Dodge, withdraws from NASCAR after 2012

dpkimmel2001

dpkimmel2001

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Dodge, according to Marty Smith, ESPN, withdraws from NASCAR after 2012.

NASCAR Radio reporting that the official announcement to be made later today.


Dodge is expected to announce its withdrawal from NASCAR competition following the 2012 season, multiple sources with knowledge of Dodge's plans told ESPN.com.

Dodge is expected to hold a Tuesday press conference to make the announcement. Attempts to contact multiple Dodge spokespeople for comment were unsuccessful or resulted in no comment.

Dodge was faced with a rebuilding phase beginning in 2013, after Penske Racing -- the lone NASCAR organization to field Dodges since 2009 -- chose to leave the manufacturer in favor of Ford Motor Company beginning next season.

Penske has fielded Dodges since 2003, winning 29 Sprint Cup races to-date and a Nationwide Series championship with driver Brad Keselowski. But in March Penske announced the return to Ford, which it had fielded from 1994 to 2002.

"That was the piece that I feel like puts us in a position to make a run for the championship for the next few years," Keselowski said in March. "I think there were some limitations in making that happen with the road we were on, so we changed roads."

Industry sources question whether Dodge's parent company, Fiat, has any passion for NASCAR, leading to Penske's decision to leave for Ford and, ultimately, Dodge's decision to leave the sport altogether.

Ford announced Monday that Roush-Yates engines would provide motors for Penske beginning in 2013, leaving questions about what may become of Penske's motor department and its 60-plus employee staff.

This isn't the first time Dodge has chosen to leave NASCAR. The manufacturer pulled out of the sport in 1977 and didn't return until 2001. Since that time, Dodge has accumulated 55 Sprint Cup victories.
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Story link here.
 
Well that sucks. I was looking forward to seeing the Charger on the track in 2013 and was hopeful a smaller team could grow by signing them. I guess the hand writing was pretty much on the wall though, it's August and they had nothing together.
 
I never could understand how they could do it. They had Penske, who already had an established Dodge program, but only offered a 3 year committment. Any team that switched to Dodge would have to start way behind. If they were lucky, they would start showing some results after 2 years, then hit their stride in year 3. With Fiat showing such low interest in NASCAR, chances are they would then have to try and get back with one of the other 3 and start over. That's the kind of risky move that could put an organization out of business.
 
Time will tell about Penske. I think the Penske/Roush deal is different from Stewart/Hendrick because everyone recognizes Keselowski's a threat and nobody thought Stewart could succeed with his own team. Honestly, it's Roush's best chance to take Brad out of contention.

As for Dodge, it's a damn shame. I wonder how things would have turned out, overall, for their program if Sterling Marlin hadn't been sidelined in 2002. They were destined to win the Daytona 500 and the championship in the same year.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Time will tell about Penske. I think the Penske/Roush deal is different from Stewart/Hendrick because everyone recognizes Keselowski's a threat and nobody thought Stewart could succeed with his own team. Honestly, it's Roush's best chance to take Brad out of contention.
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Seriously? I think if Jack had the chance to keep the better engines for his team, he would. But Yates and Ford, along with Penske, wouldn't let those games go on. Besides, Jack has Carl as the ultimate anti-Brad weapon.
 
FenderBumper said:
Seriously? I think if Jack had the chance to keep the better engines for his team, he would. But Yates and Ford, along with Penske, wouldn't let those games go on. Besides, Jack has Carl as the ultimate anti-Brad weapon.
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Exactly. This is still Yates company (he is CEO), and he doesnt sound like a guy ready to roll over for Roush. Yates is on Sirius now and he sounds very excited. Even mentioned the possibility of working some of Penskes guys into his program. Yates is a Ford guy, and not a Roush guy. Sounds like this will be more of a Roush/Yates/Penske/Ford program.
 
