Dodge Motorsports News
Updated: 2010
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Dodge President says Challenger could race in Cup series: Dodge President Ralph Gilles said that the automaker may submit the Dodge Challenger for Sprint Cup competition at some point in the future, replacing the Dodge Charger. Gilles said, "It's up to NASCAR," adding "the fans will tell us" what they want to see. Ford's North American Motorsports Manager, Jamie Allison said recently that the Blue Oval is considering bringing its Mustang brand to the Cup Series, if it performs well at the Nationwide level. The new Nationwide car makes its competitive debut Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.(Sirius Speedway)
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Kahne running new Dodge engine: Kasey Kahne, who qualified 2nd for the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, confirmed that he is competing with Dodge's latest R6 V-8 engine. "The engine is running awesome. It just felt really good," said Kahne, winner of the spring race here in 2006. "I could feel the racetrack around the whole corner and down the straightaways. It was really about all I had. I'm looking forward to this weekend. We've made some really nice gains in our engine shop here the last few months."(Racin' Today)
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Dodge will continue NASCAR support: The new head of Dodge's car brand says the manufacturer will continue its involvement in NASCAR. Ralph Gilles takes over the job from Mike Accavitti, who resigned after three months in the job. Accavitti's resignation came amid another restructuring of Chrysler, which went through Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year. The new plan splits Dodge into two brands, one for cars and another for the Ram truck. Gilles becomes president and CEO of the Dodge brand, which competes in NASCAR.Gilles says development and marketing of Dodge vehicles still works through NASCAR participation.(AP/ESPN.com)
Friday, Sept. 18, 2009
Dodge looking for more Cup teams? Dodge hasn't given up on expanding its 2010 Sprint Cup fleet past the three-car operation of Penske Racing. The manufacturer continues to talk to several small teams with the hope of convincing them to run its product full time. Dodge lost four of its seven full-time cars when Richard Petty Motorsports, which fields the No. 9 car of Kahne, announced last week it was absorbing Yates Racing and moving to Ford next season.(ESPN Insider)
Friday, Sept. 11, 2009
Dodge pledges commitment to NASCAR in 2010: The head of Dodge Motorsports on Friday called Richard Petty's defection a "business decision" that won't affect the manufacturer's participation in NASCAR. Richard Petty Motorsports has signed a letter-of-intent to merge with Yates Racing and field a four-car Ford team next season. It leaves Dodge with just three Roger Penske-owned cars in its 2010 lineup. But president and CEO Mike Accavitti said that's enough for Dodge, which has had to continuously reinforce its commitment to NASCAR because of the cash problems that forced parent-company Chrysler into Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization earlier this year. "Dodge's plan - to be a championship contender in 2010 with Penske Racing and a solid lineup of drivers - has not changed," Accavitti said. "We remain firmly focused on our objectives to be the leading manufacturer in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, win races and compete for the Sprint Cup at the right level."(Associated Press)
Thursday, Aug. 27, 2009
Richard Petty Motorsports to stick with Dodge? It appears Richard Petty Motorsports will not move from Dodge to Toyota next season. At least that's the impression that Lee White, who heads Toyota Racing Development, gave last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. White said he believes that Mike Accaviti, the president of the Dodge brand, is doing all he can to keep RPM in the fold. He also said that would be a good thing, that the sport needs all four manufacturers to be strong. He actually seemed to wish them luck and didn't seemed bothered that Toyota will not be welcoming in another organization. It makes sense -- Toyota's interest in RPM was tweaked when Red Bull Racing appeared set to leave the fold for General Motors and an association with Hendrick Motorsports. Now that Red Bull is set to re-sign with Toyota, there is not the urgency to get another organization. Having said that, there are no guarantees that RPM will be back with Dodge even if Toyota is out of the picture. The organization has had talks with General Motors as well. But all signs point to Dodge fielding cars for RPM and Penske Racing moving forward.(ESPN.com Insider)
Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009
