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Another angle would be by selecting older, respected drivers with established fan bases, Toyota is trying to at least in part blunt some of the "don't let dem dam ferrin cars in" sentiment circulating here and there.

What they really ought to do, of course, is somehow get DEI to switch from Chevrolet.  That would make a few heads explode.

I don't think Bill's running full-time next year. He is helping the team get going and may run part-time from what I gather.

I think Matt has it correct, the article says Elliot will compete in 3 events this year. Of course it's easy to assume Bill might stick around til '07. And it's not a bad deal if TRD pairs him with a younger driver.

Then the question arises, what young driver? Most are already tied up and under contract.

And BTW John have you heard about the newest NASCAR mega team, NASCAR and the IRS?

It might get ugly out there if the Tax Man gets called to the scene.

I watched Mikey give lame explanations of why he bought his way into the World 600 in Charlotte a couple of weeks ago. I was OK with him doing it until I heard him give the answers.

That being said let me see what Toyota has done here on short notice:

Mikey: 2 Daytona 500's
Dale J: 3 Daytona 500's and a past champions provisional to fall back on.
Bill Elliott: 2 Daytona 500's and a past champions provisional if he were to sign up fall time (I doubt as well).

What would have been worse is if Toyota signed up:

Casey Atwood
Buckshot Jones
Jason Leffler (I knew you would like that John)

I have no problem fitting Bobby Allison with a HANS device. Next to Richie Evans, he is my favorite driver of all time. Sadly I believe Bobby Allison has lost all of the money he ever made and then some. Without RACE CAR DRIVERS like Bobby Allison the current day marketing representatives in racesuits and helmets would not have jobs because there would be no modern day NASCAR.

Sorry John, a little senstitive to Bobby Allison cracks.

Toyota is being smart in getting Waltrip & Jarrett. UPS & NAPA (unless they have longterm contacts with the current car owners). Two big consistent sponsors in the sport who appear to be faithful to the two drivers and have major name recognition and credibility. There's also a strong commercial tie between Toyota & UPS. UPS flies a boatload of smaller but time sensitive parts from the Pacific Rim to the US for it's manufacturing plants.

Of course, the experience in racing and in operations the older guys can bring immediately at the outset to Toyota is priceless. Toyota is patient and will first concentrate on operations knowing that the wins will follow in a few years so the old guys will do for now.

I'm wondering how Toyota's approach compares to what Dodge did in 2002. Here are the Dodge teams that year:

Evernham: Bill Elliott (past champ), Jeremy Mayfield
Ganassi: Sterling Marlin, Jimmy Spencer
Bill Davis: Ward Burton, Hut Stricklin
Petty: Kyle Petty, John Andretti, Buckshot Jones
Jim Smith: Casey Atwood

Penske came on board a year later with Rusty Wallace (past champ) and Ryan Newman.

The guy not on this list is Kasey Kahne, whose rookie season was 2004.

Let me toss this out there: A veteran lineup might win you some points with the fans, but it might not win that many races on Sundays (at least compared to Ford and Chevy). So who are the young guys? Where are Toyota's versions of Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne? Or is Toyota (as Jon suggests) content to wait?

P.S. Sorry about the Bobby Allison crack, Mark. I saw him on TV over the weekend, and it still looks like he could turn a few laps.

Hey John didn't Dodge come in 2001? Evernham started off with Elliott and Atwood while Jim Smith ran Fords until the switch in 2002 where Mayfield ended up in the 19 after parting ways with Penske in October of 2001 and Smith is where Atwood was sent to fail. Bill Davis had Blaney in '01 too from what I remember.

Toyota will probably steal someone coming up the Ford development system the way Dodge and Chevy have in the past.

@#$%^&!! You're right, Matt. It was 2001. Here's Dodge's lineup from that year (I'm working off the Darlington results from the fifth race):

Ganassi: Sterling Marlin, Jason Leffler
Davis: Dave Blaney, Ward Burton
Evernham: Casey Atwood, Bill Elliott
Petty: John Andretti, Buckshot Jones, Kyle Petty
Melling: Stacy Compton

Same question. Who's the Kahne or Newman for Toyota? I guess (but don't remember that far back) that Leffler, Atwood and Buckshot were the Big New Things. We all know how that worked out.

Toyota already landed one big engineering guy from Ford's racing division. Offered him an increase in pay of around 200-300%.

Matt is correct about the MOPAR lineup. In fact the Atlanta race that made Kevin Harvick famous was Dave Blaney's to win until a pit road blunder had him lose a wheel.

John, nice how you were able find the 3 Stooges of racing were all in Dodges in '01.

jason lefler could really get the job done he needs a team to stick by him for more than a half of year. i think anybody has anything over him look. leffler had two chances at cup both with startup teams didnt finish the year with eather of them theirs a lot of big name guys that sucked ther rookie years.like the #24 jeff in the 24 cassy kane

sorry i ment i dont think any body has any thing over him nobody will stick with him. like tony gibbs stood by him and look at him now he sucked his first year and the just got better and better now a champ. leffler needs that same chance, same thing with jeff in the 24 rookie bad year