Backseat Blonde - That (Sort-Of) All-American Racing Series

May 10, 2005

That (Sort-Of) All-American Racing Series
By Allison Wagda

T-O-Y-O-T-A could spell the end of NASCAR.

Mixed reports over the past week or so have indicated the
Japanese motor giant may be on the verge of invading
the all-American stock car racing series next season with
a couple of Busch series entries, with plans to jump to
Cup in 2007.

It’s not like we didn’t know this was coming. The minute Toyota expressed an
interest in the Craftsman Truck series we knew someday Toyota, and even Honda,
would someday race alongside the Chevys, Fords and Dodges that have dominated
stock car racing since the 50s.

Unfortunately, Toyota’s entrance into major league stock car racing couldn’t be
worse timing for General Motors and Ford. Both companies last week were dealt a
serious blow when Standard & Poor's Ratings Services reduced their debt rating to
“junk” status, and the two automakers are suffering from declining sales and
increased pressure from overseas manufacturers like, well, guess who.

There are bound to be a handful of xenophobes who will oppose Toyota’s Cup
efforts simply because they are not American brands. And while I sympathize with
those who would see NASCAR remain a purely American institution, with the
globalization of the media such an expansion of the sport is inevitable even if
undesirable from a traditionalist perspective.

However, the most damaging side effect to the series won’t initially come in the form
of a fan rebellion. As disenfranchised as many fans are, I believe NASCAR could
survive a Japanese invasion on principle.

I have nothing personal against Toyota or Honda, they make great cars. I may buy
one someday, who knows? But what will happen when General Motors decides to
bow out of NASCAR? Or Ford?

It will happen, I’m sure of it. It’s the one fear we’ll never hear voiced out of Daytona,
as short-term profit seeking will forever trump common sense, at least as long as
the current management leadership remains at the helm. But the fact remains, we
are approaching a perfect storm and at least one major automaker will choose to
depart the sport rather than sink more and more money into a series where they’ll
see less and less return from their investment. Especially in this current automotive
economy.

Toyota has already shown its muscle in the Indy series, bringing in new technology
and forcing their American counterparts to spend a fortune or lose. The same will
happen in NASCAR, even when the “car of the future” comes around. NASCAR may
develop a standardized engine, a template body and regulate tires with some
ludicrous leasing program, but no one doubts Toyota will spare no expense to
dominate Cup racing.

The sad part for fans is that Toyota’s motive won’t be for the love of racing. They won’t
invest in a grand NASCAR experiment to show off their technical prowess or for the
thrill of the victory.

Toyota intends to use NASCAR as a marketing vehicle to further undercut sales of
American-made cars. No, they won’t introduce some hot-shot Japanese driver to
attract new fans to the sport; they hope to endear themselves to the current fan base
with some clean-cut media-savvy “boy-next-door” type and further attempt to brand
themselves as an American icon. Make no mistake, this is all about screwing Ford
and GM. That’s it.

And they’ll find some gullible team willing to sell their souls for the promise of
inexhaustible financial support. Who will take the bait first? Ganassi, who already
partners with Toyota in the IRL? Penske, the guy who peddles Toyotas on the side,
or Hendrick, who deals in both luxury Lexus’s and Hondas?

I’ve heard the argument DaimlerChrysler isn’t any more an American company than
Toyota or Honda, and so the effect won’t be any different. I disagree. DaimlerChrysler
may be a German corporation, but the Dodge brand is purely an American institution.
No one from Europe is attempting to leverage the sport to change American buying
values. We don’t see a Mercedes on the track, do we?

The color on the track will change the moment Toyota joins the Cup circuit, and when
one or more American manufacturers is pushed out of the sport the current nostalgic
feeling will all but disappear. It will be the beginning of a new era of spiraling costs
and declining fan interest, the further erosion of tradition and the escalation of sales
and marketing tactics all targeting your wallet.

It may be 2007, it may be 2010. But Toyota is coming, and the powers that be will try
to bully you into believing you must accept it or be labeled anti-expansion or stuck in
the past…or even worse, a racist.

And I just don’t believe y’all will fall for it. I think the average NASCAR fan is much
smarter than NASCAR’s fancy-schmancy suits credit. We know this is about making
NASCAR’s rich richer. We know it’s about an overseas automaker attempting to
undercut their American competition in one of the most lucrative markets in the world.

But once they realize their mistake, it will be too late. The end will be imminent, and
no amount of power-steering technology will turn it around.

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