President Obama: NASCAR can help with American Automakers' recovery: President Obama said it was important for the Big 3 American automakers to remain in NASCAR but said it is "understandable" that they would cut back their sponsorships during tough economic times. "It's about as good advertising as you can get," Obama said of the auto companies' NASCAR sponsorship. "If somebody's excited about NASCAR, that means their excited about cars. We want to make sure people know what great American cars are." The president was optimistic about the future of the American auto industry and the role NASCAR can play. "Over the long term if you look 5, 10 years out I think they're going to come back stronger than ever and I think their association with NASCAR makes a great difference," he said. (ABC News)
Sunday, Aug. 16, 2009
Dodge is committed to NASCAR: Dodge doesn't plan to disappear from the Sprint Cup series in the near future even it is reduced to one team, the CEO of Dodge Brand said on Sunday at Michigan International Speedway. "We're committed to this sport,'' Mike Accavitti said. "It's a match made in heaven.'' Accavitti, who was promoted to CEO after Chrysler filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, declined to speculate on whether Dodge would lose Richard Petty Motorsports. RPM has been in discussions with other manufacturers and reportedly is headed to Toyota in 2010, although team officials deny a decision has been made. If that were to happen Dodge would be left with the three-car Penske Racing organization. Accavitti would only say that he values RPM as a partner. He added that RPM has been mailed a check for services that were past due after the bankruptcy was filed. "You really only need a couple of good cars,'' he said.(ESPN)
Monday, July 20, 2009
Sadler to run new Dodge motor at Indy: Elliott Sadler will run the new Dodge R6P8 engine for the first time at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Sadler finished fourth last year in the Allstate 400 at The Brickyard with the previous Dodge engine. Sadler is tied with Tony Stewart for the longest active DNF streak (42 races) of drivers that have competed in every race. Regan Smith is at 51 races, but has not competed in every race during that span. Says Sadler, "This year I’m going to be racing the new Dodge R6 engine there, so I really feel like we are going to be fast and racing for a chance to win at the end. This is the first time that we’re running that engine in the No. 19 this year so I guess you could say I’m pretty optimistic based on what we’ve seen from the No. 9 over the last couple weeks. “(RPM PR )
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Chrysler officially sold to Fiat: Italy's Fiat is the new owner of the bulk of Chrysler's assets, closing a deal Wednesday that saves the troubled U.S. automaker from liquidation and places a new company in the hands of Fiat's CEO. The deal clears the way for a new, leaner Chrysler Group LLC to emerge from bankruptcy protection minus billions in debt, 789 underperforming dealerships and burdensome labor costs that nearly sank the storied automaker. Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne immediately was named CEO of the new company, which said in a statement that it would soon reopen Chrysler factories that were idled during the bankruptcy process, costing the automaker $100 million per day. (AP)
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Penske: No plans to bring Saturn to Sprint Cup; Committed to Dodge: Team owner Roger Penske has no plans to move Saturn into the Sprint Cup series, saying Sunday he plans to stick with Dodge for at least the remaining three years of his contract with the manufacturer. General Motors Corp. announced on Friday an agreement for Penske to purchase the Saturn brand. Penske said he would like to get Saturn involved in motorsports, perhaps at the Grand-Am level, but not NASCAR's top series. "We have three more years with Dodge, they have not let us down," the owner of Penske Motorsports said before the Sprint Cup race at Pocono Raceway. "We see that continuing. They are current with all the obligations they have. I don't expect anything different." Richard Petty, the co-owner of Richard Petty Motorsports, said last weekend at Dover that RMP's cash flow from Dodge has ceased since Chrysler filed for bankruptcy. "I don't know what he means by cash [flow]," Penske said. "They paid the bills we submitted to them and they're on time. I don't know what he's talking about." (ESPN.com)
Monday, June 1, 2009
Chrysler assets approved for sell to Fiat: A federal bankruptcy judge has approved the sale of most of Chrysler's assets to Fiat, clearing the way for the American automaker to exit court protection shortly. Judge Arthur Gonzalez said in a court filing Sunday that he approved the sale, the major piece of a plan orchestrated by a federal auto task force. The plan gives a 55% stake of the new company to a union-run trust for retirees, a 20% stake to Fiat that can ultimately grow to 35% and smaller stakes to the U.S. and Canadian governments. Chrysler LLC was forced into court protection on April 30. The sale to Fiat means Chrysler could be out of bankruptcy within the government's original timeframe of 30 to 60 days.(ABC News)
