Toyota today

BROOKLYN, Mich. – No one passed out cigars, but there sure were a lot of proud fathers Monday as Toyota's new NASCAR baby took its first steps.

The fourth test this year (and sixth overall) of NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow was upstaged here at Michigan International Speedway by Toyota for the first time putting a Camry on a race track with fellow competitors from Ford, Dodge and Chevrolet.

"It's a big day," said Toyota team owner and driver Michael Waltrip. "I'm just walking around with my eyes wide open and a smile on my face, making sure I take a picture of this in my brain that'll last forever. This is a big day for our team; this is a big day for NASCAR."

By all accounts, the Toyota was a success in its debut, even though it still is far from being completely approved by the sanctioning body. In fact, the three Toyota teams that took part Monday – Michael Waltrip Racing, Bill Davis Racing and Red Bull Racing – had to use engines normally run in the Craftsman Truck Series.

Still, it was cause to celebrate for Toyota, which already competes in the truck series.

"It's exciting after three years of working with NASCAR and getting acquainted and becoming familiar with their systems to be out and finally be a part of the big show even if there isn't a soul in the grandstands," said Lee White, senior vice president/general manager of Toyota Racing Development.

Waltrip tested for his own team, Dave Blaney for BDR and Bill Elliott for Red Bull. Test data was not made available to the media but the Toyotas ran well and stuck to the track.

TRD employees were on hand to monitor the progress of their new steeds, providing interesting sights like six engineers hunched over five laptops, analyzing data on a table next to Waltrip's Camry.

Waltrip himself had some fun with the debut of the car that will make or break his fortunes both as a team owner and perhaps a driver. On the back of his black car was emblazoned, "Coming 2007."

Matt Kenseth, who won Sunday's Cup race here, didn't think the Camry necessarily stood out, but he believes Toyota's entry into the Cup level will be good for the sport.

"In a way, the more the merrier, the more competition you have, the better," the 2003 Cup champion said.

2004 champ Kurt Busch expects Toyota's presence to make a significant impact on the sport.

"They're going to bring in extra money from the manufacturer and they might step up the level of competition from the auto manufacturer's side,” he said. “We'll see."

Much like when Dodge returned to the Cup level in 2001 after a nearly 20-year absence, Busch believes Toyota will have some growing pains.

"They're a new team, they have a lot of work ahead of them," Busch said. "I don't expect them to be fast right out of the box."

After the test, Waltrip's team headed to Kentucky Speedway, where it will test further on Tuesday and Wednesday. The team also plans several additional tests at Nashville, Rockingham and other venues before the end of the year.

Waltrip, BDR and Red Bull each plan to build 17 cars for next season, including several COT versions.

"That's just part of it," Waltrip said. "We could have caught a break if NASCAR went exclusively with the Car of Tomorrow for '07, but we didn't."

All that was somewhat irrelevant Monday, anyway.

"I think just getting here, taking the time to build these cars in the face of everything else that has to get done before we go racing, it's frankly a major accomplishment for us," White said.

Tomorrow comes today

In addition to the three Toyotas, there also were 10 other Cup teams that took part in the COT test.

Michigan is the biggest non-restrictor plate track the new cars have been on thus far – prior tests were held at Atlanta, Talladega, Bristol, Charlotte and Martinsville – and Monday also marked the first time that drivers like Busch, Kenseth and Jeff Gordon have taken turns behind the wheel of a COT.

"They're kind of hard to look at, but I'm sure we'll get used to them," Kenseth said. "Driving it doesn't feel much different. There's a couple issues here and there, but to sit in the car, it's not that bad."

Added Busch, "It's fairly comparable to what we have now. It's not [a] night-and-day difference. It's real close."

Busch, who split driving duties in the Penske Racing COT with teammate Ryan Newman during Monday's test, particularly liked the radical-looking – at least for NASCAR – rear wing, which replaces the more conventional spoiler that the circuit has used for years.

"It makes it real stable in the back," Busch said.

While many Cup drivers are mixed in their thoughts about the COT, Busch sees it as just another element in NASCAR’s evolution.

"Every five or six years, you see this in our sport, big changes," Busch said. "Five, six years ago, we had this tire compound come in that made the tire so hard that a lot of teams liked it, but it also hurt some teams. This will be the same mix-up again.

"NASCAR likes to throw in something to twist it around a bit to see who really does have an advantage."

It was expected that the COT would provide more space for the drivers, but Gordon said he only noticed slightly more head room. Gordon also would have preferred a more "sexy-looking" styling.

"I still have my reservations and concerns," Gordon said. "I think the car is not very attractive looking. I think we had an opportunity to make a really sleek-looking, cool car that took downforce away from the car and was a little bit safer."

Much has been said that the COT's design, with the driver compartment moved closer to the middle of the car, would be a radical adjustment for drivers. But for several drivers at Monday's session, the change wasn't much of an issue.

"You're sitting in there, you feel like there's more room in there, but really it's no different once you get going," Kenseth said. "If you sit there and analyze it to your other car, I guess you could maybe feel a little bit. But you're putting your same seats and all your same pedals and all your stuff in there, so you can't really tell if you're being moved over an inch or two here or there – I can't, anyway."

Waltrip, who is 6-foot-5, said he enjoys the extra room he has in the COT.

"The cool thing about it is I was driving down the back straightaway, looking around and saying, 'Damn, look at all this room I've got," Waltrip said. "That's just a wonderful feeling, knowing you're not all crunched down in there."

As far as driving the COT, Waltrip doesn't see much of a difference from the current variety of Cup cars.

"It drives normal," Waltrip said. "I guarantee that if you go up in the grandstand and look down, it'll look normal. There's not going to be any backlash. When these cars show up at Bristol, it's just going to be cool."

Added Gordon, "It doesn't drive bad. This is the first time it's been on a track this big, as far as a non-restricted track, but by itself the car drives pretty good."

But there are some concerns as to how the COT will respond under duress.

"I don't know what it'll do if I get it a little sideways," Waltrip said. "I don't know what it'll do if I get it fishin', where I need to react to something that's different."

No one had to find out Monday.