NASCAR Toyota's invasion will set off fireworks

Ray Evernham thinks the automaker will try to "cherry pick" the best teams.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Toyota is coming to NASCAR and everyone is getting ready for the battle.
The Japanese automaker is still eight months away from its debut in NASCAR's truck series, the first step in an expected eventual leap into Winston Cup racing.
But NASCAR's elite teams already know Toyota will try to break in as a major player.
"They're going to come in with both guns blazing," said Don Miller, president of Penske Racing South. "These guys are going to be playing for keeps. They're going to be very serious about what they do and I think all the other manufacturers are looking at that as well.
"I'm telling you right now, when it happens it's going to be the gunfight at the OK Corral. You wait and see."
In a way, it already is.
Litigation
Dodge Motorsports is suing Bill Davis Racing -- one of its original teams when it returned to NASCAR three seasons ago -- alleging the team built Toyota a truck in one of Davis' shops, installing a Dodge engine in it, slapping some BDR decals all over it, and taking it to a wind tunnel test in Georgia.
Dodge said Davis violated a clause that prohibits the automaker's teams from representing a DaimlerChrysler competitor. It's also worried that Toyota could learn some trade secrets.
In a statement, Davis' team said it was surprised by DaimlerChrysler's action.
"Bill Davis Racing firmly believes that it has not breached the DaimlerChrysler agreement and that there is no justifiable reason for DaimlerChrysler asserting a claim that it has breached such an agreement," the statement said.
Davis expressed confidence that "it will prevail in the litigation and that the court will agree that is has not breached its agreement with Daimler Chrysler."
He also said he will continue to race the Dodge Intrepid in NASCAR's Winston Cup Series. But since Dodge ended its contract with him, Davis will now have to pay for all of his equipment.
For its part, Toyota is adamant it made no back-room deal with Davis to peek at Dodge's playbook.
Instead, the manufacturer said it put Davis under retainer to assist in chassis and body development on the Tundra under the assumption he had clearance from Dodge.
"Bill Davis did not foresee any problems -- we asked and he said he did not think it was a problem," said Toyota spokesman Xavier Dominicis. "Toyota is looking forward to spirited competition, and we certainly regret any discord between Dodge and Bill Davis.
"But this was certainly not a back-room deal."
Dominicis said Davis had a prior relationship with Toyota when Davis offered to help assist in building the Tundra. So Toyota rented a shop from him, where Davis has been working on the body of the truck for less than a year, he said.
No engine yet
Toyota is developing its own engine, which has yet to be completed.
"We don't have an engine yet, and you need something in the truck to make it go in the wind tunnel," Dominicis said. "The fact of the matter is, if it was a Dodge engine used at that test, it also could have been a Chevrolet or a Ford engine. The engines are readily available for purchase."
Dodge has cut off all its support to Davis' teams. Doing so meant parting ways with Ward Burton, who gave the manufacturer its biggest victory by winning the Daytona 500 in 2002.
That's how competitive racing is these days, and the entrance of Toyota is only going to heighten it.
Already a force in open-wheel -- Toyota won 21 races in CART before switching to the IRL this season and winning the Indianapolis 500 -- NASCAR's current teams are bracing for the day Toyota brings its deep pockets and thick technological resources into Winston Cup.
Ray Evernham, who spearheaded Dodge's return to NASCAR, thinks Toyota will try to "cherry pick" the best teams.
Toyota said it has yet to hire any teams for the truck series and has no set plans to enter Winston Cup. An eventual move into stock cars would take a minimum of 2-3 years of planning, Dominicis said.
But there are gray areas in contracts that could give Toyota early access to teams and a jump on its planning. The manufacturer already has strong open-wheel relationships with Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi, two NASCAR heavyweights.
And there are loopholes in contracts that could maybe even clear some car owners to work with Toyota now.