Penske and Toyota’s 8 Cup teams

UPDATE #3 We are upgrading this rumor to 'strong.' Toyota will support eight Nextel Cup teams when its cars make their debuts in 2007, but none of them is likely to be from Ganassi Racing, which all along figured to be part of the Toyota contingent. Toyota Racing Development will support four Penske Racing squads and two each from Bill Davis Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing. Davis and Waltrip will be partners in 2006, then turn their attention to Toyota. Sporting News [Editor's Note: Four Toyota Cup cars plus their current Dodges. Now you know why Penske South built their Taj Mahal in North Carolina]

08/23/05 Walter Czarnecki, vice chairman of Penske Racing and Penske Racing South, said Dodge's contract with the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup team extends past 2007 so in order for Penske to run a Toyota team he will have to run both Dodge and Toyota brands.. Penske Racing South

08/23/05 Penske Racing's deal with Dodge ends after 2006, with widespread speculation that Penske will side with Toyota in 2007. Penske's recent hiring of 2004 champion Kurt Busch (for 2007) is being cast as Toyota's way of strengthening its roster with a proven champion. Speed Channel

05/15/05 Rusty Wallace shot down talk of Penske Racing South aligning itself with Toyota. He said the team is happy with its current contract with Dodge. "People would think that [switch] would be a natural because he's running Toyota in the IRL Series, and he's the largest Toyota dealer," he said. "But he's also one of the world's largest Daimler Chrysler dealers." Wallace said he hasn't "personally talked" with Toyota about his #64 Busch Series team but said he would never say never. Richmond Times Dispatch [Editor's Note: The team denied they were switching to Dodge when they had Fords too. Therefore, you can't believe what the team says, and we will have to wait to see what the team does.]