March 30, 2004
TOYOTA MOTORSPORTS NOTES
TOYOTA SET TO TEST NEW 3.0-LITER IRL ENGINE - The new Toyota Indy V8 3.0-liter engine will make its on-track debut this weekend during the manufacturer's closed test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Four of the five Toyota-powered teams are expected to participate including Target Chip Ganassi Racing, Marlboro Team Penske, Kelley Racing and A.J. Foyt Enterprises.
TOYOTA'S KVAPIL TAKES NCTS POINTS LEAD - Just two races into Toyota's new NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series program, Toyota-powered driver Travis Kvapil has taken over the series points lead. The defending series champ has registered a pair of top-five finishes with a second at Daytona and a fourth at Atlanta to take a four-point lead. Kvapil's joined by two more Toyota-powered drivers in the top 10 with rookie David Reutimann in fourth and Mike Skinner in eighth.
DIXON TESTS F1 - Long-time Toyota open-wheel driver Scott Dixon tested with the Williams Formula One team this past week and was quickly up to speed. In just one day of testing, Dixon clocked a fast time within four-tenths of a second of that registered by Williams team driver Ralf Schumacher, despite the fact that a faulty gearbox limited Dixon's morning test time.
Les Unger, Toyota national motorsports manager, "We identified Scott four years ago as a young driver that we thought had enormous talent and potential - and to date, he's fulfilled that promise. It's not surprising to us that he did so well in his first F1 test. He's been a terrific addition to the Toyota line-up from day one."
LEXUS DRIVER - TOYOTA RACE - Max Papis will make the switch from Lexus to Toyota for one weekend in April. The Grand-Am driver will take part in this year's Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race, a part of the 30th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend. Papis will spot a 30-second advantage to such celebrities as singer Lil Kim, actor Sean Astin, of "Lord of the Rings," Frankie Muniz, of "Malcolm In the Middle" fame, champion boxer Laila Ali and Olympic swimming gold medallist Dara Torres. Papis will need a victory to match the exploits of current Ganassi Racing Lexus teammate Scott Pruett, the 2001 race winner who's already made certain that his Grand-Am teammate is aware of that fact.
In addition to Pruett, Papis joins a group of the world's finest professional drivers who have participated in the race over the years including Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, Al Unser, Gordon Johncock and Rick Mears. Should Papis win, he'd hold an advantage over one other former pro racer who participated in the event in 1986 - none other than his team owner Chip Ganassi.
TOYOTA RACE CALENDAR
NHRA: Summit Nationals, Las Vegas, April 4, ESPN2
GRAND-AM: Food City 250, Phoenix International Raceway, April 10, 9 p.m. SPEED
IRL: Japan Indy 300, Twin Ring Motegi, April 16, 11:30 p.m., ESPN2
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK: Kroger 250, Martinsville, April 17, 1 p.m. SPEED
*All times Eastern time zone
March 21, 2004
DIXON'S SECOND PACES TOYOTA AT PHOENIX
- Scott Dixon (Target Toyota) overcame high heat and a slippery track, but was edged by 0.5344 seconds to place second as the highest finishing Toyota in Sunday's Copper World Indy 200 at Phoenix International Raceway.
- Today's second-place finish is Scott Dixon's fourth in the last five races. He also was the runner-up in last season's final three races at Chicago, California and Texas.
- With today's second-place showing, Toyota falls into a tie point-wise for the Engine Manufacturer's Championship but holds the tie-breaker for the top spot to continue a streak that has seen Toyota lead the Manufacturer's Championship after each of its 18 races in Indy Racing League competition.
- With a second-place finish today, Toyota has finished either a first or second in every IndyCar Series race it's entered. To date, the manufacturer has 12 wins and 12 seconds in 18 races.
- Darren Manning's 5th-place finish in his Target Toyota marks his best IRL finish after placing sixth in his debut at the Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead. Manning's finish gave Target Chip Ganassi Racing two cars in the top five - the second consecutive race that a Toyota-powered team recorded that feat.
- After handling problems dropped him a lap down early, Helio Castroneves (Marlboro Toyota) fought back to earn a well-deserved sixth today. The two-time Indy 500 winner opened the season with a second and currently sits second in points.
- Tora Takagi (Pioneer Toyota) earned his second consecutive top-10 finish with an eighth-place today. The strong showing follows a fourth at Homestead in the season-opening Toyota Indy 300. With Takagi's effort, four Toyota-powered cars finished among the first eight today.
Jim Aust, Toyota vice president of motorsports: "A second-place finish wasn't what we were hoping for today, but the conditions were awfully difficult. We need to regroup and come back strong at Motegi to give us some momentum heading into the Indianapolis 500."
