It has been a dreadful start for Toyota this year. Their flagship team, Waltrip Racing, has been nothing more than a disappointment to say the least. Not only did they have the fuel scandal at the Daytona 500, but now Waltrip has now missed the past two races. Not only that, but the entire Toyota team only had 2 cars in the last race.

This is not the type of impact that the Toyota teams wanted to make. I want to know where this bottomless pit of money that they have to throw at these teams. That was the impression going into this year, that they were going to outspend everyone. You have to wonder how Michael was able to sock away enough money over the years to build a 3 car team seeing that he has only won 4 races and achieved only 3 poles since his rookie season in 1985?

Waltrip has always been a very respected and exciting personality, but these types of events make it hard for even the brightest personalities in the business. It will be interesting to see how Waltrip racing and Toyota begin to erase this “black-eye” that they have put upon themselves. Will the Car of Tomorrow (COT) make everything better? That is a good question. Finally, they will be on even ground with all of the other drivers at that point. So the IROC mentality might be Toyota’s saving grace.

Of course the new qualifying rules don’t help their cause at all, with no previous owner points, etc. But that’s an argument for another day.