Toyota Brass Dissed With Kyle Busch Over Dover Comments

The Studebaker folks have let their displeasure with Kyle Busch be known following his tirade at Dover. This is hot off the Charlotte Observer wires:

Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Toyota takes issue with Kyle Busch's comments at Dover

After leading - by far - the most laps in Sunday's AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway, Kyle Busch was forced to make a late pit stop under green flag conditions in order to make it to the end of the race.

The stop cost him the win and he finished seventh, one lap down. Only six cars, including winner Brad Keselowski, finished on the lead lap. And only two cars stretched their fuel the entire 89-lap distance that Busch was trying to do - Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson.

As he crossed the finish line, Busch let loose a short, vulgarity-laced tirade over his team radio directed at Toyota Racing Development, claiming the in-house tuning shop for all Toyota cars had cost him and his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team "another one."

On Wednesday, Lee White, TRD president, took issue with Busch's comments.

"We're as frustrated as he was that he didn't win that race considering how many laps he led, considering he and Denny (Hamlin) both literally dominated the race. We're as disappointed as he was. However, we've got used to saying 'That's just Kyle, you know' But this is a bit of a special case," White said.

"We're extremely disappointed in his negative comments and the tone of the comments after the event. It is under discussion as we move forward. We certainly are very disappointed, having said that, Kyle is an amazing talent in a race car and he takes it very personally when something goes wrong and he loses a race he thinks he should have won.

"Every one of our teams ran full power, full rich (fuel mixture) and kicked their ass. All six of them and some other teams did, too. It wasn't just TRD power that had this issue. The race didn't fall their way and we've seen it happen more lately.

"I'm not going to aplogize for TRD. We went there and qualified three out of the top five. We led a gazillion freaking laps. We should have won the race but circumstances didn't work out that way and I'm sorry. We don't have anything to apologize for. The thing I am most disappointed in is TRD is not some separate entity - we are Toyota. We are a global company. Every person globally shares in our passion for winning and competing - and that's hundreds of thousands of people. All those people and their families basically had their feelings hurt by those comments last week.

"I look forward to take it up with coach (Joe) Gibbs and see if we can't do something to sort it out so that we have a better working relationship in the future. I am confident that we will."

Posted by Observer Sports at 2:05 PM

Read more here: http://thatsracinluckydog.blogspot.com/2012/10/toyota-takes-issue-with-kyle-buschs.html#storylink=cpy

WOW! What else is there to say at this point.

I think I might tread quite lightly into this meeting with the Gibb's brain trust, Mr. White. Joe Gibbs Racing put two Nascar Cup Championship trophys on the mantle before you ever entered the game. They know how to do this. The fact that your gas guzzling, high horsepower Toy cars lead a bunch of laps is of little surprise. Tune the engine adding more fuel and the engine will make more power and you will go faster. Pretty simple and no surprise. The real surprise is that they didn't blow up.

A word of advise. Go into this meeting with praise and a solid plan to help improve the JGR teams. AND....go in there with a couple dozen fresh donuts.

BTW...at the pay window at the end of the day,...it was TRD who received the ass kickin.

reckon he wouldnt be on the carpet if he had made the chase - what is with all this cussing anyway - even ol sue patrick is dropping f bombs trying to be one of the boys - i agree some cussing goes with the sport -but these guys are over the top - maybe social media and reality tv wants it that way - he is a good driver no doubt about that - but like the song says - he aint the only one - hendrick seems to have survived without him - the inside word has it he lacks leadership .

was it the driver ??? or the crew chief??? or the owner???? whos call was it really ----- now its your call on this answer

I think Kyle is headed out the door after next season, by his choice. With this, and his recent indecision about whether or not he wants to be interviewed after a race, I think the failure to make the chase has affected him deeply.

He isn't jumping at the chance to renew his contract and if Hamlin wins the chase (or comes 2nd) it will be difficult for him to find a place among Hamlin and Kenseth. I feel that he gives up too easily if his car isn't perfect and blames the team for his lack of championships.

Kyle's an excellent driver; in fact I think he's the most talented in the series today. Maybe he should take his millions and start the Busch Brothers team. I think he'll be less successful when he and his brother have the additional pressure of trying to run a business, but he does have some experience running a Nationwide team.

He and Kurt may have trouble attracting one of the current sponsors but their name recognition makes them excellent candidates for a new manufacturer to enter the series. If not for the previous difficulty with Kurt, they'd be a good leadoff for Dodge to return.

What do ya reckon all them good ole boys and gals was saying back in the chalk board days? Had to be a lip reader. I guess when David Pearson flicked a cigarette butt in your car you didn't need a radio to know his feelings!