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Kahne looking forward to Dodge's new engine: Defending Coca-Cola 600 winner Kasey Kahne said he can't wait until the Dover race May 31 because it's the first time Richard Petty Motorsports is scheduled to use the new Dodge engine. Kurt Busch has used the newer version to climb to third in the points for Penske Racing. Busch said the engine has played a key role in his team's turnaround. Kahne, 16th in the points, hopes the engine can do the same for him. "When we get the R-6 (engine) for Dover, I think that's going to be a big help," he said. "Hopefully we get that and that will... show how good our cars really are." (Virginian-Pilot )
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
NASCAR "cautiously optimistic" about Chyrsler's future in sport: This is only to say that what has been reported could mean NASCAR's Chrysler teams, and possibly its GM teams, might face an uncertain future. The words "cautiously optimistic" have been spoken when it comes to Chrysler's future in NASCAR. No doubt they will be heard again if GM indeed encounters a similar situation. NASCAR Chief Executive Officer Brian France said he is confident both manufacturers will remain active in stock-car racing. (SceneDaily.com)
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Dodge, Chevy to face large motorsports cutbacks? Much has been made of the extent to which Chrysler and General Motors' financial problems might impact their NASCAR participation. With Chrysler filing for bankruptcy, and General Motors expected to follow suit within the next 10 days, there is cause for concern. Dodge executives have said all the right things regarding the company's participation in NASCAR -- that, despite the bankruptcy, no changes were planned. Now, there is evidence that it may be beyond their control. According to Automotive News, Chrysler wanted to spend $134 million in advertising over the nine weeks it is expected to be in bankruptcy, but the U.S. Treasury's auto industry task force gave it half that. If the government is willing to cut Chrysler's marketing allocation in half -- and that's half of what Chrysler was asking for, not half of what it is used to spending -- then it may be a tough sell to convince the feds that taxpayer dollars should go towards supporting Dodge, which has won just one race this year, Kurt Busch's victory at Atlanta. (Orlando Sentinel)
Monday, May 4, 2009
Kurt Busch: wants Dodge in the news as much as we can: When the night was over, Kurt Busch had led eight laps, but finished 12th, and a bit disappointed. "I do feel a small bit of responsibility carrying the Dodge banner in NASCAR," Busch said. "We want to get Dodge in the news as much as we can." Sam Hornish showed he could move his Dodge product last night. "We sure would have loved to give them a win tonight," Hornish said. "We stand behind Chrysler and Dodge. They've been really good to us. The best thing we could have done is give them a win. We weren't able to accomplish that today. "About 100 percent of my family business work is with the big three. They're hurting. We're hurting. We believe it's going to get turned around." (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Dodge to pull out of NASCAR? Interesting story being reported by Sports Illustrated's Lars Anderson about a possible Chyrsler pull out of NASCAR.... Chrysler was quick to issue a statement on Thursday reaffirming their commitment to NASCAR. "NASCAR is a strategic part of our marketing plan and the Dodge brand," said Mike Accavitti, Chrysler's director of brand marketing and strategy for Dodge motor sports. "We plan to continue our Dodge sponsorship and relationship for the foreseeable future." But how long, exactly, is the foreseeable future? Several people I talked to involved with NASCAR on Friday morning, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, strongly believed that Chrysler would pull its NASCAR funding in 2010. (The company already slashed its motor sports budget by 30 percent this year.) Then the question would become this: What would happen to the seven teams that Dodge supports? (SI.com)
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Dodge staying in NASCAR despite Chrysler bankruptcy: Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli made no secret of the fact that the company would have rather not had to merge with Fiat and file for bankruptcy. Nardelli said there will still be a budget for NASCAR. "Obviously in response to treasury we reduced that to the contractual limits that we had," Nardelli said. "We reduced everything over and above what we were obligated to support to the driver, owner teams. We did reduce the number of cars significantly on the track this year." (NASCAR Nuts & Bolts)
