Could Pony Car Wars Break Out Again?

[dpkimmel2001]

A step in the right direction IMO.

From Speed.

NASCAR is not standing pat with its efforts to reignite interest in the Sprint Cup Series.

Next year will bring a host of important changes to the Sprint Cup Series, including a significantly revised schedule, new front ends for the race cars, the introduction of Sunoco Green E15 ethanol fuel and, at some point, fuel injection. But what lies further beyond next year is even more intriguing.

With the next-generation Sprint Cup cars tentatively scheduled to roll out in 2013, there’s a strong chance that Ford will move its Mustang up from the NASCAR Nationwide Series and the possibility that Chevrolet could dump its frumpy four-door Impala Sedan for the hot-selling Camaro. And a Mustang-Camaro rivalry could be just the thing to rev up NASCAR fan interest anew.

Today, the automakers and NASCAR are working closer than ever in trying to bring the audiences back to the tracks and the television sets.

Brand identity, something the automakers felt was largely lost when the current Sprint Cup car was introduced in 2007, is a hot-button issue these days. And it’s one reason NASCAR has gone back to traditional blade spoilers on the Cup cars and next year will eliminate ungainly cow-catcher front splitters in favor of a more aesthetically pleasing design.

The automakers want even more brand identity, because they are trying to recapture the old “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” marketing focus that was predominant in prior generations.

In the NASCAR Nationwide Series, the newly introduced Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger, which were raced four times this season and will be raced full-time next year, already have proven hugely popular.

“The dealers are really excited about the Challenger running in NASCAR because it’s something that (Dodge) sells,” said NASCAR team owner Roger Penske, who also owns more than 300 automobile dealerships in 19 states. “These are high gross margin vehicles that they love to sell. When you start to look at Camaro and Mustang and Challenger, these are icons in the business.”

“Not to mention that these cars index super high with our customers,” said Dodge President and CEO Ralph Gilles. “It’s exactly what turns them on. It all fits very well.”

The bottom line is that the automakers want race cars that look more like street cars so they can sell more production cars.

Jamie Allison, director, Ford North American Motorsports, said point blank that the automaker wants to move the Mustang up to the Sprint Cup level, with one caveat: It has to look more like the production Mustang than the current Nationwide car does.

“We like to see our iconic brand in all forms of motorsports,” Allison said of the Mustang. “ ... Any further consideration of the Mustang would have to be complemented and linked to more brand identity to the car that’s raced. It can’t just be the current car of tomorrow. It has to be a progression beyond what’s in Nationwide.”

Assuming that could happen, Allison said Ford is certainly game. “It’s got to look identifiable and recognizable as a Mustang,” Allison said. “From where we sit as Ford Motor Co., we would absolutely love to see that happen.”

Chevrolet’s racing boss also wants more brand identity.

“Chevrolet, in any series that we race in, we’re looking for three things,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet’s general manager and the man who oversees the automaker’s NASCAR operations. “First, we want to see technologies in the race cars that are applicable to what we do on the production side without driving a tremendous amount of cost. Secondly, we’re (wanting) race series to use biofuels, because that’s what we need to do going forward. Many of our (production) cars are ethanol-capable. And third, we want to see the cars that we race look like the cars that we sell, as close as we can.”

Campbell, who was at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday when NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France announced the Sunoco E15 Green initiative, would not specifically comment on whether Chevrolet will return the Camaro to the NASCAR ranks, as Ford has with the Mustang in the Nationwide Series.

“That’s a ways off,” Campbell said. “So any speculation about what’s going to happen out there — I don’t really have a lot to say on that today. ... We’ll see what happens.”

Campbell did make it clear however, that he wanted NASCAR Sprint Cup Chevrolets to look a lot more like production-model Chevrolets.

“What I would like to see happen, no matter the (model) we race in this series or any other, we want the vehicle we race to have a strong connection to what we sell in terms of visual cues and making it as close as we can,” to the production car, Campbell said.

As far as the Sunoco E15 Green initiative, Campbell said that “starting in 2011 with the Daytona 500 was terrific news and a great step in the right direction.”

 

[MRM]

That is certainly good to hear. Let's see if they actually do it in Cup.

