Petty, back to Dodge?

I would be disappointed if Petty switched to another mfg. right now . They are just starting to be competative and that kind of change could sink them .
 
ted@economy said:
I would be disappointed if Petty switched to another mfg. right now . They are just starting to be competative and that kind of change could sink them .
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Quite true. Ambrose and Almirola are inside the top 20 and quietly improving nearly every week.
 
ted@economy said:
I would be disappointed if Petty switched to another mfg. right now . They are just starting to be competative and that kind of change could sink them .
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I think there is a connection. Petty starts talking to Dodge, and Ford puts some pressure on Roush / Yates to share a bit more to help Ford build a larger camp.
 
Reason Behind Penske's move to Ford and What Lies Ahead for Dodge

By Peter M. De Lorenzo

(Posted 3/5, 11:00 a.m.) Detroit. Roger Penske's decision to make the move from Dodge to Ford beginning in the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup season caught nearly everyone by surprise late last week. Note, I said nearly everyone. But there were signs that things were not going to continue along as they were with regard to the Penske Racing - Dodge/Fiat-Chrysler relationship long before the formal announcement.

First of all, it's difficult for outsiders to understand all the nuances going on within these auto companies here. As fans, a lot of people don't want the backstory, they just want to enjoy the racing on the track and that's totally understandable. But the backstory in this case had everything to do with Penske's decision, so it's worth covering here today.

With Chrysler being an Italian-owned company (it should be referred to as Fiat-Chrysler), it's clear that there's a difference in perspective between the Italian executives in charge and the enthusiasts at work in some of the racing and performance programs out at its U.S. Auburn Hills headquarters. Make no mistake, there are hard-core enthusiasts out in Auburn Hills, and SRT leader and noted designer Ralph Gilles is just the most visible of those people. Do they want to win any less than the other guys? I can emphatically say, of course not. But I can also safely say that the interest and enthusiasm demonstrated by these hard-core enthusiasts for NASCAR Sprint Cup racing does not translate to the Italian executives in charge and therein lies the rub.

The Fiat-Chrysler executive team is led by the ubiquitous Sergio Marchionne, a self-promoting genius and career opportunist who has managed to turn the "gifting" of Chrysler to Fiat by the U.S. government (when there were no other options) into his own personal promotional vehicle. Be that as it may, Marchionne has made his reputation by being a ruthless cost-cutter and his henchmen follow him in their equally ruthless dealings with suppliers, so forget whatever takeaway you've been getting from the Chrysler ads of late and its glowing (and cynically inaccurate) "Imported from Detroit" ad theme, because the reality is that this is just another import-owned car company trying to squeeze out as much market share and profits as they can possibly muster. And, they couldn't care less about NASCAR to boot.

And it wasn't hard for Roger Penske to figure that out. Not only was his Dodge-branded Sprint Cup racing program not on Marchionne and company's radar, all signs were apparent that the likelihood of any of this changing was slim and none. And the likelihood of Fiat-Chrysler wanting to spend less on NASCAR was a very real possibility as well.

But Roger Penske wants to win in NASCAR. Not just win a bunch of races, but win a Sprint Cup championship. He has won nearly everything else there is to win in sports car and Indy car racing, but he has never won a championship in NASCAR, and it rankles him. And the more he observed the Fiat-Chrysler Italian leadership ignore his racing program, the more he realized that he couldn't get where he wanted to go with them. Not that Roger isn't used to going his own way and going it alone if he has to, of course, because he's done that throughout his career to great effect. But in today's Sprint Cup racing where you're going up against juggernaut teams with voluminous support from GM, Ford and Toyota, that isn't going to cut it.

So Roger has thrown his full weight and commitment in with Ford and Ford Racing beginning in 2013. In fact that word "commitment" was used by Roger three times in his remarks during the announcement that he was aligning with Ford and it's significant. On any given NASCAR weekend you will see representatives from the Ford upper management team at the race track. These are committed enthusiasts, too, and it shows. They love racing and they love to win and want to win as much as Roger does. So these two parties will do well together in their firm commitment to win in Sprint Cup racing.

