by Berry Craig, Aug 21, 2010

The fact that a UAW-made engine powered Jamie McMurray’s Chevy Impala to victory at the Brickyard 400 didn’t grab headlines or make the TV news. But it caused this fan in the stands to whoop it up.

I’m a 60-year-old union card-carrying Chevy man.

The UAW has been part of NASCAR racing at the storied Indianapolis Motor Speedway and other tracks for as long as this motorhead can remember.

Chevy, Ford, Dodge and Toyota field specially made race cars in NASCAR’s premier Sprint Cup Series. Stateside, the UAW represents workers at Chevy, Ford and Dodge factories. Toyota’s American plants are nonunion.

So in my book, any union member rooting for a Toyota to win a NASCAR race (or owning a Toyota) would be like a chicken cheering for Col. Sanders.

Before the green flag drops at Indy, I always enjoy visiting Chevy’s big pre-race “Buy American” exhibition of race cars and the latest street machines in the infield. The UAW logo is prominently displayed. Says Joe Ashton, a UAW vice president:

The UAW appreciates the millions of NASCAR fans who passionately follow the sport and buy American products like our quality built vehicles. The UAW also appreciates the support that GM provides to NASCAR including our joint efforts at selective races like the recently run Brickyard 400.

Like a NASCAR driver and crew, the UAW and GM work together as a team to build quality cars and trucks right here in the U.S. Our Buy American exhibit is always a big hit with fans and offers them a chance to get up close with our members and the products they build.

Through the years, the UAW has teamed up with GM, Ford and Dodge to sponsor various NASCAR races. The UAW also has helped sponsor some cars. So it’s obvious our Big Three automakers see the UAW as partners. It’s also plain Toyota doesn’t.

Headquartered in Japan, Toyota actively opposes unionization on this side of the Pacific. (Never mind that Toyota’s Japanese factories are union.)

The bosses at Toyota’s plant at Georgetown in my native Kentucky have fought off the UAW for years. So has the brass at other Toyota plants in the United States.

Workers at Toyota and other non-union, foreign-owned car plants in the U.S. are paid close to what UAW workers earn at American-owned plants. So, management is forever telling workers they don’t need a union.

Of course, the bosses keep quiet about the fact that it’s UAW-won wages at union plants that keep their pay up at non-union plants. If foreign-owned plant bosses paid their workers a lot less than UAW workers, their workers might—you guessed it—join the UAW.

Plus, everybody knows if the UAW went away, the wages of every car plant worker would sink like the Titanic.

Meanwhile, Toyota spends millions to convince American consumers it makes a better product than do U.S.-owned car companies. But those widely publicized safety issues and recalls a while back put a big dent in Toyota’s reputation.

Now my union-card carrying grandmother “Bobo” Vest, God rest her soul, admonished her grandkids that it isn’t polite to gloat over somebody else’s misfortunes. But if anybody deserves a comeuppance on the racetrack and in the dealer show room, it’s Toyota.

Anyway, this Chevy fan—whose all-time favorite race car is Junior Johnson’s ’63 “Mystery Motor” Impala—was happy to see one of the Bow Tie bunch win with an 800-plus-horsepower, union-label engine roaring under the hood. The first Toyota to the checkered flag finished eighth.

Forgive me, Bobo, I didn’t just cheer when McMurray churned up a big cloud of tire smoke during his victory celebration, and a Toyota was nowhere close to victory lane. I did a little gloating.

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