 

[Mopardh9]

That is certainly good to hear. Let's see if they actually do it in Cup.

It would appear that if Nascar were to go to cars that actually look different like the ones in the mid 80s until the early 90s, that would just open up a hornets nest all over again. Templates would be different for all the car brands, in turn each one would be complaining, that is ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS WE HAVE THE COT, in the first place! I don't see it happening, although I'd like to see it, at most I see something like what the New Nationwide car is, with maybe the addition of the Camaro.

 

[Magnethead]

It would appear that if Nascar were to go to cars that actually look different like the ones in the mid 80s until the early 90s, that would just open up a hornets nest all over again. Templates would be different for all the car brands, in turn each one would be complaining, that is ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS WE HAVE THE COT, in the first place! I don't see it happening, although I'd like to see it, at most I see something like what the New Nationwide car is, with maybe the addition of the Camaro.

Or compromoise. The general COT body, just brand-specific noses. Take them to the windtunnel, and tweak the splitter and blade until all the cars have the same 4 corner weights, and same front/back tensions (drag) at the same speed (say 120 mph). So yes all 4 cars will have different splitter/blade/weights, but they will all behave close to the same on track (theorietically)

 

[dpkimmel2001]

Kind of a catch-22. Pretty much all of us would like to see the different makes have their own identity, yet that will probably end up causing nothing but the same type(s) of concessions that we used to see in NASCAR. It will be one owner after another complaining about the others make/models advantage.

 

[SST55]

Or compromoise. The general COT body, just brand-specific noses. Take them to the windtunnel, and tweak the splitter and blade until all the cars have the same 4 corner weights, and same front/back tensions (drag) at the same speed (say 120 mph). So yes all 4 cars will have different splitter/blade/weights, but they will all behave close to the same on track (theorietically)

Why? Why "tweak the splitter and blade until all the cars have the same 4 corner weights, and same front/back tensions (drag) at the same speed (say 120 mph). So yes all 4 cars will have different splitter/blade/weights, but they will all behave close to the same on track (theorietically)"

Wasn't like that from the beginning up to the mid 80's when parity raised it's ugly head. If a brand is getting it's azz handed to them week in and week out why make concessions to them? Their engineers should be working 24/7 making their product better. Why make the other makes suffer because they did their home work?

Could it be that in the interest of parity the actual racing suffered. Appears to me it has.

While I'm on my soap box, limit team owners to 2 cars, no more putting cars into wives etc names to get around limits.

 

[Mopardh9]

Or compromoise. The general COT body, just brand-specific noses. Take them to the windtunnel, and tweak the splitter and blade until all the cars have the same 4 corner weights, and same front/back tensions (drag) at the same speed (say 120 mph). So yes all 4 cars will have different splitter/blade/weights, but they will all behave close to the same on track (theorietically)

Last word is key there.....lol!!

 

[Mopardh9]

Why? Why "tweak the splitter and blade until all the cars have the same 4 corner weights, and same front/back tensions (drag) at the same speed (say 120 mph). So yes all 4 cars will have different splitter/blade/weights, but they will all behave close to the same on track (theorietically)"

Wasn't like that from the beginning up to the mid 80's when parity raised it's ugly head. If a brand is getting it's azz handed to them week in and week out why make concessions to them? Their engineers should be working 24/7 making their product better. Why make the other makes suffer because they did their home work?

Could it be that in the interest of parity the actual racing suffered. Appears to me it has.

While I'm on my soap box, limit team owners to 2 cars, no more putting cars into wives etc names to get around limits.

I like that Idea but again wouldn't happen ....too much money involved on both sides.

 

[blue92]

I'm all for Nascar running different looking cars then maybe the auto makers would also stop building cars that all look alike too. I see a car rolling down the freeway today and I can't tell if it's a Camry, a Taurus, or a Nissan.

Also I see more jobs in Nascar if they run different looking cars. But if they do go this way I don't want to see it as it is now with 30 Chevys, 8 Toyotas, 4 Fords, and 1 Dodge. I think it will only work if there is an equal amount of manufactures represented. Actually if they could create some kind of throw back cars would be cool too.

 

[ted@economy]

That is a pretty big IF . How would that work?