A few questions still remain, the most important being, will Roger Penske use Roush-Yates engines in 2013? I can safely say that won't happen. Aero tweaks and chassis information might be shared between Roush Fenway and Penske Racing, but make no mistake, Roger Penske didn't put together one of the best engine programs in the business to just walk away from it in 2013. So rest assured the Penske Racing Fords will have Penske Racing engines powering them.

One more thing needs to be said about this story. Anyone who thinks Roger Penske and Penske Racing won't give everything they have to win in their swan song season with Dodge doesn't know Roger Penske. I expect them to be more formidable than ever, in fact.

The bigger question is where does Dodge and Fiat-Chrysler go from here? Ralph Gilles is going to appear on Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain on SPEED next Sunday evening to answer that question. But right now, unless Fiat-Chrysler all of a sudden dumps a boatload of money into a "B" NASCAR team in order to possibly elevate it to "A" effort, they got nothin'.
 
Greg said:
The barking dog next door just told me:

"Petty back to Dodge".
Press conference set for Friday.
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You should have listened to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. They're much easier to understand. :D

Very cool if true. Personally when I think Petty, I think Dodge.
 
Oops, I liked too soon. Went to Jayski's and saw this:

Petty to switch to Dodge? UPDATE denied: according to AR1.com sources, Richard Petty Motorsports will announce on Friday in Michigan that they will switch to Dodges next year. No word yet on whether Penske, which is switching to Ford, will continue to build the Dodge engines for RPM.(AR1.com)
UPDATE: Richard Petty Motorsports says they do NOT have any press conferences planned this weekend at Michigan International Speedway. The team does not have any plans to discuss their manufacturer status this weekend (RPM)(6-12-2012)
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http://www.jayski.com/cupnews.htm

That's disappointing. I had my hopes up for a second.
 
I don't care where Petty goes. I don't care who goes to Dodge. I don't care if Dodge drops out of NASCAR. I don't care that none of you care if I care.
 
Matthew2470 said:
I don't care where Petty goes. I don't care who goes to Dodge. I don't care if Dodge drops out of NASCAR. I don't care that none of you care if I care.
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I agree Matt , more speculation about the announcement of the announcement is really not very interesting . I am sure there will be plenty to speculate about after the announcement (if there is one ).
 
I drive Dodges but my opinion is that they should stay with Ford as they (RPM) are finally getting competitive again. Although I do realize that Penske had some success with Dodge but that's been true of every manufacturer he's used over the years.

I do find the speculation interesting and will continue to do so.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
You should have listened to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. They're much easier to understand. :D

Very cool if true. Personally when I think Petty, I think Dodge.
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That's were my information originally came from.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
So..... it was your dog? K. Got it.
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The dog listens to radio more than I do and reports to me, he just doesn't usually like me to expose his sources. He was upset about the misnformation, and since you outed them he wanted to 2nd the move.



Barking Dog has a great track record overall. His name is Harvey if you want to Google him.



He has made many wonderful suggestions to my wife about things or hobbies to try with me.
Unfortunately she doesn't speak Dog either, so he tells me, then I tell her.
 
Greg said:
The dog listens to radio more than I do and reports to me, he just doesn't usually like me to expose his sources. He was upset about the misnformation, and since you outed them he wanted to 2nd the move.



Barking Dog has a great track record overall. His name is Harvey if you want to Google him.



He has made many wonderful suggestions to my wife about things or hobbies to try with me.
Unfortunately she doesn't speak Dog either, so he tells me, then I tell her.
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Awesome.
 
Seems kinda dumb to switch now the way they have their cars running. Big step backwards I think. Just put both cars on the front row. Also don't know if Penske will keep making the engines for a Dodge. Why would he help the competition. All going to depend on how much green Dodge throws at them I guess.
 
Greg said:
The dog listens to radio more than I do and reports to me, he just doesn't usually like me to expose his sources. He was upset about the misnformation, and since you outed them he wanted to 2nd the move.



Barking Dog has a great track record overall. His name is Harvey if you want to Google him.