Kyle Busch to apologize to TRD

Updated: October 4, 2012, 1:18 PM ET

By David Newton | ESPN.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Kyle Busch is expected to issue an apology to Toyota Racing Development for comments made about TRD engines following Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Dover, multiple sources told ESPN.com on Thursday. TRD president Lee White took offense to Busch's remarks after Busch settled for seventh in a race that was determined by fuel mileage. "Thank you, TRD,'' Busch said over his in-car radio. "F----- us out of another one. Piece of s--- mother------.'' White told Sirius XM NASCAR radio on Wednesday the No. 18 team made the decision before the race to go with horsepower over fuel mileage. Kyle Busch Kyle Busch Busch had to pit for fuel with 11 laps remaining after leading 302 of the scheduled 400-lap race. Winner Brad Keselowski went the final 89 laps without stopping for his second win in three Chase races. White told Sirius XM he and others at Toyota took Busch's comments personally, again reminding it was crew chief Dave Rogers who opted to go with horsepower over fuel mileage in the engine setup. He also reminded that Clint Bowyer won the final race of the regular season at Richmond on fuel mileage with a TRD engine. "Granted, they had to push the car to Victory Lane, but they won that race because of TRD and Toyota's fuel economy,'' White said on Sirius XM. "They did the same thing at Sears Point, too. "It gets a little lost in all this vitriol and dialogue, but that's the history. It's proven history, and it's documented history.'' Toyota offers teams, as other manufacturers do, different "lean maps'' to choose from, ranging from full power, full spark to all-out horsepower depending on how the team believes the race will play out. It is up to the team to decide. None of the Toyota teams chose to run lean at Dover. Rogers and Busch's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin, admitted that was the reason they fell short. "You can definitely do some tuning with your fuel map -- that's an option,'' Rogers said after the race. "We were running more aggressive on power. There were some options to save fuel, but we were on max power today. It bit us a little bit. "We could have made some different choices. Every now and then you have a fuel mileage race. I didn't think this was going to come down to it, so we went full power. I'm not going to second guess our call. It was the right call. The car was fast." Hamlin finished eighth with a car that was running in the top three because he had to pit late and fell 16 points behind Keselowski in the Chase hunt. "It's so frustrating,'' Hamlin said after the race. "It's like all the hard work that you do -- it just doesn't pay off. Same thing at Richmond. We just didn't have the fuel mileage. We choose to have the horsepower over the fuel mileage and some guys don't tune that way. "When you have a race-winning car, you don't want to give up any of the horsepower. It's frustrating.'' Sources said Busch and Joe Gibbs Racing officials will release a statement, likely on Thursday, acknowledging their support of TRD and that they are on the same page moving forward. David Newton covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at dnewtonespn@aol.com.

Oct 4, 6:38 PM EDT

Busch apologizes for rant against Toyota

TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) -- Kyle Busch apologized Thursday to manufacturer Toyota for his profanity-laced rant about the fuel mileage at Dover.

Busch had to make a late stop in Sunday's race that he believed cost him the win. Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin also had to stop for gas, but winner Brad Keselowski in a Dodge and Jimmie Johnson in a Chevrolet got better mileage and didn't have to stop.

Busch unleashed a string of profanities directed at Toyota on his in-car radio, and did not do media interviews after the race.

In a statement issued Thursday by both JGR and Toyota, Busch said his comments were "misguided."

"I made some remarks out of frustration on my radio at the end of last weekend's race in Dover that were very misguided," Busch said. "I owe my friends at Toyota and TRD an apology. We have a great partnership with TRD and they built me a motor that helped me lead over 300 laps and nearly lap the field.

"It's just frustrating that the caution fell where it did and suddenly it became a fuel mileage race and we were set up for maximum horsepower. Obviously, that worked well for most of the day and you can't control when the cautions will fall."

Busch has suffered several engine failures this season, and he missed a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship by just three points.

Still, TRD president Lee White was not pleased with Busch's comments Sunday.

But he seemed to understand Busch's frustration in the statement released Thursday, but has pointed out that JGR chose to go with engines heavy on horsepower at the expense of fuel mileage at Dover

"Kyle's had a frustrating year with several car and engine mechanical failures which were not his responsibility, and we're working extremely hard on our end to improve our products and processes," White said. "We will continue to address these issues, but we're ready to put this behind us and move forward with the remainder of the season, including the Toyota drivers battling for the championship."

Busch had to pit for fuel with 11 laps remaining after leading 302 of the scheduled 400-lap race. Keselowski went the final 89 laps without stopping for gas.

Team owner Joe Gibbs said in Thursday's statement the organization appreciates its relationship with Toyota, and that Busch shouldn't have cursed at the manufacturer.

"Kyle recognizes that his comments and the tone of his comments were misguided. We've been able to work through this issue and I think everyone is ready to get back to the focus being on racing and Talladega," Gibbs said.

Not that I baised or anything but what the heck is Toyota doing in NASCAR anyway!!!???

I don't have a problem with foreign manufacturers in NASCAR but Toyota has a poor history in the USA for hi-performance cars. Aside from the overweight but quick Supra, I have to go all the way back to the 50 or so 2000GTs that they brought over in 1968. The Camry is and has always been a brick of vanilla ice cream and has no pedigree for stock car racing.

If you let any of the Germans in, they'll likely double the cost of racing overnight and also present extremely formidable competition. I suspect that NASCAR will come up with a formula that will allow manufacturers to run the same engine or block in both Grand-Am and Cup. That will attract new companies and give them some cushion if another manufacturer drops out.