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ATLANTA - Toyota took a giant step forward in its Nextel Cup efforts with the signing of Joe Gibbs Racing last week.
Gibbs' powerhouse team will begin driving Camrys next season. The signing of Gibbs means the Toyota camp, which has struggled in its debut season in NASCAR's elite division, will gain a proven champion in Tony Stewart and proven race winners in Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, who is moving to Gibbs next year.
Jimmy Makar, vice president of racing operations for Gibbs, said in a statement that the decision to switch from Chevrolet was made by all of the team's key leaders.
"It was a decision made by the people in our competition department, who live by the one question whenever a decision is made regarding Joe Gibbs Racing: Will this make us more competitive on the racetrack?" he said. "The consensus answer was yes."
Gibbs is ending a 16-year relationship with General Motors. Brent Dewar, vice president of vehicle sales, service and parts, said in a statement he's disappointed but will continue to support the Gibbs team for the remainder of the year.
Johnson predicts win
With his win at California Speedway last weekend, Jimmie Johnson assured that he'll start the Chase for the Nextel Cup at least tied for the points lead.
Under NASCAR's new rules for the Chase, all 12 drivers in the 10-race playoffs will have the same baseline points, with 10 bonus points awarded for each victory during the regular season.
Entering Richmond, Johnson is ahead of points leader Jeff Gordon by one in race wins (5-4). Clint Bowyer is the only driver in the elite group without a victory this season.
Johnson told reporters at California that he believes the Cup trophy will go to one of the three drivers from his Hendrick Motorsports team - himself, Gordon or Kyle Busch.
"We're all very strong mentally," Johnson said. "We all want to win. We all want to race hard. We all want to be a champion for our own reasons: Kyle wants his first, Jeff wants his fifth. I want my second."
Where are the fans?
California Speedway now owns the Labor Day weekend race date that was held for decades by Darlington Raceway and the Southern 500, but the West Coast track hasn't been able to capitalize and fill the grandstands.
Johnson, a native of the area, was among those unable to come up with an explanation for the empty seats. He speculated that the hot weather could have been a factor.
"I know I wouldn't spend money to sit in traffic, sit in the stands for six, seven hours and leave," he said.
"I do feel the track is getting racier as the track ages," Johnson said. "Short tracks put on a little better show, a little more rough and tough, and that might be an answer to look at sometime down the road."
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