Toyota making gains in Busch and Cup

Toyota is slowly making gains in NASCAR, and Saturday night's Busch victory at cross-town short track Raceway Park by Jason Leffler was Toyota’s biggest yet in NASCAR. “It’s great to do that here in Indianapolis, with the exposure the races get," Jim Aust, head of Toyota Racing Development (TRD). “It was something needed. I thought the second half of the season was going to be more successful for us. It shows our teams can win, and that’s a real shot in the arm.

“We have to look at the Cup side somewhat differently. The competitors are different in that series. And we still have different engines in the two series, and that’s significant. If anything, it (Saturday’s Busch win) adds pressure to the (Cup) program."

Lee White, Toyota’s manager of TRD, sat on the first-turn grass with fans during the Busch event. “I didn’t hear one negative thing about Toyota’s participation in the Busch series, and that’s great," White said.

Toyota executives have been sensitive to their company’s image among NASCAR fans since moving into Busch and Cup this season. Winston Salem Journal