No more Pontiacs in 2004

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GM Strengthens Chevrolet NASCAR Program in 2004; No Pontiac Support: Following the end of the 2003 NASCAR season, GM will consolidate its resources in NASCAR to exclusively support the Chevrolet Monte Carlo and further advance and solidify the dominant position enjoyed by Chevrolet in this series. "GM Racing will focus its 2004 NASCAR program on the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, and will no longer race or support the Pontiac Grand Prix race car," said Doug Duchardt, director of GM Racing. "This transition will enable GM Racing to strengthen its Chevy Nextel Cup program and, at the same time, work with Pontiac on its future racing plans."
"Given Pontiac's long association with NASCAR and our many great accomplishments over the years, the decision to withdraw from NASCAR was not an easy one," said Lynn Myers, general manager of Pontiac-GMC. "Consistent with GM efforts to focus its racing programs, Chevrolet will carry the NASCAR banner while Pontiac can now devote resources to developing future racing and marketing programs consistent with our new performance products, including the GTO, Grand Prix Comp G, G6 and the GXP performance series. We are proud of our racing accomplishments and we recognize that it is a powerful engineering, people development and marketing tool. Pontiac is investigating new opportunities to highlight the performance of our vehicles on the track." Coming into the 2003 season, the Pontiac Grand Prix won two of the past three NASCAR Winston Cup drivers' championships: Bobby Labonte in 2000, and Tony Stewart in '02. Chevrolet has an ongoing record of dominance in NASCAR's modern era. Chevrolet has won 23 of the last 31 NASCAR Winston Cup manufacturers' championships including the 2003 title with 10 different drivers capturing 17 wins in 33 races so far this year. Through 2003 in the NASCAR Busch Series and Craftsman Truck series, Chevrolet has won 10 of 13, and five of nine NASCAR manufacturers' titles respectively. With 2003 drivers' titles still to be determined in both series, Chevrolet has won 11 of 21 in Busch and seven of eight in Craftsman Truck.(GM PR)
NO word on what the Pontiac Teams of #0 Haas CNC Racing, #01-MB2 Motorsports, #4-Morgan McClure, #10-MBV Motorsports, #32-PPI Motorsports. Would expect the #0, #01 and #10 to field Chevy's as they are affiliated [partially owned?] with Hendrick Motorsports, the #4 team used to run Chevy's, the #32 was with Ford before switching over to Pontiac and having the only 2003 Pontiac win.(10-28-2003)



Very interesting news. I bet these teams wish Toyota was coming in next year.
 
Not surprised here, in fact I figured it would happen sooner or later.
 
Its all because of the Toyotas coming in. GM knows they're going to have a tough time competing so they want to focus all their resources on the Monte carlo.
 
I think it is a good move by GM, not only with the Toyota coming in, but just as close as the competition is all together.
 
Did GM just not lure Call Wells over the the Pontiac brand??? GM had better be footing the bill to switch his bodys over to the Monte Carlo.
 
Oh and if FoMoCo was smart they would offer both Call Wells and MBV deals they could not refuse too switch to Ford. Their lineup is beginning to be very very weak when compared to GM errrrrr Chevy.
 
Did GM just not lure Call Wells over the the Pontiac brand??? GM had better be footing the bill to switch his bodys over to the Monte Carlo.
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arent they just differnt front and rear ends, rest of the body is the same?
 
Originally posted by N2racin88@Oct 28 2003, 03:25 PM
Oh and if FoMoCo was smart they would offer both Call Wells and MBV deals they could not refuse too switch to Ford. Their lineup is beginning to be very very weak when compared to GM errrrrr Chevy.
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Spoken like a true clone, RACK HIM :p
 
So now the Pontiac teams will have to change the headlight decals to a Chevy :p
 
Well IMO that just sucks!!! The Pontaics had the best looking race cars on the track! i wonder if that will effect Wells chances of starting the 2nd team?

I am a Pontaic guy, If I could afford it i would be driving a 99 grand prix. I hope Pontaic trys a comback with the GTO in a couple of years.
 
Originally posted by PettyBenson4510@Oct 28 2003, 04:07 PM
Well IMO that just sucks!!! The Pontaics had the best looking race cars on the track!
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I doubt they even took that into consideration when making the decision.
 
Originally posted by PettyBenson4510@Oct 28 2003, 04:07 PM
I am a Pontaic guy, If I could afford it i would be driving a 99 grand prix. I hope Pontaic trys a comback with the GTO in a couple of years.
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Just got a loaded 2000 Grand Am GT with the V6 ram air to replace my 1991 Grand Am that had 205,000 miles on it.
 
Wonder where all of the pontiac teams will go...probably Chevy...
 
Cal Well's manufacturer deal is with GM and not specifically the Pontiac brand, so he'll be going to a Chevy. The deal runs thourhg 2006, along with the driver/sponsor contracts.

I'd like to se him go back to Ford, since he'd be higher on the pecking order with Penske/Jasper now gone, but it's really too late to do that in time for next year (last year he started the conversion to Pontiac in August), plus I think he burned some bridges by jumping ship last year.
 
Did anyone notice the manufactures points standings? Dodge has 8 wins which is how many Ryan Newman has making him the only Dodge thats won this year. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
 
And what is so funny about that? There are other Dodges that do well,Elliot comes to mind and there are 4 Dodges in the top 15 in points. I think some dodge teams got behind at the begining of the season due to the new body changes.
 
It's not a bad decision for Pontiac, considering they really didn't have any top teams to represent them this year. GM has been struggling like the rest of the economy, so it's probably wise to focus on your top brand rather than running two seperate racing programs.

As far as Dodge, they haven't been doing too bad this season, but other than Newman, they haven't been that stellar either.
 
Exerpt from article @ That's Racin:
Wells' team had switched from Fords to Pontiacs this season. Now it will switch from the Pontiac Grand Prix to the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, the model GM Racing officials said the company would focus its 2004 NASCAR program and the resources behind it on.

Three other teams are running Pontiacs this year, the two-car operation at MBV/MB2 Motorsports and single-car teams at Haas CNC Racing and Morgan-McClure Motorsports. Team officials said the No. 01 and No. 10 cars from MBV/MB2 and the No. 0 at Haas CNC Racing would switch to Chevrolets next year.

Morgan-McClure would not comment on its plans for the No. 4 cars in 2004.
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Read the entire article. Click here!
 
Originally posted by Tommy29@Oct 28 2003, 08:47 PM
Did anyone notice the manufactures points standings? Dodge has 8 wins which is how many Ryan Newman has making him the only Dodge thats won this year. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
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:rolleyes: That's still more victories in Cup than Ford has. Matt mentioned on Trackside that the Fords are getting a little more 'kick-out' on the front air dam next season. I wonder if Dodge will get that also?
 
I just thought it was funny that Ryan Newman is the only one winning. Dodge needs to recruit some serious talent for next year if Bill Elliot is leaving.
 
Dodge will have Kasey Kahne for next year and you have McMurray who should get a win or two next season.
 
Look for Pontiac to show up in the ALMS and the Grand Am series with their GTO as a replacement for the Nascar series.
 
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