To know list: 7 things to make you an instant expert this week.(KNOW IT ALL)

[1] THE MAIN EVENT

Toyota: NASCAR's hottest potato yet

Not since Dale Earnhardt Jr. said (blank) on national television has an issue consumed Nextel Cup fans as much as Toyota's pending arrival. Problem is, much of the information surrounding the Japanese invasion is (blank).

Nobody knows what's going on, fans least of all. A survey conducted by Toyota found that 20 percent of self-described NASCAR fans think Toyota already is racing at the Cup level.

Many critics of Toyota want NASCAR to be 100 percent American, but that car left the pit box long ago. When a Toyota Camry rolls off the starting grid in the 2007 Daytona 500, a car made by a foreign company will enter a Nextel Cup race for the first time since ... 2006. Dodge--one of three manufacturers at the Cup level this season--is owned by a German company. Miller Lite. a major sponsor of a marquee car, is owned by a South African company.

Everyone has an opinion about Toyota. You can feel superior no matter what your opinion is. You can feel righteous for buying only American-made products (but doing so would make you a knuckle-dragging jingoist). You can feel worldly and sophisticated for buying a foreign car (but you would be a traitor).

Imagine the uproar if the Camry is wicked fast--which it will be immediately, according to people outside of Toyota. Or not so much, according to Toyota, which hopes to field top 15 cars in its first season and top 10s in its second.