Driver, Start/Finish
Scott Dixon 5/2
Darren Manning 6/5
Helio Castroneves 3/6
Tora Takagi 13/8
Scott Sharp 19/13
A.J. Foyt IV 17/14
Sam Hornish 4/15
Next Race: Japan Indy 300, Twin Ring Motegi, April 17, ESPN
March 19, 2004
DIXON, CASTRONEVES TAKE TOP 2 AS TOYOTA TOPS PHOENIX FRIDAY TIME CHARTS
- Scott Dixon (Target Toyota) was the fastest in Friday morning’s first practice session and Helio Castroneves topped the afternoon run as Toyota-powered cars took the top two spots overall in Friday’s practice for Sunday’s Copper World Indy 200 at Phoenix International Raceway.
- Dixon registered the fastest time of the day with a 175.432 mph (20.5208 seconds) with Castroneves just 0.0347 seconds behind with a lap of 174.450. No other driver made it into the 174 mph range. Today’s results mimicked those seen when the IRL held its last open test a month ago at PIR.
- Dixon and Castroneves were joined in the top five by Sam Hornish, Jr. (Marlboro Toyota) who was fifth overall. Dixon’s teammate, Darren Manning (Target Toyota), made it four Toyota-powered cars in the top 10 with a ninth-place showing.
- Toyota enters this weekend’s race leading the IndyCar Series Engine Manufacturer’s Championship – a position its now held after 17 consecutive races since beginning IRL competition at Homestead a year ago.
- Toyota-powered cars have won 12 of 17 races since entering IndyCar Series competition last season with seven different Toyota drivers earning a victory.
Friday Overall Practice Results – Toyota drivers
1. Scott Dixon
2. Helio Castroneves
5. Sam Hornish
9. Darren Manning
13. A.J. Foyt
15. Scott Sharp
17. Tora Takagi
Copper World Indy 200, March 21, ABC, 4:00 p.m. EDT (live)
March 15, 2004
2004 Indy Racing League Indy Car Series FAST FACTS
COPPER WORLD INDY 200
March 21, 4:00 p.m. EST, ABC (Live)
Phoenix International Raceway
200 laps on the one-mile oval
TOYOTA LOOKS FOR SECOND STRAIGHT 2004 IRL VICTORY - After registering a one-two-finish in the season-opening Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead, Toyota will be looking to make it two straight victories when the IRL moves on to the Phoenix International Raceway, March 21. Sam Hornish, Jr., and Helio Castroneves opened the season with a Marlboro Team Penske sweep of the two top spots in South Florida. Tora Takagi (Pioneer Toyota) made it three Toyotas in the top-four spots with an impressive fourth-place finish.
TOYOTA BRINGS IMPRESSIVE TOTALS TO PIR - Toyota has registered 12 victories in its first 17 IndyCar Series events heading into this weekend's Copper World Indy 200. In addition to its 70 percent win percentage in a little over one season of IRL racing, Toyota has won 22 of its last 36 open-wheel races in IRL (2003-04) and CART (2002) competition. PIR is one of only four tracks on the schedule that Toyota hasn't won in either IRL or CART. The manufacturer has been victorious at PIR, though, with P.J. Jones winning the final IMSA GTP race ever on Oct. 1993. It was the last of 17 straight Toyota GTP triumphs.
THE OLD ONE-TWO - When Toyota-powered cars crossed the finish line in first and second at Homestead, it marked the sixth time that Toyota-powered drivers had finished one-two in 17 IRL races. In fact, Toyota has more one-two finishes in that time period than IRL competitors Honda and Chevrolet have wins combined. While Phoenix isn't one of the tracks where Toyota has registered a one-two finish, Team Penske did sweep the top two spots in 2002 with Helio Castroneves leading then-teammate Gil de Ferran across the finish line.
SHARING THE WEALTH - In winning at Homestead, Sam Hornish Jr. became the seventh different Toyota-powered driver to win in IRL IndyCar Series competition among Toyota's 12 wins. Hornish, Jr., joins Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves, Scott Sharp, Gil de Ferran, Al Unser Jr and Alex Barron as victorious Toyota drivers.
RECORD-SETTERS - A pair of Toyota-powered drivers will be looking to extend or close in on IRL career records this weekend. Sam Hornish Jr. can extend his series record for victories to 13 with a win in Phoenix this weekend. Scott Sharp, the series second-winningest driver of all-time, will look to extend a record of his own with a PIR triumph. Sharp currently holds the IRL mark for consecutive seasons with a victory with seven. In addition, Sharp will be looking to extend his record for consecutive league starts to 77. He needs just seven more starts to tie the series all-time record for most starts, currently held by Buddy Lazier with 83.
