Daytona 500 win greatest ever for Toyota

A Toyota spokesperson called Denny Hamlin's photo-finish victory at yesterday's Daytona 500 "the greatest win in the company's history," according to Lewis Franck of REUTERS.

Toyota Racing Development President & GM David Wilson said, "As we were looking at why we should come into NASCAR, that was a big part of it, to have a shot at winning the Great American race, to be able to talk to the incredible, powerful fan base that NASCAR has."

He added, "Obviously back in 2007, when we started Cup racing, the fans were apprehensive." Franck noted even though NASCAR was "growing out of its down home Southern roots there were many perceived prejudices against a 'foreign company' invading a made-in-America sport."

Wilson said, "When we came into the sport, we struggled. We were not ready. The level of competition that this sport has amongst the teams and engineers is unlike anything we've ever seen, including CART and IndyCar." With yesterday's win, Toyota has "established itself as a worthy competitor to the Ford and General Motors brands in the hearts and minds of NASCAR fans." Reuters