Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008 | 3:20 p.m.
Last year the Toyotas performed like a bunch of Yugos. As a result, I’ve been skeptical about Toyota’s prospects for the 2008 NASCAR season. I was especially doubtful about how Joe Gibbs Racing would compete after switching from Chevys to Toyotas.
Changing from one manufacturer to another is hard enough, but when that change is to a manufacturer whose first season in the sport was a lackluster one, I figured that even the deep talent pool at Joe Gibbs Racing wouldn’t be fast right out of the box. But I could be wrong.
The Toyotas of Gibbs’ drivers Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart were in the top five on the speed chart in last Tuesday’s morning test session at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. David Reutimann’s Toyota was also in the top five. A.J. Allmendinger’s Camry was second fastest in last Tuesday’s afternoon session. The previous day’s morning session found Kyle and Tony atop the speed chart.
I don’t believe that testing results are a solid indication of how a team will compete for the entire season, but this early performance is certainly more than I expected. These speeds show that the Toyota teams did their homework over the off-season and that a healthy dose of driver talent from the Gibbs camp obviously makes a difference.
Remember how worried Jack Roush was about Toyota at the beginning of last season? He was so scared, in fact, that he merged with an investor to shore up his ability to compete financially. Maybe the 2008 season is the one he should be worried about.
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