NASCAR’s dilemma with Toyota

All indications are that Toyota is waiting to confirm their entry into Nextel Cup when NASCAR announces some firm dates for its Car of Tomorrow. Why should they invest in the current cars only to scrap them the following year? It's also better for them to come in when all the teams have to change over such that everyone starts on a level playing field. In this scenario the time it takes for Toyota to be winning races is greatly compressed.

However, the existing team owners want to delay the new car, which could result in Toyota having to wait, or simply walk away from the series in disgust over the politics.

"If they can move the dates out, so that we're able to balance out our existing hardware, and be able to make the changes they want with the present staff, it'll be a seamless transition at a modest cost to the teams," five-car team owner Jack Roush said. "If they compress that to where you have to dig a hole and bury your existing cars, you haven't got value out of them regardless of whether you might have a strategy with the IRS or a strategy with investment folks, whoever they would be, that says that you're able to amortize your car by using it the amount of time that you expected when you built it, well then there's a loss.

"Given the number of cars that are potentially involved, the loss could be huge. It could be catastrophic."

Roush said making the car ready for 2007 was not the schedule that NASCAR discussed with the team owners.

"That would be a problem," he said. "I know that's not the schedule that they had their mind set on before we had our meeting and they may not go there. They may go back and say, 'Guys, we hate it for you, but it's 2007. Build your cars and go fight among yourselves and decide how you're going do it and we don't care.' That would be NASCAR, too, you know."