Richie Gilmore, the general manager at Dale Earnhardt Inc., said that General Motors’ racing executives may have to change the way they do business in order to compete against Toyota next season on the Nextel Cup tour. Toyota, a newcomer to the Nextel Cup, will be centralizing many of its key operations. Gilmore said that Chevrolet may have to do likewise, or at least make some major changes in the way that it approaches the sport. Gilmore said that Chevrolet’s four independent engine-building operations may have to unify. “I really think that’s something GM will have to do,” Gilmore said. “We (Chevy teams) all work closely on engines, but it needs to go up another step (in centralization). We each spend a lot of money on engines, dynos and people. We have 78 people (building engines), and Hendrick has 120. I think GM is looking at that and trying to figure out the best thing to do … because when Toyota comes in the sport, it will be strong.”(Winston Salem Journal)(6-3-2006)
