In a decision that has Ford and Nascar fans raging, Dale Jarrett, one of NASCAR’s most popular driver, announced he will switch from Ford to Toyota next year. Jarrett, who is in his 12th year driving a Ford for Robert Yates Racing, becomes the first major defection to the Japanese automaker’s debut in the traditionally American racing series.
Six Toyota Camry’s are set to debut in the Cup Series next year with Waltrip and Jarrett the only two confirmed drivers thus far. Bill Davis Racing will enter two cars as will the new Red Bull Racing team.
American automakers have been bracing for Toyota’s arrival, which is expected to bring an influx of cash into the sport in an effort to win quickly and lure top talent. But aside from Waltrip, who will be one of the three inaugural car owners, Toyota has yet to secure a lineup.
Doug Yates, son of team founder Robert Yates, said they weren’t surprised with the decision..
“Toyota’s history and background is throwing a lot of money around, and here is one of those examples,” he said.
Jarrett insisted financial gain was not the lure.
It’s not clear what will happen with sponsor UPS, which has been on Jarrett’s No. 88 Ford since 2001. The shipping company has spent considerable advertising money to align itself with the driver, and could go with him to Waltrip’s team. Waltrip has made initial inquiries with UPS, which is in the final year of its contract with Yates.
Soon even the American racetrack won’t have American-made race-cars on it huh?? The Japanese have already surpassed most countries in Technology, will car-making be next?? Stand up & be heard, keep Toyota from taking away more US race-related jobs folks !!
By F100Man. August 26th, 2008 at 12:38 pmwhat we need in this country today is moore amerianism not japism. i dont care if there built across the road from me there still jap owned! the japs are poisoning some poeples minds, and the chinks are poising our food.
By jim. November 13th, 2007 at 11:51 ammy local track is irwindale speedway and i dont even go there anymore because toyota sponsors the track if toyota tries to sponsor monster jam ill stop going to that to that to. toyota is sponsoring the fairplex to and i was walking through the nhra mueseum and there is a prius sitting next to the george barris exhibit what the fuck is that youve got a prius sitting next to 50+years of dragracing history. im sick and tired of toyota the only thing i will give them is the 89 toyota pickup with the 22re 4 cylinder is a decent truck. toyotas quality has gone down the shitter eversince my moms 2004 camry blew a head gasket at 50,000 miles then the “ase certified beaners” at the dealership striped the threads on the block and toyota wouldnt pay for it. i have had my silverado since it was new and it now has 165,000 miles on it and all i have done is routine matinence. i have also had an 88 ford f250 with 265,000 miles on it and it ran like a champ when i sold it. im just sick and tired of these smug pricks driving around in priuses telling me im polluting the earth.
By brian. September 15th, 2007 at 11:09 amBuy American??? Then you better buy the Camry because it is built in the USA while none of the other models are.
American companies??? Dodge is owned by the Germans.
Work on your own car??? Not since the early 90s unless you one the computers to talk to it.
Mad that a Toyota is in the race??? What a joke. Yeah the Ford, Dodge and Chevy decals are so much better than the Toyota decals.
By Duhboid. February 18th, 2007 at 12:01 pmUh,maybe Toyota went to Nascar since they can’t win in Formula 1. Sure Toyota has won in CART,IRL,World Rally Cars and even endurance racing.Formula 1 still eludes them.So Nascar might be worth a try. The thing is most european manafacturers couldn’t care less about Nascar since they are low-tech and F1 is global. NASCAR might grow if other nations become interested.It’s all about the money,didn’t you know?
By Carl. February 1st, 2007 at 10:58 amLike others have said, the cars are all the same. There is no, well the Japanese will dominate, or American’s rule the pushrod technology. None of that matters. It is only the name that will be different, and $$. Funny how some of you serious nascar fans take this to heart and start trying to defend American manufacturing. Once again, all will be made by the same, companies– it’s just a name. Sidenote to the Buy American people that are way off topic, please name one car that is 100% parts and manufactured in America. Most “American Cars” are composed of Chinese parts, Mexican, German, and who knows what else. So, buying an American car means you are strengthening the already undervalued Chinese economy, and providing countless burittos for some Amigos. How can buy American still be a valued argument in 2006? Go on and marinate on that one…
By Meathead. November 3rd, 2006 at 9:49 pmIf the big three are so much better let Toyota race. They obviously won win. All your bitching here won’t change anything. See whats the better car on the track.
