Catching Up With Toyota’s Les Unger

Unger Gearing Up For Toyota's Nextel Cup Debut

Toyota’s Les Unger has been at the forefront over the past year in efforts to prep the foreign auto maker for its introduction into NASCAR’s Nextel Cup and Busch series.  Although Toyota has experienced success in the Craftsman Truck Series since its entrance in ’03, Unger acknowledged the debut Cup season likely will come with a steep learning curve.  Toyota USA’s National Motorsports Manager recently took a few moments with Staff Writer Brad Pinkerton to discuss what lies ahead this season for the company’s Cup teams and some of the storylines he’ll be following this season.

 

Q: You were quoted last August as saying that the Toyota teams probably won’t win right out of the gate.  Do you still hold that position?

Unger: Absolutely.  We’re not laboring under any illusions of grandeur that we’re going to come out of the box and be strong right off the bat.  If we can come up with top-20 finishes every now and then in our first year, I think that will be quite an accomplishment.

Q: How will you measure the success of Toyota’s debut season?

Unger: We’re going to measure success in two ways. It’s easy to measure success on the track, with one being how you qualify and how you finish.  Above that, we’re launching quite an expanded marketing campaign to help grow the sport of NASCAR, help grow fan interest, and that takes the form of TV commercials, print ads, expos and mobile marketing units at the tracks.

Q: Which will be tougher: winning Nextel Cup races or winning over longtime NASCAR fans?

Unger: (Laughs).  There’s obviously a percentage of the NASCAR Cup/Busch fan base, as opposed to the Truck fan base, that isn’t pleased that Toyota is coming into the sport.  We recognize that, NASCAR recognizes that.  We don’t think we’re going to change those individuals’ perceptions overnight, but we feel we’ve done a decent job over the last three years with the Truck fan base.  We think that over a period of time that the fan base will come to see Toyota as a growth mechanism for the sport.

Q: How would you characterize the backlash from NASCAR fans over Toyota competing against the American car manufacturers?

Unger Feels Fans' Affinity For Drivers Will Overpower Any Manufacturer Backlash

Unger: It’s something that we’ve known about, but more importantly, that NASCAR has known about. ... At the end of the day, the most important thing to a NASCAR fan, we’ve found, is that they’re very emotionally involved with the drivers they have taken a liking to, or conversely the drivers they haven’t taken a liking to.

Q: How long until Honda or Nissan follow in Toyota’s footsteps?

Unger: No idea. There had been rumors to that effect back in ’03 when we were getting in the Truck series.  I don’t know. ... It wouldn’t surprise us, either way.

Q: What story lines, besides your own, are you following this year in NASCAR?

Unger: [Juan Pablo] Montoya, that’s going to be very exciting throughout the season; the partnership NASCAR put together with ESPN/ABC, that’ll be interesting to watch how that develops; the changes to the Chase; and the Car of Tomorrow.