Dodge leaving NASCAR - Good or Bad for Drag Racing? (1 Viewer)

[vegasnitro]

Dodge is leaving NASCAR at the end of this season. The primary reason cited was lack of team involvement and not having a first-rate engine program to push the few teams they do have towards the front. This got me to thinking, how will this affect NHRA? They have the DragPak Challenger doing well in the stock classes, the DSR Funny Cars carry Dodge branding and Allen Johnson is on top of the heap in a MOPAR sponsored Pro Stocker. Could Dodge push some of the freed-up NASCAR money towards the Dodge drag racing program in 2013, or will FIAT pocket the NASCAR money or will it have no impact at all because one has nothing to do with the other?

Discuss amongst yourselves.

 

[StockersRock]

I think you'd have heard the rumbles already if they were getting out of NHRA racing.

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

I sure hope it frees up $$ for drag racing, but who knows...?

 

[Paul]

The only reason why they are getting out of NASCAR is because they couldn't find another top team to partner with. They didn't want to be a mid-pack team so they didn't sign with Furniture Row or Petty. If you listen to the press conference it didn't sound like they were going to spend the NASCAR dollars in other forms of motorsports, but I do hope they spend more on drag racing. A 2nd PS car and a Mopar sponsored FC for the entire year would be nice.

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

either one, or BOTH would be GREAT. I understand it takes a lot more $$ to fund nascar...?

 

[The Counterfeiter]

They have already spent a bundle on the two car Viper ALMS team, which probably suits the Italian masters much better than crude NASCAR racing -
Remember, they were not sponsoring the Penske Miller and Shell cars (probaly about 23-25 million per car for sponsors), so there is no way of knowing how much monetary support was being provided.
It would be nice if even a little bit would trickle down to drag racers - funds would go a lot further than in NASCAR !

 

[cantdrive55]

I doubt you'll see increased support in NHRA. Dodge has returned to the ALMS series with the new 2013 Viper, and most likely will look to get back to the 24 hrs. of Le Mans. Fiat, the company that owns Dodge had no interest in Nascar, and there are rumors that Dodge as a brand will be gone in 2015.

 

[none]

MOPAR seems very happy with their NHRA program. They didn't plan to leave NASCAR but when Penske announced he was switching they didn't have a good option. I believe they will return to NASCAR and sooner rather than later, but I don't see it really having any effect on the NHRA program.

JMHO

Alan

 

[z28]

MOPAR seems very happy with their NHRA program. They didn't plan to leave NASCAR but when Penske announced he was switching they didn't have a good option. I believe they will return to NASCAR and sooner rather than later, but I don't see it really having any effect on the NHRA program.

JMHO

Alan

maybe NHRA can pick up some Mopar fans

 

[FABMAN]

maybe NHRA can pick up some Mopar fans

I think maybe we should be concerned with GM. There spending habits are out of control, I mean 500 million dollars on a foreign soccer team. They say it was to help increase there sales over seas, building good cars will take car of that. I am big GM guy but I'm concerned about them. Allen Johnson and Dad have put MOPAR back in the front. What NHRA has 3 cars running strong and couple others working in that direction, looks really good for Chrysler.

 

[Mooseman]

Dodge has a good thing in drag racing, I mean where else are they going to find a sport where all the cars in the 2 top catagories run an engine derived from an engine dodge released in 1964 not only that but said engine has been the dominating engine of choice for over 30 years. Yeah you can do the whole the engines dont use any factory parts argument but thats just nit picking because you can build a ford or a chevy and not use a single factory part and people still call them ford or chevy.

 

[rocketman]

I'm sure they will stay in NHRA and may even up their involvement.

 

[Jeff]

Dodge factory rep was quoted during yesterday's NASCAR rain delayed practice on SPEED. Said the funds would not be reallocated to other racing endeavors, the Penske announcement just left them where they did not feel the money would be well spent in 2013. Lots of difference to them (and most sponsors) between visibility in racing and visibility winning in racing.

 

[mick]

would think they should put emphasis on their assoc. with DSR.
force, tasca and wilk are all ford all day.
although the DSR fc's are mopar bodied, wouldn't it be nice for dodge
to hear 7 different drivers (who all win) tout the
dodge/mopar brand at every chance?

 

[Professor Dave]

I imagine that the Drag Pack program is a money making operation, just as I think the Cobra Jet program is. That's why I can't understand why it took GM so long to get the Camaros out the door.

 

[Johnny Mopar]

MOPAR seems very happy with their NHRA program. They didn't plan to leave NASCAR but when Penske announced he was switching they didn't have a good option. I believe they will return to NASCAR and sooner rather than later, but I don't see it really having any effect on the NHRA program.

JMHO

Alan

You are correct Alan. The NASCAR funding will stay in place as they look towards a team for 2014. Their NHRA funding will not increase as a result of no NASCAR team in 2013. The problem (for Dodge) is there are fewer teams to court. It will be a very difficult task to get a large Ford of Chevy team to switch to Dodge. I don't see these large teams looking forward to a drop in performance along with all the extra R&D that would be necessary to field a team of competitive Dodges.

 

[Nunz]

500MIL on soccer? Unreal. Does it cost that much to wind tunnel test soccer balls? I'm curious as to the ROI of that type of involvement. The best thing they could have done with that deal, if they felt they had to spend that much, is spend 495 and give 5 to WJ.

 

[robinjackson]

Chrysler active in Indycar:

SRT signs on as presenting sponsor for Baltimore GP - Racer.com