Toyota, which has seen its engines overwhelmed on the IRL circuit this year, will withdraw from open-wheel racing after the 2006 season. The announcement was made Monday by the Japanese automaker, which will pull out of competition in both the IRL and Champ Car after next season. It entered the IRL in 2003 and Champ Car — which was called CART at the time and included what is now the IRL — in 1996. “This was simply a decision to move in another direction after having our major U.S. motorsports emphasis on open-wheel racing since 1994,” Toyota senior vice president of U.S. motor sales J. Davis Illingworth said. “Just as our participation in IMSA sports car racing ran its course after 12 years, so has our U.S. open-wheel racing program after 12 years in the IRL and CART,” Illingworth added. Toyota moved into NASCAR last year with a fleet in the Craftsman Truck series. There has been considerable speculation that the company will move up to the Busch series in 2006 or 2007 and eventually move into Nextel Cup, challenging Chevrolet, Ford and Dodge, which currently race in NASCAR’s top stock car series. “We are continuing to explore our options in NASCAR,” said Jim Aust, Toyota vice president of motorsports. “However, at the present time our continued focus is on the Craftsman Truck Series.”(ESPN.com/AP)(6-28-2005)