He has made many wonderful suggestions to my wife about things or hobbies to try with me.
Unfortunately she doesn't speak Dog either, so he tells me, then I tell her.
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Didn't the dogs talk to David Berowitz as well :eek:
 
, by the by
#17D500winner said:
Didn't the dogs talk to David Berowitz as well :eek:
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There is good dog, bad dog, sick dog, freaky dog, and really screwed up dog. Aside from schizophrenia mine is the voice of the good dog to be taken at his word. I think only one dog spoke to Berkowitz and both of them his and mine going the name "Harvey" is purely coincidental.
 
FenderBumper said:
I like Berowitz better. It sounds less ethnic. By the way, what was the dogs name?
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From the 4th paragraph of this link



"His neighbor's dog,a Labrador Retriever named Harvey, barked a lot,and it was driving Berkowitz crazy. The neighbor,Sam Carr,received an anonymous letter,asking him to stop the dog's incessant barking. When the barking continued,the killings began. According to Berkowitz,Harvey was a "demon dog",and when that dog barked it had meaning. Harvey,Berkowitz said,was barking out orders,telling him to murder young women. When police announced that several recent killings appeared to be the work of one crazed lunatic,the media went into a frenzy. For months,millions of New Yorkers eyed their neighbors with more suspicion than usual".




Personallys I think Harvey got a bum rap, and a good interpreter wood have exonerated him. Even without the interpreter and no evidence, conspiracy to commit murder would have been the only thing to prosecute.
 
Greg said:
Personallys I think Harvey got a bum rap, and a good interpreter wood have exonerated him. Even without the interpreter and no evidence, conspiracy to commit murder would have been the only thing to prosecute.
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lol Greg. It could be argued that Harvey is guilty of murder for hire.
 
Thegroundpounder99 said:
Doesn't sound like Dodge is gonna have a program for 2013.
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Don't see any top teams switching right now. Dodge kinda screwed the pooch by not offering Penske a long term deal. leaves a question of how commited they would be to your team. Also Unless Penske keeps making the engines for them you're looking for someone else too. Joey Arrington makes them for Nationwide but those are a lot different then a cup engine. Too many unknowns come with them. I think they're going to have to offer big bucks to a lower tier team and work their way back into cup.
 
Willy said:
Don't see any top teams switching right now. Dodge kinda screwed the pooch by not offering Penske a long term deal. leaves a question of how commited they would be to your team. Also Unless Penske keeps making the engines for them you're looking for someone else too. Joey Arrington makes them for Nationwide but those are a lot different then a cup engine. Too many unknowns come with them. I think they're going to have to offer big bucks to a lower tier team and work their way back into cup.
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Totally agree with you Willy. I was thinking they would go to a team like Furniture Row or Front Row and build from there. I knew they wouldn't land a big team. The lack of a motor program has to be the biggest hurdle. You look and there's not a lot of motor programs to begin with. If you run a Chevy it's a Hendrick or Childress/Ganassi. Ford, all Roush Fenway, Toyota all TRD (which isn't doing JGR any favors. Kyle has had 3 motor failures in 3 weeks) and Dodge is Penske. I don't know why they wouldn't commit longer but I don't think switching to Ford is gonna make them any better either. I was hoping that it would've worked in Robby Gordon's favor but he kind of put himself out with how he performed the weeks after the announcement.
 
Moving back to Dodge could work one of two ways for Petty . Being pretty much the only Dodge team , they would logically get a huge amount of engineering and design help from the factory, not to mention marketing help .
Downside is there's no other Dodge teams to share test and race data with .
 
Mike Croley said:
Downside is there's no other Dodge teams to share test and race data with .
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Right on Mike . I've been saying that all along . It is really hurting Penske and, IMO , it's the main reason they are leaving Dodge.
 
ted@economy said:
Right on Mike . I've been saying that all along . It is really hurting Penske and, IMO , it's the main reason they are leaving Dodge.
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Roger said that the main reason was that Dodge refused to make a longterm commitment to NASCAR. He did note having another team to benchmark off of had become a concern, but it sounds like that wouldn't have held up a longterm deal, IF Dodge had offered it.
 
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