BROOKLYN, Mich. — On the surface, everything is rosy in Bow Tie Nation.
Chevrolet announced Saturday at Michigan Int’l Speedway that Richard Childress Racing had renewed its association with Chevrolet “for 2008 and beyond,” according to Ed Peper, Chevy’s general manager.
Later in the press conference, Peper stressed that negotiations with other Chevrolet teams were ongoing. On the surface, there is nothing wrong with keeping contracts confidential. Unless you start listening to the garage-area rumors.
It is said that at least one team, rumored to be Joe Gibbs Racing, is currently courting an offer from Toyota to switch from Chevy in ’08.
On the surface, it seems a foolish venture. Gibbs cars are second (Denny Hamlin) and fourth (Tony Stewart) in the Nextel Cup standings, with Kyle Busch, currently eighth, headed to JGR next season.
Seven of the top 10 drivers are Chevrolet drivers — three from Childress and two from Hendrick, including point-leader Jeff Gordon.
On the surface, the three Chevy teams — Hendrick, Childress and Gibbs — are on the same level in the Bow Tie Brigade. Gibbs, however, has the least seniority, having moved from the Pontiac camp in 2002.
Maybe it makes a difference, and maybe it doesn’t.
Toyota, having stepped in 2007 at the Nextel Cub level with entry-level teams and a steep learning curve, might be ready to sharpen its aim on the top rung of Nextel Cup. With a healthy investment for a team capable of being an engine manufacturer’s No. 1 team, Toyota could easily be in position to lure a top team into the fold. Hence, the Gibbs/Toyota rumor.
Granted, it would be a tough sell to a trio of super-competitive drivers, all of whom have excellent chances to win the Nextel Cup championship this season.
It doesn’t take a genius to determine that it has not been a banner freshman year for Toyota. There have been signs in the second half of the season that the Toyota teams are catching on. Best of the six Toyota drivers is Dave Blaney, who has Bill Davis’s No. 22 in 34th-place in the standings. Next best is Brian Vickers, 39th in the No. 83 Red Bull car.
Blaney won the pole at Loudon and was ninth at the Brickyard 400. Vickers had a fifth-place finish at Lowe’s, and Michael Waltrip was 10th at the spring race at Michigan.
Next year is bound to be better, but it likely won’t have anyone from the current Toyota teams battling for the Cup in the final 10 races. Gibbs’s drivers might have a better chance, but it wouldn’t be an easy season.
Would JGR be willing to take its lumps in ’08 for a chance to benefit from Toyota-financed development in 2009 and beyond? The answer to that one will likely come when Coach Gibbs unveils the marque on his 2008 racing stable.