By bmcd. October 14th, 2006 at 2:23 amAND LIVE WITH IT. Turn left turn left…………..what was I doing agian? Oh year turn left
This is the best chance Ford has to show it can produce a product better than Toyota. “If” they can, will it be with American made parts or parts made in Mexico, France, Germany, or China? If it can’t be American, who cares?
By Dave. September 14th, 2006 at 8:36 pmHaven’t Americans learned anything from World War II. Thinking Globally is bullshit. I am an American, a very proud one at that. Americans ought to be ashamed of themselves.
Most people that are driving, or owning a foreign car is because of Consumer Reports. Hell, what do they know? They are just a bunch of bean counters and some with Israeli descents. They know absolutely nothing about American cars these days. THEY DON’T WANT TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT AMERICAN CARS, AND DON’T CARE TO KNOW.
But, the American buyer is just as stupid. They keep on buying the stuff. Take a good look at American cars these days, they are made very well. Very Well. Americans are just too dam stupid to see that. Because they are Stupid.
The baby boomers of today have a short term memory. The cars that their parents had made for them at one time have made their life what it is today. Most baby boomers, families, and so-called NASCAR fans of today don’t understand this at all. That is because they are stupid Americans. They no longer lay under their own car. They couldn’t tell you where the drain plug is on their own vehicles engine. They don’t know how anything works, that’s because they don’t care to.
That is the REAL reason why people think that Toyota is BETTER CAR Manufacturer than GM or Ford. May I take note that the Dodge owner of today is next big future sell-out of American of tomorrow. They are the ones that will be buying foreign next.
The Chevrolet and Ford guys will be the ones making the Toyota cylinder head really flow and perform, not the Japanese. Remember that.
By Nick Taylor. August 16th, 2006 at 1:54 amSounds like the American Flavor of cars just isn’t enough to win “AMERICANS” over anymore. The automotive world has evolved and imports are dominating as U.S. Automakers are simply trying to hold on to any advantage they have. I’ve read posts about how horrible Japanese cars are and yet theres been no retalliation from any Toyota, Honda, Hyundai fans. NASCAR has finally evolved to the point where it’s allowing outside competition to compete, so that it’s not just your usual Ford, Chevy, and Dodge race cars. I just hope that American car fans don’t feel intimidated by a Camry…
By ToyoMAN. August 4th, 2006 at 4:54 amhow true it is about nascar being a money sport its a traveling circus more than anything that fuck wad tony stewart thinks hes the shit a whinny ass prick he cries about “some ones going to get killed out here if we dont do some thing!” yet he knocks people around let his ass do that when cale buddy and the rest of the big and little stout old school boys was around and his ass would be in some big trouble as far as im concerned the trucks is a lot more fun to watch than cunt cars or uh the cup cars expenses be damned form of racing any day nascar just plain sucks welcome to the Rice Burner 500 brought to you by rice-a-roni!!!
By jett lee. July 25th, 2006 at 4:47 pmDale Jarrett bowed down to the masters! Nascar is about to lose another fan. All that matters is the money.
By RUSSELL. July 24th, 2006 at 1:11 pmGrass roots means nothing to the masters. IT’S SHOW ME THE MONEY! ROBERTS YATES RACING WILL SURVIVE!
The only Lemon I ever had was a Toyota (two transmission replacements in 4 years, and countless other problems), one out of every 10 Toyota’s is recalled, one out of ever 11 Ford’s…you can get a Ford for thousands less. Onbly one out of every 6 GM is recalled. What about the 1,500,000 Toyota’s recalled last year? They are on a pace to recall even more this year. Engine lock-ups, stalling at highway speed, engine sludge problems that require a $5,000 engine replacement that Toyota won’t pay for….vanilla styling…yuck…I can’t even look at a Camry.
By Joe. July 23rd, 2006 at 7:45 amWhatever idiot’s decide to drive for Toyota are not going to be very popular. By the way, I personally know of 7 Ford’s owned by friends of mine with over 200,000 miles on them. When my Corolla finally putted it’s way to being traded in for my new Saturn…it wasn’t worth giving away….it was all broke…all of it…nver saw a car with so many problems. Horrible.
it’s adamn shame that an american sport such as nascar has stooped so low as to let a foreign car company race against the big three.toyota has no business being there,but its all about money and greed
By bip p. July 21st, 2006 at 6:36 amof the Frances.they have ruined nascar.it’s not racing anymore.furthermore,UPS being an american founded company putting thier name on a foreign product is a disgrace.hey jarrett,good ridence,you haven’y been worth a damn in years.
um… gave up on NAS/ty/CAR don,t seem to look like any car i have seen at the dealership latey…. , switched to drag racing. win i,m not racing i can still hang out in the pits with the drivers. not sittin with 200000 other people,whom really know nothing about cars. why are they there?? ned are you still proud??