BACK-TO-BACK PHOENIX STOPS - Just three weeks after the Copper World Indy 200, another Toyota-related motorsports program will arrive to do battle in the Valley of the Sun when the Lexus Grand-Am program heads to PIR for the Phoenix 250. Five Lexus-powered Daytona Prototypes are expected to compete, including two from Toyota IndyCar Series owner Chip Ganassi.
Toyota IndyCar Series Driver Line-Up and Position Entering Phoenix (2004 Wins)
Car # Driver Car Season Points Standing
#6 Sam Hornish Jr. Marlboro Toyota (Dallara) 1st (Homestead)
#3 Helio Castronves Marlboro Toyota (Dallara) 2nd
#12 Tora Takagi Pioneer Toyota (Dallara) 4th
#10 Darren Mannning Target Toyota (Panoz/G-Force) 6th
#8 Scott Sharp Delphi Toyota (Dallara) 9th
#14 A.J. Foyt IV Conseco Toyota (Dallara) 15th
#1 Scott Dixon Target Toyota (Panoz/G-Force 18th
"Quotes"
Jim Aust, Toyota vice president of motorsports: "We had a terrific start to the season by finishing one-two at Homestead. It's been an awfully busy winter at TRD, where we've been doing concurrent development work on three different race engines (NASCAR Craftsman Truck, plus both the 3.0 and 3.5-liter IRL engines). A victory at Phoenix would guarantee at least two Toyota victories in the three early 3.5-liter races before Indianapolis and be a tremendous accomplishment for all those involved. This series is so competitive that if you stand still for even a moment, you're going to fall behind."
March 02, 2004
TOYOTA MOTORSPORTS NOTES
TOYOTA TAKES FIRST-EVER NHRA FUNNY CAR WIN - Jerry Tolliver drove his Schick Quattro Toyota Celica NHRA Funny Car to victory at Pomona this past weekend in the Winternationals - giving Toyota its first-ever Funny Car victory. Tolliver qualified 15th and fought his way through the field and defeated Gary Densham in the final. The race marked Tolliver's return to the sport after a two-year absence.
TOYOTA OPEN-WHEELERS FAST OUT OF THE BOX…AGAIN - When Sam Hornish, Jr. edged his Marlboro Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves in a photo finish to win Sunday's IRL Toyota Indy 300, it marked the fourth consecutive year that Toyota has won the opening race of the open-wheel season. Hornish follows Scott Dixon (2003-Homestead) and Cristiano da Matta (2002 and 2001 - Monterrey, Mex.). In each of the last two seasons, the Toyota driver that won the season-opening race also went on to earn the series championship.
TOYOTA ON TOP OF IRL STANDINGS - With the season-opening win at Homestead, Toyota resumes a familiar spot at the top of the IRL Engine Manufacturer's Championship standings. Through 17 races in the series, Toyota has never trailed since joining IndyCar Series competition in 2003.
IRL BY THE NUMBERS - Sunday's Toyota victory is its 12th in 17 IndyCar series races….The one-two Toyota finish on Sunday marks the sixth for Toyota in 17 IRL events….With Sunday's win, Sam Hornish becomes the seventh different driver to win with Toyota power in the 12 IRL victories…Hornish's triumph is the sixth for Team Penske in 17 races with Toyota power.
FAST START FOR TOYOTA/LEXUS PROGRAMS - In the four racing series that Toyota or Lexus competes in, the manufacturer has had at least one entry finish in the top-two in their respective season-openers. Sam Hornish (IRL) and Jerry Tolliver (NHRA Funny Car) won their first race of the season, while Travis Kvapil (NASCAR Craftsman Truck) and Doran-Lista Racing (Lexus Grand-Am) both placed second in their season debuts.
TOYOTA PROGRAMS DESCEND ON VALLEY OF THE SUN - Three of Toyota's four on-going programs will race next in Phoenix. The NHRA Funny Cars head to Firebird International Raceway, March 5-7, while the IRL and Grand-Am each will head to Phoenix International Raceway next with the IndyCars racing March 19-21 and the Lexus Daytona Prototypes competing in Grand-Am competiton April 8-10.
TOYOTA RACE CALENDAR
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK: Atlanta 200, Atlanta Motor Speedway, March 13, 1 p.m. SPEED
IRL: Copper World Indy 200, Phoenix International, March 21, 4 p.m., ABC
NHRA: Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals, March 8, 7 p.m. ESPN2
GRAND-AM: Phoenix 250, Phoenix International Raceway, April 10, SPEED
*All times Eastern time zone