PR Disaster as Toyota, Waltrip Caught Cheating

Toyota’s fledgling NASCAR entry crashed and burned, figuratively speaking. In the midst of preparations for the Daytona 500, Michael Waltrip, owner of the new NASCAR team that is racing three Toyota Camrys, was tagged by NASCAR officials in what is probably the organizations biggest cheating scandal. Four other teams were also fined. Details are sketchy, but it appears that NASCAR found evidence of an unauthorized fuel or fuel additive in Waltrips car; the substance was related to jet fuel. Toyota is clearly not thrilled by this turn of events.

One of the problems with any kind of sports sponsorship or endorsement is that it can head south in a hurry. A star quarterback or point guard can have a great image and be a wonderful spokesperson and company representative, but implicate him in a DUI fatality, steroid use, or a strip club brawl, and that image is down the sink. One would think a NASCAR team would be a safer investment - it involves multiple people with lower individual visibility, and one gets the sponsor’s name on everyone’s television screen even if the team doesn’t win races. What could go wrong?

Toyota is finding out a lot can go wrong. In some ways, this scandal is actually worse than a typical after hours night club altercation - it directly involves the sponsor’s products. If a baseball player with a lucrative endorsement deal from a bat maker gets arrested in a hit-and-run incident, that’s bad for the sponsor; if he gets fined for corking his bat, that’s even worse - it implies the product doesn’t measure up without some illegal help. That’s the nightmare Toyota is facing now - their cars have been running slow, and now it seems that even a dose of jet fuel wouldn’t make the sluggish Camrys competitive. Admittedly, the Camry on the Daytona track bears only the most passing resemblance to the one in the Toyota dealer showroom, but that’s one of NASCAR’s key selling points - the drivers use cars based on (or at least named after) production vehicles that anyone can buy.

Toyota’s salvation may be in NASCAR history. Rules in the league have historically been viewed as suggestions rather than moral imperatives, and there’s a long history of creative efforts to get a little extra out of the cars. Indeed, the sport can trace its roots to hardy souls who raced for real - purveyors of illegal moonshine who needed cars faster than the authorities had. I think there’s a good chance that once Waltrip scores enough points to erase the negative 100 he was awarded by NASCAR, fans will be back on board for both Waltrip and Toyota.

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