So what's new? Smoke can't make up his mind.

Tony Stewart is now piloting a Toyota for the 2008 season, but owns a Cheverolet Race Team.
Does anyone have a problem with this?
I DO!!
I think it is wrong for a driver to own a different make than he drives. Being from Michigan, I support the automakers, and I am loyal to American Made. I know, I know, most of the "Big Three" cars and trucks are not made here anymore. I understand that, the point is that they are AMERICAN companies, and Toyota is NOT. JMO...anyway, so heres an excerpt from the article in case you didn't catch it!

"I'll be very honest: our preference would be if Dave Darland, Josh Wise, Jason Leffler or one of those guys won that event [driving a Toyota]," White said. "But if they can't win it, I'm pulling for Tony. I don't care if he's driving a Chevrolet, a Kia or a Mahindra tractor.

"If he wins, we win. It's just that simple."

White's point is that soon, if not already, whenever folks see Stewart's face connected with racing, they are going to know he drives a Toyota in the Cup Series. That belief is key to the manufacturer's entire marketing campaign connected to getting JGR to make what at first seemed a controversial switch.

It seems that Toyota is using Tony's face as a marketing chip...hmmmm...if I were Tony, I think I'd have a problem with that.

Stewart downplays the fact that he owns and sometimes drives Chevys on the open-wheel side, yet works exclusively for Toyota now on the Cup side.


"When we started the USAC programs, we went to Mopar right away -- so I was driving a Chevy on the Cup side then and all of our open-wheel teams were Mopar," Stewart said. "So it's no different than what I've had to do in the past with it. It's really not that big a deal."

Tony seems to thing that it's no big deal. So what's all of this, just some hot air with some ruffled feather's attached to it? What do you think? Should driver's stay loyal to thier make, or does it really matter?

thanks again guys...

TRG

Hi Race Girl,

I too think Tony has a hard time UNTILL he looks at his bank account and see's all of the millions of dollars in it.
I am a Chevycar ( oops I mean Nascar ) fan also. With the outragous amount of money that it takes to be even somewhat competive in the modern age of Nascar, I completely understand why Joe Gibbs went to Toyota.
When toyota goes into a race series they go in all the way to WIN. Look at how many series TRD is the sponsor of the top vehicles. Toyota is VERY willing to spend money to win.
Last year when their middle of the pack teams they sponsered ran in the middle or back, Toyota had every car on every team taken apart and had each piece weighed and compaired to each other.
That is the actions of a sponsor that wants cars up front and is willing to spend the needed monies to get them there.
By NO means am I taking anything away from any of the teams, Nascar is just that competive. Look at how close most all of the times were between pole position and the cars that did not make the shows.
If one looks at the history of Nascar most of the time the driver or pit stops make the biggest differance not what the brand name is on the car .
My personal favorite driver is Mark Martin. He was with Jack Roush and Ford for his entire cup career untill last year. That is commitment!!!!
Mark owns a Ford dealership and now drives in Chevy's. I personally would love to still see him in a Ford but, that is his choice and I admire him for doing what he wants and for enjoying himself. Somehow I would NEVER have thought the day would come that Mark would be in a DEI car.
Dodge left Nascar because it did not want to conform to it's GM biased rules a few years back, Ford keeps getting chocked down so that they do not run too much better than Chevy. I am sure that Chevycar ( oops there I slipped again ) Nascar will choke down Toyota just as soon as Gibbs Racing wins some. Watch and see Chevy will not be left behind.
I do not feel bad for Tony. He can buy happiness with all his yens ( oops ) dollars that Toyota is paying him.

Everyone should have fun with all the responses to this post. Now here is something that Will get everyone excited and reply.

Thanks
Yogi

let's see what happens when tony's contract runs out.

Smoke won his first major championship in a Toyota.. and he'll win his next major championship in a Toyota.

Honestly, if Smoke does good this year in the Toyota, then my bet is he will stay, if not and it goes down hill, he has an out. So either way he is set.

You know the actual car is made here, what is really the only difference, the motor?

And the money still goes over to JAPAN!!

No, the money goes to the employees and is spent right here in America.

How do you figure that? Toyota is giving "thier" money back here. Tony was an American the last I knew. Unless he moves to Japan and only buys stuff there.

Percentege why's I would not be serprised if more Toyota money stays here than GM.

I have had this conversation so many times, it makes my ears bleed when I hear it.

Foreign companies who build cars in foreign lands and ship them here.. bad for American Economy.

Foreign companies who build cars in America.. GOOD for American Economy.

"The Market" is the American Economy in this discussion:

Competition on a level playing field benefits everyone in "the market".. the competitors and the consumers.

Competition which includes competitors outside the market hurts everyone in the market.

The profit margin on a car is about 10%... so that means of every dollar.. .90 is spent making the car and .10 is profit.

