Full Throttle

The genesis behind NASCAR trivia day - actually a question vice a day but you get the idea - was a Atlanta Journal Constitution article by Rick Minter.

It’s a piece on Daytona testing and how the Toyota Camry’s were “blending in” around the garage and on the track. Blending to the point of “Chevrolets look[ing] like the Fords. The Fords looked like the Dodges. And Toyota had no trouble fitting right into the middle of the nondescript pack.”

And Pluto is just a rock in space [now], politicians are all corrupt, John Wayne sat tall in the saddle and NASCAR’s rule book is a myth. Like what else is new?

Anyway, Minter notes the last great foreign invasion of 1954 that occurred at the request of Big Bill France, a fact I’ve used myself to ward off the few idiots among us. A quote by Red Bull’s general manager Marty Gaunt is the seed that grew into a trivia question. (only because I didn’t know and you can’t get any more trivial than me)

When was the last time a foreign make made an appearance in a Cup event? The answer follows at the bottom. Unless I’m teasing. In that case it sucks to be you.

As expected the Toyota’s were generally, with a couple of exceptions, in the middle of the pack speed wise during the week. Not surprising given they are the new kid on the block. There’s an abundance of proven talent within the 6 Toy teams but that doesn’t entirely compensate for working with a brand new platform.

I suspect some of the Toys to be competitive by week 16 of the season with one or both of the Bill Davis rides leading the charge. You heard it here first!

Trivia answer: The last foreign brand to start a Cup race occurred in 1963 at Bowman-Gray Stadium on August 16, 1963. Smokey Cook in one of his two career Cup starts drove an unsponsored MG to an 17^th place finish. He dropped out of the 200 lap event on lap 12. The cause of the DNF was rather surprising. MG’s, both road and track versions, were notorious for having their Lucas electrical systems fry quicker than a buger on a Geroge Forman Grill.

Cook’s MG was sidelined by overheating. But it wasn’t a total loss he “won” 75 bucks for his efforts. Not bad when looking at the winners share. Junior Johnson hit the cash out window and collected $580 dollars.

Not even enough to fill the tank on Greg Biffle’s helicopter.

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