Toyota locks up Waltrip, Gibbs, JTG teams through at least 2014

Toyota didn’t just unveil its 2013 Sprint Cup car Tuesday, it unveiled its 2013 Cup lineup of teams.

Unlike the change in the body of the cars, the lineup has no significant changes.

Toyota Racing Development president Lee White announced Tuesday that Joe Gibbs Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing and JTG Daugherty Racing will remain Toyota organizations with new contracts that “extend beyond two more years."

“We enjoy our partners, we value our partners and we expect to be on the dance floor with these partners for a long time and as long as they’ll have us," White said.

MWR had been a Toyota team since its entry into Cup racing in 2007, while JGR joined the ranks in 2008 and JTG Daugherty joined Toyota in 2009.

While not giving exact lengths, all of them will be Toyota teams at least through 2014.

“Toyota has been the cornerstone of MWR," said MWR co-owner Michael Waltrip. “They took a chance on us in 2007 and together we have matured into who we are today.

“It was an honor to be part of the freshman class. Knowing we will be with Toyota for the next several years gives our drivers, our team members and our sponsors a sense of stability and confidence."

White said with seven cars (three at JGR, three at MWR and one at JTG Daugherty) and the ability for these teams to expand, it was unlikely they would add more organizations. The two-car Red Bull Racing operation closed after last season.

“We’re happy with the guys we’ve got," White said. “Hopefully the economy will turn around a little bit and we would very easily get ourselves back to eight or nine cars in the field and that would be our share.

“Beyond that, we don’t have designs trying to run 12 or 13 cars."

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