Toyota has recently announced that it will be entering the Nextel Cup and Busch Cup series of NASCAR in 2007. Toyota currently competes in the Craftsman Truck series with the Tundra, a vehicle that has been built in America for some time.
To those of you who are not familiar with the great sport of stock car racing, NASCAR is to stock car racing what MLB is to baseball. There are 3 series, Craftsman Truck, Busch and Nextel Cup. Craftsman truck is like AA baseball, Busch is like AAA and Nextel Cup is the majors. Currently, three manufacturers compete in Busch and Nextel Cup: Ford, Chevrolet, and Dodge.
Toyota's move has not taken anyone by surprise. They make most of their cars in America and are attempting to become as "American as apple pie." Their ads recently have shown how many jobs they have created here, without saying that Ford and GM continue to move many of theirs to Mexico. The Camry is also usually the best selling car in America, so it makes sense that they want to promote their image.
A lot of people are angry about this move, thinking that this long American sport is going to be dominated by foreigners. This is not the case for many reasons.
1. Dodge's parent company is DaimlerChrysler, a German company. While it may have originally been an American brand, it is no more.
2. NASCAR has already had a race in Mexico, and probably will have some in Canada soon. I highly doubt that very many races (there are currently 36 per season) will leave the states. The sport is simply not popular in Europe and many other locales, where Formula 1 dominates.
3. As NASCAR's fan base has been growing, it has attracted many people outside of the SouthEast, people who come from all different backgrounds and drive all different kinds of cars. Toyota is blasphemy to very few people nowadays.
While Toyota may have some success in the Cup, I don't think that other foreign manufacturers will enter anytime soon. Honda is focusing much of its efforts in Indy Racing, where it is the soul engine supplier. BMW and others do not fit with the image of NASCAR, though the same could be said of Toyota in recent years.
