series.
"Consumers like to be associated with a winner," says Terry Dolan, Monte Carlo brand manager. "Even those who are not passionate about racing ... still look at the car being involved in motorsports and because the car is successful in racing, they have the perception that our car is better on the street-dependability, durability, reliability, performance, and safety."
Breaking BarriersIn the ever-changing global economy, is a company such as Toyota truly deserving of the label "foreign?"
"With (Daimler-Benz AG's) purchase of Chrysler, I guess you could say we're now as American as Chrysler," Unger says. "The ownership of our company is Japanese; the ownership of Chrysler is German."
America now rivals Japan as Toyota's No. 1 market in the world. The company builds vehicles and components in Kentucky (Camry), Indiana (Tundra), West Virginia (engines) and California (a joint venture with GM at the plant where Tacoma pickup trucks are produced). Also, there's a Canadian operation (Corollas and Solaras are built in Ontario).
Still, the Jaguar victory notwithstanding, Layton notes that an Asian or European brand would have to knock down a barrier if it were to venture into Winston Cup.
"The first time we appeared at Indy, in '94 and '95, Honda was booed by some elements in the crowd," Layton says. "It was scattered and not representative of the whole, but there were people who were not happy that we were invading 'their' turf."
Unger suggests the audiene might be a little more receptive at some point, given the increasing number of Toyotas being built and sold in America and driven by fans, many of whom are likely to be among the hundreds of thousands of Winston Cup fans.
"I think it's not out of the realm of possibility," he says.
Jim Hunter, vice president of communications for NASCAR, says that given the global nature of the automobile business, the sanctioning body would explore the possibility of various forms of international competition.
Fans, however, just shouldn't look for anything to happen soon in NASCAR's premier Winston Cup Series.