Engine work pays off for Toyota

Toyota has staggered out of the gates in its first Nextel Cup season, but it could be that the tide has turned. Brian Vickers gave the new manufacturer its first top-five finish in last week’s Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, but the most impressive aspect of the 23-year-old Vickers’ showing was the fact that he led 78 laps. Prior to last week, all the Toyota drivers had combined to lead a total of 14 laps.

A big reason for the Japanese manufacturer’s show of muscle was a retooled engine first used at LMS. Engineers tinkered with the Toyota power plant to make it more responsive off the corners, even though the overall horsepower figures, when tested by NASCAR, had been satisfactory.

“It was definitely a difference, and we knew that coming here," said Vickers. “It showed in qualifying with the number of Toyotas that made the race. It really shows what the engine is capable of when you can get the motor wound up and keep it wound up. We were able to show that when we ran up front and pulled away from the other guys."

“If you look at the 7500-rpm range, we were almost 75 horsepower off," said Vickers’ crew chief, Doug Richert. “Through carburetion, they took and redid the power curve." Gaston Gazette