NASCAR's Jim France talking to Toyota about its new sport car

  Jim France: curious about Toyota's new sports car, and wants to help launch it with the 24 Hours of Daytona (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   BRISTOL, Tenn.
   NASCAR's Jim France is expressing quite an interest in Toyota's planned new sports car, designed specifically for the American audience, and long-pushed by U.S. executives to put some pzzazz in the company's rather staid product line.
   France would like Toyota to run that model in NASCAR's Grand American series.
   According to some reports, that new Toyota would be a rear-wheel drive coupe. It is unclear if the new model might be a possible competitor for the Ford Mustang and Chevy Camaro, or if it might be something quite different.
   Toyota officials, in announcing the new car, said "we must reinvent the automobile."
   News of the new sports car comes as Toyota's Formula One operation is under increasing pressure to perform or possibly be cut. The company has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the F1 project, with little result.