From Toyota’s standpoint, the matter of parity in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series between its own engine and the NT1 spec option is still an open-ended question for the 2019 season.

Hattori Racing Enterprises and driver Brett Moffitt ended last season with a championship -- but not without a little bit of controversy to go with it.

The team used a Mark Cronquist-built Gibbs engine for the first 20 races of the season until a NASCAR regulations update, intended to balance the various engine options, essentially rendered the Toyota powerplant useless on long green-flag runs.

The NT1 was introduced for the 2018 season as a more cost-effective alternative to built motors. The engine was based on the Chevy block Ilmor 396 used in the ARCA Racing Series. Once the playoffs began, NASCAR produced a gear ratio and rev limiter change that de-powered the built motor.

Toyota provided its most loyal team with an NT1 so it could chase the championship over two of the final three races. The team responded with a victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway. However, Toyota enters 2019 ever-hopeful that NASCAR will craft a rules package that doesn’t render its powerplant obsolete.

Toyota group vice president, and former TRD head, Ed Laukes, was asked about the topic after the championship race in November at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

"Mark had one team that was running an OEM engine, and Hattori was running our engine, and the changes that had to happen throughout the year, we had to make a decision to make sure that we had a level playing field when we got to the end of the season," Laukes said. "And so, we decided to step up and help them with an engine so that across the field they'd be the same engine.

"I think it's a learning process that everybody is going through. I think it's a learning process for NASCAR. It's a learning process for us. But something has got to evolve. You've got to be -- the team really has to get to the point where it's sustainable, and the engines obviously are a big part of it."

This isn’t just a Toyota issue, however.

In the long term, Ford Performance still believes all three national tours must feature OEM engines beneath the hood. NASCAR president Steve Phelps has stated an intent to pursue new engine specifications for national touring over the next decade.

Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook hopes that someday includes a model in which the Truck Series could again utilize OEM powerplants.

"We've always had the position that what makes it a Ford on-track, the most important parts are the body and the engine," Rushbrook said. "And originally, we were not in support of the alternate engine being made available in truck, but after going through the different financial business cases with our teams and with NASCAR, we understood that it makes sense ...

"We want to hear about Toyota versus Ford versus Chevy, but when an alternate engine comes into the discussion as much as it has, that isn't necessarily what we want. But we understand the benefit to the sport of having a lower-cost option. I think longer term it may make sense to either go back to OEM engines across the board, but at this point we're learning, NASCAR is learning and we'll make together the right decision for the sport."

That's a stance Laukes ultimately agrees with, too.

"So as an OEM, I think one of the cornerstones of being involved in NASCAR is having your engine in the vehicle," Laukes said. "But let's face it, we all know in this room, we're all around it every day, the Truck Series just financially was in trouble relative to the cost of operating a truck team, and I think NASCAR took a Band-Aid approach and tried to figure out a way as we evolved maybe in the other series with regard to engines and everything to get a stopgap measure."

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