THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2008
SPORTS
5B
NASCAR
Toyota catching up with the big teams
BY MIKE HARRIS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Moments after pole qualifying for the Daytona 500 ended, Toyota official Lee White was asked how he felt about the Japanese automaker's results that day.
"Disappointed," replied White, senior vice president and general manager of Toyota Racing Development.
In the wake of Toyota placing three of its NASCAR Sprint Cup Camrys in the top five on last Sunday's speed chart, including Michael Waltrip locking up the outside front row position for Sunday's 50th running of "The Great American Race," that one word speaks volumes.
A year ago, Toyota moved up to what was then known as the Nextel Cup series and took its lumps.
Arriving at Daytona with the middle-of-the-pack Bill Davis Racing team and the brand new Michael Waltrip Racing and Team Red Bull operations, little was expected of the new brand. And little was produced.
Only four of eight Toyotas entered made the season-opening race.
Waltrip — after embarrassing Toyota earlier in the week with a cheating scandal involving an illegal fuel additive — was the top Camry qualifier, earning a 15th-place start by racing his way into the big event in one of the 150-mile qualifying races.
Teammate Dale Jarrett, who got into the race on the series champion's provisional, was the top Toyota finisher at 22nd.
None of the Camry quartet was ever a real contender in the 500-mile race.
As the season moved on, progress for the Toyota teams was agonizingly slow. They struggled just to qualify for races.
BDR's Dave Blaney gave the manufacturer its one and only pole last summer at New Hampshire, while the third-place finish by Red Bull's Brian Vickers last fall at Talladega was the best for a Toyota.
A year later, after a lot of hard work and the acquisition of the powerhouse Joe Gibbs Racing team as its marquee team, Toyota could be in the hunt for its first Cup victory on the sport's biggest stage.
TRD president Jim Aust tried to put the situation in perspective after the qualifying session and could hardly smiling.
"I'm super happy," he said. "This says a lot about where we were last year and where we are this year. You take it one step at a time, but I think we're on a much more level playing field now."
Aust said there are a number of reasons why Toyota enters the 2008 season as a serious contender rather than an afterthought.
A big one is that the Car of Tomorrow is now the only one Cup teams will be using.
Another key, of course, is stealing away JGR, owner of three of the last seven Cup titles, with two-time champion Tony Stewart and rising stars Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch as its current drivers.
Stewart finished second behind the Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in last Saturday night's 70-lap exhibition race, the first event of the season. It appeared he could easily have won with a little more drafting help.
"It's the same car that we ran for half the year last year, other than a different engine," Stewart said before the race, referring to the CoT. "If you can feel a difference in that car, you need to be driving it because I can't feel a difference at all."
With Waltrip already on the front row and teammate David Reutimann and Blaney, the fourth and fifth fastest drivers last Sunday, assured of being in the lineup for the 500, everyone has taken notice of Tovota.
Rick Hendrick, owner of the powerful Hendrick Motorsports team that includes Earnhardt, pole-winner and two-time reigning Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, four-time champion Jeff Gordon and Casey Mears, is also expecting Toyota to be tough in the 500, as well as serious contenders for the rest of the season.
"These Toyotas are awfully fast," Hendrick said.
ASSOCIATED PERSS
Drivers penalized for misconduct
BY CHRIS JENKINS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — It began with crunched fenders, harsh words and maybe even a punch in the face. But the final result was just a slap on the wrist from NASCAR: a six-race probation for Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch.
Heading into Sunday's Daytona 500, it's beginning to look like NASCAR officials were serious when they said they will cut drivers some slack on their bad behavior this year.
Kurt Busch (2) and Tony Stewart (20) race through the tri-oval during the NASCAR Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. Saturday. The two drivers were involved in an incident on the track Friday during practice.
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"We're still working into letting the drivers develop and vent in proper ways, but we're giving them some more latitude," NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton said Tuesday. "We said in the offseason we would do that and I think this is another step to letting you know what we mean."
Booths:
The punishments to Stewart and Busch stem from a confrontation between the two former series champions, who wrecked in practice last week and then carried it into the NASCAR officials' trailer.
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Probation has been a murky issue for NASCAR, as officials haven't necessarily punished a driver more harshly if he misbehaves while on probation. NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said that's going to change.
>>NASCAR
"We're starting the season by putting them on probation and were also going to redefine what probation means." Hunter said. "And they clearly understand it."
While nobody involved in the incident would confirm that Stewart actually punched Busch
With that in mind, Pemberton said Stewart and Busch need to give each other some room on the track — but that doesn't mean they can't race each other hard.
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"They need to be able to race each other in tight situations, bumper-to-bumper and door-to-door," Pemberton said.
during the first of their two meetings with officials, as is widely believed, Pemberton inferred that Busch's penalty was for what happened on the track and Stewart's was for what happened afterward.
"The accident was a racing incident," Pemberton said. "How they conducted themselves after that, after the accident and coming onto pit road and from there through the rest of the evening is why the penalties were equal."
However, in granting Busch and Stewart some leniency for their dustup, officials also made it known that the term "probation" will mean more this year than it has in the past.
Equally light, that is.
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Join us for this unique one-day seminar especially designed for the Class of 2008! You'll learn about interview tips, paying off college loans,the ins and outs of your first job, benefits package and some other great tips for starting your "Life After KU!"
Schedule
11 a.m. Check-In
1 1 a.m. Check-In
1 1:15 a.m. Welcome, Etiquette lunch and Alumni speaker
1 p.m. Session 1 (Finances, Career Center or That First Job)
1:45 p.m. Break
2 p.m. Session 2 (Finances, Career Center or That First Job)
2:45 p.m. Door prizes and Conclusion
3 p.m. KU vs. OSU Watch party (attendance optional)
Free appetizers and soft drinks
Cost is $10 for students-FREE if you are a current Tradition Keeper member. To register, go to www.kualumni.org for an online registration form.
Questions? Contact Jennifer Alderdice at 864-9778 or alderdice@kualumni.org
A confirmation email will be sent to you with more details upon registration.
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