Question? Which manufacturer gets their hands dirtier than Toyota? Answer. None. As such, which manufacturer would have loved to have had a shot at Lemans? Answer. Toyota. The Felon stole another one...in bed with Jim.
How are you measuring that? Sounds like n opinion.
Uh, Toyota had cars at Le Mans; class winning cars as I recall. A few posts ago you argued the French would have like to see a Cup OEM that also competed in endurance racing; now you forget Toyota already does that across multiple classes.
Cry us a river. Got to go with the winningest team when you are representing the U.S. and Nascar. 3 championships in 18 years isn't something to write home about, dirty hands or not. Chevy's have won 10 in the same time period. Constant crying isn't helping either.
No, dirty hands are very important. Effort matters just as much as results. That's why participation trophies were invented.
Not about effort. It's about investment. Who builds Chevy motors? New manufacturers (yeah right) take note on the pecking order.
TRD builds the Toyota motors. Who builds the Chevys? Fords?
It was not a rhetorical question. It was asserted that The Chain Gang was the entity to ensure success. I asked what the measure of success was....
Yeah, that makes sense. A manufacturer should enter (while the sport was transitioning between two cars no less), and win championships immediately. Get the word out. That should attract new OEMs.
I think it would have been fascinating for the world to see a Japanese manufacturer's interpretation (at least in part) of a Garage 56 entry. I am aware of Toyota's global racing programs.
What's your point?
I doubt NASCAR will see new manufacturers until it adopts a powerplant more in line with what those manufacturers are using in production models.
Excuse me. We aren't talking about moving the goalposts. We are talking about having the most successful Team, manufacturer and tire in the Nascar Cup series represent the U.S. and Nascar on the world stage at LeMans. They killed it BTW.
The measure of success was to qualify at a GT class speed ( they did) finish all 24 hours (they did) to run lap times that were competitive with the GT class cars in the race (they did), and to grab tons of positive attention for NASCAR (they did).
Presumably Dodge doesn't care.
I assume as much, what with their history in NASCAR and their ads touting their Hemi engine. But does any other potential manufacturer have production V8s? Alfa Romeo put a V10 in their Hypercar / Prototype class sports car, but even that's a hybrid and no one expects that class of cars to have much in common with street cars.
You're right no one gets their hands dirtier than Toyota. They seem to get caught cheating more than others......
Agreed, it's another rabbit hole that doesn't need exploring. IMSA is already doing it.
They still just really like picking their noses.
Clever. Didn't see that coming.
Participation.
Do you seriously think a Toyota car built to the same specs would have performed measurably better on track?Participation.
Everyone knew the deal going in. Yes, it was just for show, but NOBODY at HMS or Chevrolet treated it that way for a single second. It's easy to poo-poo it after the fact, but if the engine would have blown up in the first hour or they had been 10 MPH off the GT car pace, you would have ridiculed the effort.Participation.
After this became the backdoor Jim and Felon endeavor, I didn't pay any attention to the Chain Gang self stroking exercise performance....and hell, man, I would have ridiculed the effort (and I have) regardless of performance because the basic premise of the exercise was bull****. There is problem when the other "partners" were completely in the dark as the deal was made....but we are kind of starting to learn how NASCAR works (and will probably learn more) as the 23XI court deal starts to unfold.
Oh hell yes. I know for a fact that TRD was very disappointed to not have a shot. This kind of thing is in their wheelhouse.
Yeah, I know I swore this puppy off, but Dude, are you saying Toyota was disappointed to not have a shot at a bullcrap exercise? Boy, if that doesn't reek of sour grapes, I have a bottle of Boone's Farm I opened last year that you might be interested in.
frontstretch.com
What is this doing here? This doesn't involve Hendrick motorsports?Another backdoor under the table deal stopped this time by some owners who spoke up this time.
Please Don't Try That Again, Jim France
A one-race entry backed by NASCAR's co-owner and CEO could lead to the pathway of no integrity.
I don't need any help. France owns Action express since 2010 that races in IMSA that he owns, and Nascar that he owns, who also races against 2025 IMSA Champ Roger Penske who races in IMSA, Nascar, and Indycar which he also owns. These aren't backdoor deals.
Once again I have to ask the question, unless you wanted to present some mongrel of a car, SOMEONE was going to get left out of the project. How exactly would YOU have handled this project to everyone's satisfaction? How do you make three manufacturers happy when you only need ONE car?
The logistics are insane. The effort was announced less than a year before the race, Shipping, customs, crews, financing, engineering etc. Quite an effort and very successful. Getting all three OEM's involved would be at the very least of too many cooks in the kitchen.
Did you see the Next Gen development car?
Define 'foreign manufacturer', please.
A foreign owned company. We can play games of who makes what where.
