The latest on the Toyota front: car owner [#1 Busch, #09 Cup] James Finch is expected to field a Toyota factory truck next season. No word on the driver. Finch is a Dodge business partner with Chip Ganassi this season, and Ganassi has been hotly rumored to be headed eventually to Toyota.(Winston Salem Journal)(7-26-2003)
UPDATE: Toyota’s 2004 NASCAR plans remain an enigma. James Finch is expected to run a Toyota truck, but his driver is still not certain. And Ford’s Truck tour plans are also unclear, according to Jack Roush, who points to sponsorship concerns. Ford and GM teams are worried about how much money Toyota may throw at its NASCAR efforts. Toyota has a market cap considerably larger than GM, Ford and Chrysler combined, and it has an 11-percent market share in the U.S.(Winston Salem Journal)(8-7-2003)
UPDATE 2: James Finch, the veteran team owner, and GM Marc Reno will have two Toyota Truck teams next season, running out of an expanded shop south of Charlotte. But Finch hasn’t picked his drivers yet.(Winston Salem Journal)(9-1-2003)
UPDATE 3: hearing Finch will not accept Toyota’s offer as only one of the two teams would get factory support so Finch declined, no work if Finch will still run a truck team or not.(9-8-2003)
UPDATE 4: When Toyota announces its Craftsman Truck teams at the end of the month, don’t expect James Finch to be among the owners. Although Finch believes Toyota will be impressive, he couldn’t come to financial terms with the automaker. He does plan to continue running Ganassi Racing protege David Stremme in the No. 1 Dodge in the Busch Series. As for Toyota, garage sources expect Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip to be among the owners announced, along with drivers Mike Skinner and Buckshot Jones. (FOX Sports/Sporting News(9-8-2003)
