Kyle Busch wants more talk among Toyota teams

Mike Hembree | Special for USA TODAY Sports

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Toyota will begin its ninth season in Sprint Cup racing this season and will be searching for its first series championship.

Kyle Busch, one of the Japanese car manufacturer's lead drivers, says that isn't going to happen unless there is more cooperation between Toyota's two major teams – Joe Gibbs Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing.

Busch, who drives for JGR, points to the success of Hendrick Motorsports and Stewart-Haas Racing, two Chevrolet teams with close ties, and says Toyota needs the same setup.

"When we see the situation happen where Hendrick Motorsports goes from four cars to the relationship they've had with Stewart-Haas and the Stewart-Haas team becomes more competitive -- you see that eight-car dynamic (four cars at each team) and you've got to look at that," he said.

"That's what we need. For us now to be a four-car team, that's a step in the right direction, but there's still a greater step that could happen with Toyota and us and Michael Waltrip Racing being able to get closer together."

Busch said discussions about better cooperation between the two teams are stalled.

"I think progress was being made, and all of a sudden it came to a halt," he said. "I'm probably saying too much and I'll probably get yelled at, but I'm very vocal about it. I feel like we're idiots by not continuing to work in the right direction in order to put our companies together to do the right thing for Toyota and for all of us collectively. It just makes me mad every day that they say nothing has progressed."

Denny Hamlin, Busch's JGR teammate, said cooperation between teams is important.

"You look at all the teams that have won championships -- and Hendrick Motorsports has won eight of the last 10 with their cars or some kind of affiliation," he said. "The more bodies you have out there, the more affiliations -- ultimately the stronger your race team is going to be.

"It's important to share information with them (MWR), but it's also important to keep the competitive edge we have within JGR. We have all the tools it takes to win a championship, we've just got to put them all together and execute. We're right there. We've just got to break through that cusp."

Hendrick Motorsports and Stewart-Haas have combined to win eight of the past nine Sprint Cups, a Chevrolet run interrupted only by Brad Keselowski's 2012 championship with Dodge, a manufacturer no longer in the sport.

Follow Hembree on Twitter @mikehembree

Contributing: Jeff Gluck