Toyota shopping some of its best

When Toyota recently closed its Formula 1 program, speculation that it would unleash a stream of the Japanese automakers' best engineering and mechanical minds toward its NASCAR arm was quickly dispelled. The economy's rendered that impossible, according to TRD president and general manager Lee White.

"We're head count frozen and don't have the ability to hire anyone right now," White said. "We are currently in the last stage of hiring a new chief engineer for our chassis deal in North Carolina, and it took me about six months to get approval. And that was one position, so it's unlikely TRD would take advantage of the available personnel even though we'd like to."

At Phoenix, White said TRD was shopping its displaced open-wheel personnel to any team in the garage area that might need their expertise.

"That's Toyota's way of operating," White said. "These are good people, and we want them to have jobs, even if there's no place for them right now with Toyota." More at NASCAR.com