Joe Gibbs Racing announces switch to Toyota in 2008
Quote selected text Published September 5th, 2007 in NASCAR News
Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), winners of three NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series championships and over 70 NASCAR races, will campaign Toyota Camrys in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Grand National Series beginning in 2008.
“We look forward to partnering with Toyota in NASCAR in 2008. Toyota will be hands-on with us as we become an integral part of their long-term development in NASCAR,” said J.D. Gibbs, president of JGR.
“We have 420-plus families that are our number one priority, and taking care of them for the future is very important to us. Our people have made us as successful as we are today, and it’s those same people who will ensure our success in the future. When our teams win, those families win. We’re thrilled for everyone at JGR who will benefit from this.”
“This decision was made by all of the key leadership at JGR,” said Jimmy Makar, senior vice president of racing operations for JGR. “It was a decision made by the people in our competition department, who live by the one question whenever a decision is made regarding Joe Gibbs Racing: ‘Will this make us more competitive on the race track?’ The consensus answer was yes.”
JGR has been associated with General Motors since its debut in the 1992 Daytona 500. The team fielded Chevrolets from 1992 through 1996, switched to Pontiac in 1997, and then switched back to Chevrolet in 2003. Two of its championships came with Pontiac – Bobby Labonte in 2000 and Tony Stewart in 2002 – while the most recent championship came with Chevrolet in 2005 at the hands of Stewart. Two of JGR’s drivers – Stewart and Denny Hamlin – are currently in position to challenge for this year’s championship.
“General Motors has been a great partner to Joe Gibbs Racing, and we’ve been able to celebrate many victories together,” said Joe Gibbs, owner and founder of JGR. “GM has many great teams, and moving forward, we know they will continue to be very successful. It’s our hope we can deliver to GM their 38th Cup Series championship this season as a way to cap our 16-year relationship with them.”
“Joe Gibbs Racing is one of the most respected teams in NASCAR, a championship-caliber race team and a first-class organization,” said Jim Aust, vice president of Toyota Motorsports and president and CEO of Toyota Racing Development, USA. “We are confident that partnering with the Gibbs team will raise the level of our entire Toyota NASCAR program, and will be beneficial to all of our current teams racing the Toyota Camry.”
GM Statement on Gibbs move to Toyota
Toyota’s Jim Aust speaks on signing Gibbs
Bookmark to:
- Gibbs announcement on SPEED tomorrow morning
- Gibbs leaning towards Toyota?
- Gibbs not decided on either Chevy or Toyota-UPDATED
- Is Ganassi’s next to move to Toyota?
- Could Stewart leave Gibbs if they move to Toyota?
Awesome! I’m with you guys at JGR all the way! It’s going to be a great ride
Too bad I missed the announcement because NASCAR.com has the webcast but there’s no stinking audio! Leave it to NASCAR to screw that up just like everything else. Thank God ESPN will get it right on NASCAR Now, and it might be replayed on Speed too.
The moment every fan and car owner feared has come.
NASCAR is finished now that Toyota has made its move to a dominant force that no one will be able to stop.
Just ask the past manufacturers in CART/IRL
I think that it’s going to take a lot more than just a single car manufacturer to bring down NASCAR, and I say that as the daughter of a 30 year Toyota employee. Yes, Toyota was dominant in IRL. But the IRL is overall a much weaker entity.
Actually, Toyota never dominated the IRL or Cart….nor has F1 changed since Toyota came in with big bags of money.
Paranoid much?
Righ on, Anon! Hate to say it, but I agree with you 100%. I don’t seem to recall Toyota owning the disaster that is IRL/CART, and they certainly haven’t done jack in F1. Granted, they’ll be competitive in Cup, but there’s no way they’re going to drive out all the other manufacturers. If nothing else you know the Whiner In The Hat (Roush) won’t ever switch to Toyota… Speaking of him, I can’t wait to hear him crying about this one!!!
Jeff….you get it. Nascar keeps everything even, they always have and they will not let one manufacture take over anything.
Toyota will not hurt Nascar in fact the more brands there are the more competitive it will be in the long run. As for JGR leaving Chevy now there is going to be that much more money goung to the rest of the chevy teams and it will only help them in the long run. It’s all good and it will be fun to watch as it unfolds
The reason Toyota hasnt done anything in F1 is because they cant outspend the manufacturers in that series. And Toyota did dominate the IRL… i remember them winning 11 of 16 races. That is dominance im afraid
Another example of Americans selling their soul to the foreigners for the
almight dollar. Joe Gibbs should be ashamed of himself. I hope his cars
never win another race or his football team never wins another game.
SHAME ON YOU JOE GIBBS YOU TRAITOR
Well this thread was doing just fine until Don chimed in with his drivel.
Care to expand on your feelings? It doesn’t matter how may times facts are brought these naysayers and Toyota trash-talkers, they remain in their deluded little world.
America in general sells their soul to anything for a buck. Capitalists in America care more about the dollar than you. You act like JGR is the only entity doing this. Wake up and look out for window. The world has changed and Toyota is as American as the Big 2 are foreign. Everyone has their hands in every pot.
In fact, the new Pontiacs are designed and chassis’ based on an Australian GM product. Good thing Pontiac left NASCAR or we’d have to chase them out of NASCAR too, right?? Get real.
Look out now. With their money and resources, Toyota will dominate in time!
just one question………..
will Tony learn to whine in japanese???
that’s all i want to know! it may make him easier to listen to!
I’d like to be a bookie taking bets on how soon Stewart will screw up his deal with Toyota by running his mouth.