Feb
10
All Right, Toyota, Whatcha Got Under the Hood?
February 10, 2007 | Posted by VroomDude
1 Comment
Aside from the excitement of any kind of serious vrooming going on (even if it is the Bud Shootout, which doesn’t really count for anything), I’m definitely going to be curious to see how the Toyotas do tonight, with Dale Jarrett and Brian Vickers piloting Camrys for the first time ever in NEXTEL Cup racing. While Jarrett drew the pole position in a blind drawing, don’t be looking for #88 at the front to start the race, as he’s driving the #44 this year. (Which will likely inevitably lead to all sorts of jokes about him being half the driver he used to be, etc.)
Toyota has been talking down expectations all week, emphasizing that they’re treating the Shootout as simply more practice laps to gather data, they just want to get some laps in for experience, yada yada yada, but you know they’d like to at least put in respectable showings. Friday’s practice sessions weren’t exactly stellar, with Jarrett in the middle of the pack and Vickers at the tail end of the pack, trailing the fastest lap by about 5 mph.
My own guesstimation is that the Michael Waltrip Racing Toyotas (Waltrip, Jarrett, and David Reutimann) will probably acquit themselves the best this season, and be reasonably competitive. They’ve got the most driving experience and past history of success, as well as some past champion provisional spots in Jarrett’s back pocket if they need them to make the field.
Bill Davis Racing is hard to figure, as they’ve got more experience as a team than Michael Waltrip Racing or Team Red Bull, but not quite the same talent in the driver’s seat, with Jeremy Mayfield and Dave Blaney driving. Mayfield is likely the wild card here, as far as how competitve the team will be, but it’s hard to predict whether he’ll bounce back from a tough year or continue to slide back in the standings, with all the turmoil of recent years taking its toil.
As far as Team Red Bull (which is fielding Brian Vickers and A.J. Allmendinger), who knows. Allmendinger is off to a bumpy start and the team seems resigned to an up and down season for him (with likely more downs) as he gets experience in his first year in Cup racing. Vickers is obviously the best bet to post some decent results, but he’s going to need some help. He’s obviously got the talent to make it happen, but Red Bull needs to step up and provide him with a consistently competitive car, something they’ve shown no real talent for doing thus far in their F1 efforts, despite splashing around a lot of cash.
Comments
1 Comment so far
Toyota was okay only…Jarrett quickly fell back and Vicker’s Red Bull paint scheme was hard to pick up on the track.
I attended, vroom…