By mad mitch & his tbolt. July 20th, 2006 at 8:20 pmany body need a parker funnel web intake for a 302?
By jett lee. July 16th, 2006 at 6:35 amoh yeah by the way NASCAR SUCKS!!!!
By jett lee. July 15th, 2006 at 1:51 pmI still dont get it. A toyota camry with a big pushrod V8 and does the oval… What’s next? A hyundai NASCAR sedan shoehorned with a V8? All that with the fact that I’m not even an American.
By Nitron. July 15th, 2006 at 12:13 pmI do believe this had to do with taking a stand against the Ford Motors idiots “BOLD MOVE” of suing it’s supporting businesses. You complain about that and then turn around and complain because someone had the guts to make a stand against them. Maybe he should have gone with GM or Chrysler Motors, but then he probably wants to win. Maybe this is a wake up call, can we or can’t we build a better race car than Japan?
By Fred. July 8th, 2006 at 1:35 pmif ran a import id do the the original tuner car a 76 dodge colt with a dual plug hemi in it or a big inch FE powered 71 pinto most of the rice cars have to have nitrous of something else to go quick besides who wants to hear a pissed yellow jacket in a coffee can?
By jett lee. July 6th, 2006 at 5:36 pmquote “Long live the guy working in his own garage building his own car to race at a local track on the weekend.
AND THAT IS SOMETHING THE JAPANESE WILL NEVER HAVE!!!”
Uh, yeah, right. No-one owns and builds jap cars for the quarter on a budget. nuh-uh. Well, except for the rotaries. And the turbo sixes. And the turbo fours. And even the v8’s.
Who are you kidding, it is heaps easier to get budget results out of most jap engines than trad iron. The old iron may start out with more horses, but as you build, they hit an expensive wall far quicker than their japanese counterparts, and then they need all kinds of bracing and strengthening on the internals etc. When it comes down to it, most engines can perform, it just depends on your budget, and how far you expect to take them.
By GUS. July 5th, 2006 at 5:50 amand by the way thats all nascar is a glam sport
By jett lee. July 1st, 2006 at 6:21 pmmodern cars suck only ones that i would own is the mustang and the challenger give me something out of the 60’s or early 70’s thats simple to maintain back then you got a car that was built like a tank for $4000 plastic and who knows what else POS take a thunderbolt or AFX 427 SOHC mustang any day all modern motor sports is politically driven bull shit pinks is a bunch of bs too.
By jett lee. July 1st, 2006 at 6:20 pmnascar is a thing of the past now.like most racers,i don’t see a differance in the cars outside of the motors.want to see this type of racing, watch sedan racing from the other side or the trucks.the bang fenders and aren’t complaing about it!
By bob schelb. June 26th, 2006 at 6:31 pmAh, who cares! Nascar sucks period! A bunch of “spec” cars with pretty boy racers…..screw em all!
By Jim Miller. June 26th, 2006 at 1:19 pmI’d rather be drag racing, and not “pretty boy” NHRA $$$ racing either.
Long live the guy working in his own garage building his own car to race at a local track on the weekend.
AND THAT IS SOMETHING THE JAPANESE WILL NEVER HAVE!!!
I was a ford man for 50 yrs, until 2 weeks ago. I really got disapointed by ford built plastic junk. Long time there Van & SUV tanny troubles go back to the Late 80’s. it was like Ford was getting a kick back from the tranny shops. Ford doesn’t was to give us what we want any more. So we move on to what other offer..
By Rich. June 26th, 2006 at 6:11 amI (Excaped) my 2005 Excape with it’s steering troubles with a 2006 Nissan Murano. A class act Ford can’t fellow.. L@@K at the rice burning Bikes now. HD mc is now bing Exported to Japan to stay alive. Indian MC tried to make a come back and failed. The need for speed is and always will be for the youth in you.. See all those old guys riding Hogs now.. My 2 cent..
Rich M
I say let’s just go back to street racing! Start up something old new again…
By Ken. June 26th, 2006 at 3:50 amsell outs, thats all i can say!! long live the true U.S. auto manufacturers!!