Jeffrey00 said:
Exactly. This is still Yates company (he is CEO), and he doesnt sound like a guy ready to roll over for Roush. Yates is on Sirius now and he sounds very excited. Even mentioned the possibility of working some of Penskes guys into his program. Yates is a Ford guy, and not a Roush guy. Sounds like this will be more of a Roush/Yates/Penske/Ford program.
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Exactly. Yates and Ford want a championship, and I don't think they care which team gets it for them. I imagine that the team with the best chance late in the chase MAY get some prefferential treatment. I don't think Jack is very happy sharing the glory with a big dog like Penske, but there's nothing he can do about it. Jack sure hasn't expressed much of an endorsement toward Penske joining the Ford program.

I think there's already bad blood between Penske and Roush. It's just a theory, but I think Penske is responsible for bumping Kenseth loose from Roush. Kurt left the #22, and since Penske was moving to Ford in 2013, they were free to pursue Bayne and Stenhouse, who have Ford only contracts. I honestly think Penske made Stenhouse an offer, and that forced Jacks hand. With a Cup offer in hand, Jack had to give Ricky a fulltime cup ride or lose him. That would mean 2 Cup cars without full sponsorship, and Matt started getting squeezed.

The craziest part of this theory has Matt snatching up the Penske Cup ride Ricky had lined up. Even crazier is Penske having Home Depot lined up for a third car, and getting a former champion was the key to nailing it down.

I know, it's just a bunch of wishful thinking. Strangely, soft rumors are starting to surface that Matt is headed to Penske, not JGR. Pockrass said he doesn't believe them, but I have hope.
 
FenderBumper said:
Seriously? I think if Jack had the chance to keep the better engines for his team, he would. But Yates and Ford, along with Penske, wouldn't let those games go on. Besides, Jack has Carl as the ultimate anti-Brad weapon.
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That is true. Carl could rack up a few more counts of attempted murder.
 
In 2001 at Daytona if you stood still on the sidewalk someone would nail a Ram banner to yer azz. They were everywhere.

Jack doesn't play well with others. Sr had Goodwrench for how many years? DJ had Ford Motor Credit, the Wood Bros have Motorcraft and Jack runs a unsponsored car....
Seeing as he does a lot of R&D for Ford one must wonder why hasn't Ford stepped in, must'n one?

I don't have a linky dinky doo to back me up but I've heard that Jack takes a bigger bite than any of the other owners in souvenir sales from his drivers. His drivers aren't setting the world on fire and are making less than others, I can see a mass exodus when their contracts expire.
 
Maybe they had interest but not from the right teams. May be back in 2014.
 
SPEED Channel, Inc. ‏@SPEED
It's official, @Dodge will not return to #NASCAR in 2013. @driveSRT
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I kinda was wanting to see the cool dodge next year, oh well maybe it won't take long to find something.
 
The writing has been on the wall for some time that Dodge was leaving. They pulled out of the truck series a few years ago, then the other Dodge teams switch leaving Penske as the only Dodge team left. Roger knew what was coming.
 
RIP

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Heck I've been in a coma the past couple weeks and saw this coming, there might not even be a Dodge Company next year at this time. Gone the way of Oldsmobile and Pontiac kinda sad in a way. Fiat stabbed the Dodge Boys in the back.
 
The Rams are still selling really brisk, dont know about the rest.
 
I figured this was coming, but I'm still disappointed Dodge is leaving. I was hoping to see Dodge's new 2013 car compete with the other new cars. (And we won't get to see the Challenger compete against the Camaro, either.) IMO, the more different cars there are, the better.
 
Johali said:
The Rams are still selling really brisk, dont know about the rest.
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We have a new, never sold (until 2 weeks ago) 2011 Ram sitting in Padre right now, where my parents are. Old one (2005) has 297,982 miles on it as of yesterday.

I have a feeling Dodge/Fiat looked at their ROI. Notice the new vipers in ALMS? Didn't think so. Last week was their premier. Factory team no less.
 
If Penske/Brad /Rousch/Yates or Edsel Ford XVIII wants a cup title, they better get themselves a Chevrolet. Otherwise it is crumbs, because Ford gets only two per decade to divide among the frustrated , if it is a good decade.
 
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