NASCAR QUAILIFYING

[dano36]

It is interesting to note that Michael Waltrip missed making the field by 9 one hundreths of a second yet he was faster than 22 drivers that made the race on points. In fact, every car that did not qualify was quicker than several cars that did make the field. Now is that fair? No way.

Toyota is on a learning curve right now just like they were with the trucks. Look what they do in trucks now. Their Cup program is totally different than their truck program so expect a couple year learning curve. As for their drivers being lessor of the field, well that is just one mans opinion. Look closely and you will see they are all experienced drivers who most likely were signed up because of their expertise of knowing what a car needs, etc. Dave Blaney, for example, may have never done anything spectacular in Cup racing but his credentials are outstanding in other types of racing. Dave has won championships in the World of Outlaws sprints and also the USAC Silver Crown series. In Cup contention he has never really had a ride with a top team other than his short stint at RCR who used him on an experimental basis.

 

Michael missed the field by 9 one hundreths of a second, true, but it was an impound race, so I suspect most teams were in race set up. I'm confident MW's car was set up to qualify and they would worry about the race later.

 

As far as the drivers, that's just my opinion. I like Dave Blaney, out of all the Toyota drivers he's the best one, but in my opinion the key phase that you used is "he may have never done anything spectacular in Cup racing but his credentials are outstanding in other types of racing". My example, just because someone is an all star football player in high school, does mean he'll make it in the NFL. At this level it is about performance, if he performed he would still be at RCR.

 

I just don't buy the Toyota learning curve, that's why they started in the trucks. Dodge came back and didn't go through the problems Toyota is going through.

 

JMO

When I was referring to the toyota drivers credentials and singling out Blaney I was making the point that Toyota had picked the drivers they had based on their experience in racing mainly to gain their input on how to configure the Toyota car for Cup competition. This was simply in defense of their being accused of being a bit "no name" or coffee dregs if you prefer. I believe its common knowledge that not all sports stars excel at each level they compete in. Blaney went into the Busch series and eventually Cup because it paid much better than what he was doing, but he left what he was doing when he was at the top of the game and began racing a totally different car than he was used to. He is also involved in the manufacture of a style of sprint race car and in Cup, Blaney is recognized for his ability to get a full race out of whatever he drove. He is hunting for points now because of 4 unfortunate DNFs and one DNQ but I believe his program is coming along well and will be in the top 35 before much longer. In fact I believe the Toyota program has come along way in such a short time and could well have their first win in its first season.

I read somewhere, possibly either the NASCAR or Jayski websites that the Toyota Cup program started out green and has not used any of the lessons they learned with the trucks. From what I read. everything is completely different than the truck setup from the ground up. I will see if I can find it again on either of those sites and copy it. Remember, Dodge ran in NASCAR Cup and Busch before taking a leave for a while but they did remain active in other racing series. Toyota started out brand new.

[Racer Duck]

I read somewhere, possibly either the NASCAR or Jayski websites that the Toyota Cup program started out green and has not used any of the lessons they learned with the trucks. From what I read. everything is completely different than the truck setup from the ground up. I will see if I can find it again on either of those sites and copy it. Remember, Dodge ran in NASCAR Cup and Busch before taking a leave for a while but they did remain active in other racing series. Toyota started out brand new.

Nothing's the same between Cup and Trucks. Different chassis, different aero, different motors, about half the schedule is on different tracks and the races are shorter. Other than a few drivers who double dip, even the competition is different. In other words, Yota didn't have anything to bring over to Cup. Then throw in the COT and there they are trying to make a new car work while a completely different car is also forced on them.