How long will Toyota stay in NASCAR?

Toyota dropped out of Formula One racing because of the world-wide recession.

Because of the disaster that’s struck the Japanese company in recent days, the question must be asked: how long will Toyota continue to pour millions into North America motorsport?

The manufacturer is heavily involved in NASCAR (all three series – the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World truck series), the NHRA and USAC sprints and midgets, among other series.

Drivers of their cars include Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and David Reutimann, among many others. (I was shocked when I went to the Toyota Racing website and counted up all the drivers – 40, to be exact, and they’re all big names.)

Anyway, it’s costing Toyota serious money to support all those teams and drivers, not to mention doling out the promotional dollars for the races the company headlines (the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Indy car race, for instance).

With the economic hammering Toyota’s taking, something’s gotta give somewhere.

I expect the company will find a way to hang on in Sprint Cup and maybe – maybe – the trucks. But everything else will likely be in danger of getting the chop. Norris McDonald