Toyota is buying a 240,000-square-foot building in Charlotte on a 124-acre plot of land for part of its NASCAR venture, according to NASCAR sources, who report that car owner Chip Ganassi has already gotten a check for $35 million to crank up a Toyota operation. Toyota officials are pushing NASCAR to OK fuel injection and eliminate the old-fashioned carburetors used on these 358 cubic-inch racing engines for many years. Ford also is pushing for fuel injection, in large part because the company has developed – and patented – a solid-fuel injection system for race cars, a system better than anything General Motors or Dodge has. The GM system has a significant delay when drivers try to get off the gas. NASCAR has been so eager to get Toyota involved in stock-car racing that Detroit manufacturers believe that NASCAR might approve fuel injection.( Winston Salem Journal )(3-1-2003)