If the car is built within the market, then that 90 cents stays in the market.. it goes to local taxes, local wages, local suppliers, local businesses.

The .10 leaves the economy (assuming none of it is reinvested into the market). Its worthy of noting that since all these companies are public companies, you could buy stock in those companies and then you could still claim a piece of the .10

An domestic car company which builds its car over seas and imports it back in.. spends the .90 in Brazil, Mexico, Korea, Canada, Australia, Sweden.. where ever.

Only the .10 comes back to "the market" and then is dispersed among the stock holders. Which may or may not be Americans and may or may not spend it in "the market"

Now.. couple of assumptions.. that the domestically built car is assembled with domestically built parts. The larger the percentage of parts built over seas, the lower the domestic contribution. Also, the profit margin is an average.. Toyota is actually higher, so a slightly larger profit margin is sent over seas. The Big 3 are losing money, so they are bringing no money back home. A person can argue the pennies back and forth if they choose.. the dollars however are not in dispute.

Toyota coming to the U.S. to race NASCAR is good.

Just because you wrap yourself in an American flag does not make you an American...refering to Toyota!

You had it right the first time

I think the problem with the Toyota issue here in the USA is not the fact that money is staying here or going over to Japan, and not even the fact that the cars are being built here or in Japan. The main problem is how Toyota has affected our Big Three car companies.

It was OK when Toyota, Honda, Nissan, VW, and other foreign companies sold cars here in limited quantities. However, once the sales began to decline on our own Big Three, problems began.

Who cares that Toyota is selling a lot of cars. Good for them. What is bad is how the Big Three have been hurt.

For many years, Chevrolet sold the most cars. Ford cars were number two. Number three was usually a battle between Oldsmobile, Pontiac, and Plymouth. Then came Dodge, Mercury, and Buick. The imports weren't even a challenge.

There is a generation now that doesn't know any different. They grew up around Toyotas and Hondas. What a shame.

Think about something for a moment. No cars were built during WWII. The auto manufacturers were put to work for the government. Then for a couple of brief moments in time, we hit Japan real hard.

Japan has been hitting us back ever since. They are getting back at the car companies who played a major role in WWII.

They are also hitting us back through a very American racing series, NASCAR.

They have also invaded the new Old School Racing Series. That is real bad and as far as I'm concerned was a very bad move for that series. There is nothing old school with Toyota participating with our famous retired NASCAR drivers. That series should contain a mixture of GM, Ford, and Mopar race cars, nothing else.

Enough of my rambling... I think I'll go find me a Rambler American and build a race car out of it.

-Maurice

I had a 68 AMC Ambassador for two years while in college. My first car was a 1966 Studebaker Commander. Loved them both. I had a 70 Super Bee for a couple years and a Ford LTD for about a week. Since then all of my cars have had GM on the key. Never had a German or Japanese car... never will. They can tell me all day long how great they are, you'll never see me driving one... I'll stick with my Cadillac's and Buick's, thank ya very much. I have a Buick Lucerne in my sites that may soon be my horse of choice.

Tony Stewart in a Toyota/Owning a Chevy team.

Tony's race team is his deal. he's running dirt Late Models, midgets, sprints, what have you, none of that technology is really applicable to what he is doing in Cup.

Also, Tony Stewart's deal with Chevy is for Tony Stewart RACING. Just like Joe Gibbs' deal with Toyota is for Joe Gibbs RACING. Tony Stewart is Joe Gibbs' employee, so he drivers what Joe gives him. What Tony Stewart provides to others is his choice. But Tony has a job to do as a NASCAR Sprint Cup Driver. His Dirt teams are his choice. There is no conflict of interest, it's simply a man doing what he has to do to make a living.

Now, as for foreign cars in America and all of that junk, go to your living room and take a look at your television set. I can bet you five dollars right now that none of you will find a name like "Smith" or "Jackson" as the brand that makes your TV. Chances are you'll find a "Toshiba" or "Sony" name stamped onto your television. When it is convenient for you, like a television is, you will purchase it because it is better quality.

We live in a Global Economy driven by government sanctioned free trade. Free trade is American. The market is what it is. Adapt. If the big three wish to assemble in Mexico and Canada, so be it. If Toyota wishes to assemble in America, so be it. We can kick and scream all we want, the consumer has the final vote. Just my opinion.

That's right. Japan killed the American electronics industry a long time ago. Our TV sets used to say General Electric, RCA, or Magnavox on them and were made in the USA. China must hate the Japanese, because the Chinese have now taken over the electronics manufacturing. Do you really think your Dell computer comes from the US?

It's just a matter of time, Japan will dominate the auto industry in the US.

All the more reason to keep the older cars running. I like old computers too. At one time, they too were made in the USA.

-Maurice