Veteran cycling team director Len Pettyjohn and 17-year pro Scott Moninger have joined the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team as director and assistant director, respectively.

Harm Jansen will direct his final race for Toyota-United at the World Championship Sports Network USA Crits Finals on Thursday in Las Vegas.

Pettyjohn, 66, has worked with the likes of Greg LeMond, Davis Phinney, Alexi Grewal and Moninger while directing a number of domestic teams, from the Panasonic squad of 1980-81 to the dominant Coors Light team of the early 1990s.

Moninger, 41, has 275 victories to his credit and was the winningest active U.S. racer until announcing his retirement last week.

“I’ve considered a number of team offers over the past decade, but nothing remotely of the caliber that Toyota-United had to offer,” Pettyjohn said. “For Scott and me to join such a high-level organization, with a world-class sponsor and a stellar group of riders that are a force in ProTour-caliber races, is just exceptional.”

Toyota-United is also getting some new horsepower for 2008, too, signing Ben Day and brothers Hilton Clarke and Jonny Clarke.

“In Ben Day, we have a proven stage racer and elite time trialist,” Pettyjohn said. “Hilton Clarke has demonstrated he is one of the fastest sprinters in North America and Jonny is a versatile young rider with a great deal of potential.

“The key goals for Scott and me were to add some additional strength and speed to an existing group of champions. With Ben, Hilton, and Jonny on board, we are pretty comfortable that Toyota-United will bring some serious horsepower to the peloton next season.”

Also on board for 2008 are Chris Wherry, 2005 USPRO road champion; Chris Baldwin, 2003 and 2005 national time trial champion; Cuban sprinter Ivan Dominguez; Ivan Stevic of Serbia; and Australian strongman Henk Vogels.

The team scored 37 victories and 105 podium finishes in 2007, including stage wins in North America’s top three events — the Amgen Tour of California, the Tour de Georgia and the Tour of Missouri.

Hansen, who has been with Toyota United since its inception in 2005, serving as co-director with Frankie Andreu in 2006 and Kirk Willett in 2007, said his departure was “a very difficult decision.”

“These are two years I will obviously not forget,” he continued. “I was fortunate to be in a position to build this team to where it is today and I feel fortunate to have several choices of what I will do next.”

Team owner Sean P. Tucker said Jansen’s contributions to building the team would not soon be forgotten.

“His commitment to the program made the team an instant success and a force on the domestic circuit,” said Tucker.

Meanwhile, he’ll be expecting big things of his new directors.

“Both have competed and managed athletes at the sport's highest levels. I can't wait to see what they can accomplish with the talent we have on our roster for 2008," he said.