Penske team eyes switch to Toyota?

UPDATE This rumor is downgraded to 'false' today. Penske Racing owner Roger Penske said Sunday that his team will be driving Dodges for years to come. Penske said he has agreed to a multi-year deal with Dodge. The team contract was set to expire at the end of the 2008 season. "We've extended our relationship," Penske said. "We've got it good. With [Robert] Nardelli there [as CEO of Chrysler], the commitment is here." ESPN.com

10/15/06 Toyota's Lee White looks at the furor over Ford and Roush losing Martin, and at Dodge's woes, and similar troubles in other rival camps, and said that all may play in Toyota's favor early next season.

Toyota's 2007 Cup lineup so far: two Davis teams, three Waltrip teams, and two Red Bull teams, and two part-time teams. "I won't deny we've had conversations with existing teams, from every manufacturer," White said, leaving the answers up in the air. "It's not something we're actively pursuing. Teams have approached us; we have not approached them."

One of those teams, sources say, could be Roger Penske's two-car Dodge operation. According to one source, Penske's Ryan Newman has just tested a Camry.

At the moment, White said Toyota is simply busy getting all its parts and pieces approved by NASCAR and shipped to the teams for construction of '07 cars.

"The good news is those parts are coming through, there are lots of cars on the ground, going to the wind tunnel, going to the race track. I see light at the end of the tunnel. But there's still a mountain to climb." More at Winston Salem Journal [Related article on Toyota's plan to conquer the Nextel Cup Series]