By jim. June 17th, 2006 at 12:34 pmnascar is more for less a who’s got the fattest wallet now and its a politically driven glamour sport i would much rather watch the days of expenses be damned racing when the factories duked it out daytona vs. talladega cyclone vs. superbird i grew up watching 80’s nascar and so much better then than now i watch the trucks more than the cars much more fun to watch than the sugar tit boys in what the fans call nascar what a crock of caca give me old school run what you brung racing that bobby isaac bobby allison buddy baker petty fred lorenzen and the rest of the old school hard nuts same goes for drag racing AFX and all really dont give a crap about toyota next year or any of the cookie cutter cars give me a jelly bean t-bird a big holley 4500 the alabama big track and let the fun fly!!
By james.t. June 3rd, 2006 at 4:39 pmNascar used to be a race between “good ‘ol boys” burning time between bootlegging runs for fun. The hard racing for prestige & pride was exciting too behold. Now? It doesn’t matter what happens; it’s no longer exciting & it bores me to death…. i could care less if Toyota jumps into the fray; I stil won’t watch it….
By anthony dalrymple. May 30th, 2006 at 10:12 amThe sad part is that people are actually upset about this. If American cars are so superior, than maybe Toyota running in any of the NASCAR series shouldn’t be a big deal.
But as has been seen in the past year or so (think last year’s Mexico City race when the local star was leading). NASCAR is just a bunch of Good Ole’ Boys who just can’t stand the thought of some sorta “furren” car or driver competing against them. Oh, the humiliation they would feel if they lost!
By Ted. May 22nd, 2006 at 12:27 pmi think nascar way off here , yhey are trying for a new fan base , and losing us old guys . just look at the trucks , ,
By john. May 22nd, 2006 at 9:25 amCan anyone honestly decipher a dodge from a ford from a chevy, or now, from a toyota. They all use the same shell, the same drivetrain. I quit watching NASCAR a long time ago. What happened to min. production numbers on vehicles equipped. Isn’t that where the t-bolts, bosses, and other such oriented cars came from? Last I checked, a LOT of people watch NASCAR, though I’m not sure why. It seems like it was once used to promote vehicles, and now it promotes individual drivers. And sponsors. I give this one big, “WHO GIVES A —-?!?!?”
By rjhauver. May 21st, 2006 at 3:16 pmquote “When was the last time that you could buy a pushrod toyota v8 car with rear wheel drive?” actually FWIW about
By Roger Currie. May 18th, 2006 at 11:25 am1997, when the original V8 powered pushrod Toyota Century, which had been in production virtually unchanged since 1966,was phased out in favor of the V-12 powered Century. Read about it here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Century
Jarrett’s defection is the last ditch effort of a has-been.
By Larry. May 18th, 2006 at 8:18 amFace the facts, all his good years are behind him, Nascar
is a young man’s game. Even at 30 years old, you’re on
a downhill slope. As far as the ranks and file Nascar fan
leaving because Toyota is now in “the game”- it ain’t
gonna happen. Drivers will drive anything with 4 wheels and fans will watch regardless.
Damn u know what suck im 17 and this is my futur here i love cars and would like to make it my life in the future.
By ANDY. May 18th, 2006 at 6:11 amWhat the hell happen to the old nascar that i saw on the history channle lol…..see it used to be good. THey should use the blocks from the manufacture and should have to make it production or close too it. A rear wheel drive camary V8 that will be the day…Next honda will have an accord on the track or worse a civic an too loose a good ford driver im pist….
They may as well have one owner (NASCAR) for all of the cars and the drivers show up to the track and draw a number to see what car they get that week…. Way to turn real racing into little leage tee ball…. Everybody has a an equal chance and everbody gets a trophy……. WTF? When was the last time that you could buy a pushrod toyota v8 car with rear wheel drive? In Japan R&D stands for Recover and Duplicate…….
By hammer. May 18th, 2006 at 5:38 amAgreed. Support your local tracks.
By FlyByFord. May 18th, 2006 at 5:32 amYou won’t see any Toyotas there.
Who cares what kind of car it says it is. All the cars in NASCAR are going to be the same soon anyway. It’s only a Camry because it says so on the grill. It’s the new IROC race. NASCAR sucks.
By Fireturd. May 18th, 2006 at 5:28 amBe American Buy American! This will go over like a turd in the punch bowl,with the NASCAR fans for sure! Jarrett fans may not be Jarrett fans anymore either!
By FATNFAST. May 18th, 2006 at 2:13 amCan’t blame him, the man likes winning. Toyota simply is a better car manufactuerer than Ford. Consumers know it, why shouldn’t racers?
By uber. May 17th, 2006 at 6:39 pmNascar is getting more GHEY by the season.
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL RACER!
By WILDO. May 17th, 2006 at 2:07 pm