Chrysler to file for bankruptcy: Chrysler, one of the three pillars of the American auto industry, will file for bankruptcy today after last-minute negotiations between the government and the automaker's creditors broke down last night, an Obama administration official said.U.S. officials had offered Chrysler's secured lenders $2.25 billion in cash if they would agree to writedown the $6.9 billion in secured debt that the company owed. But a small group of hedge funds refused the 11th-hour deal, forcing an imminent bankruptcy. An administration official this morning expressed disappointment, saying the holdouts had failed to "do the right thing," but that "their failure to act in either their own economic interest or the national interest does not diminish the accomplishments made by Chrysler, Fiat and its stakeholders, nor will it impede the new opportunity Chrysler now has to restructure and emerge stronger going forward." President Obama is scheduled to address the issue at noon today at the White House. (Washington Post)
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Engine failure a concern for Dodge teams? Five of the seven Dodge drivers in the field have switched to back-up engines for the Aaron's 499 Sunday. Those cars will have to start at the back of the field, but it doesn't change much. None of those five drivers -- Reed Sorenson, Kasey Kahne, David Stremme, Elliott Sadler and A.J. Allmendinger -- qualified better than 35th. The bigger concerns for all the Dodge drivers is whether the engines will make it through the 188-lap event. The Dodge teams have suffered three blown engines. Allmendinger and Kahne had engines failures in practice Friday. Stremme blew a motor on his qualifying run Saturday. (ESPN.com)
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Report: Chrysler preparing to file Chapter 11 Bankruptcy: The Treasury Department is directing Chrysler to prepare a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing that could come as soon as next week, people with direct knowledge of the action said Thursday. The Treasury has an agreement in principle with the United Automobile Workers union, whose members’ pensions and retiree health care benefits would be protected as a condition of the bankruptcy filing, said these people, who asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case. Moreover, Fiat of Italy would complete its alliance with Chrysler while the company is under bankruptcy protection. The only major question that remains unresolved is what happens to Chrysler’s lenders, who hold $6.9 billion in company debt. (New York Times)
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
New Dodge nose in '09: After a season where the Dodge cars clearly were the least competitive of the four manufacturers in the Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR has approved a new nose for the 2009 Dodge Chargers, which should help the cars perform better on the so-called intermediate tracks of 1.5 to 2 miles in length. Those tracks, which make up nearly half of the Cup schedule, were the clear weak points for Dodge teams last year. “It’s very subtle changes to the nose,” said Penske Racing’s Roy McCauley, crew chief of the No. 12 Dodge Charger driven by David Stremme. “In fact, if you just took a quick glance at it, you might even miss it — some changes in the line structure around the headlight doors and things like that.” (Speedtv.com)
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Robby Gordon to race a Dodge in Bud Shootout: Sirius Speedway spoke to NASCAR representative Ramsey Poston today, and he confirmed that Robby Gordon is approved to run the Budweiser Shootout in a Dodge, before converting to Toyota for the remainder of Speedweek 2009. Gordon ran Dodges last season, but will campaign a Toyota in 2009. Both manufacturers have apparently signed-off on the arrangement. (The Motorsports Soapbox)
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Chrysler plans to slash NASCAR budget: Chrysler plans to slash its overall NASCAR budget by more than 30 percent in 2009, Dodge Motorsports director Mike Accavitti told ESPN.com on Thursday. That reduction is due in part to the team-merger between Dale Earnhardt, Inc. and Chip Ganassi Racing, which removes Ganassi's former three-team Sprint Cup operation from the Dodge fold. (Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing will run Chevrolets.) But Dodge will also cut back on at-track car displays, track sponsorships and promotions. It will, though, continue to support Penske Racing, Gillet Evernham Motorsports and Petty Enterprises as planned, Accavitti said. "We'll definitely be on the track in 2009," Accavitti said in a phone interview. Chrysler announced Wednesday it would, starting Friday, shut down all 30 US-based manufacturing plants for a month. Accavitti said that will have no bearing on any NASCAR relationship. (ESPN.com)
Monday, November 17, 2008
Owners show support for Detroit's Big Three: "The Big Three are the backbone of our country," Rick Hendrick said in a news release sent out by Chevrolet. "With nearly 7,000 people working at Hendrick Motorsports and Hendrick Automotive Group alone, I see their impact firsthand. The manufacturers play an irreplaceable role in the global economy and support millions of Main Street, American jobs. I feel a responsibility to those people and their families, and our leaders in Washington should, too.” Richard Childress, owner of Richard Childress Racing, expressed similar concerns and said NASCAR wouldn't be where it is today without involvement from Chevrolet, Dodge and Ford. "The Big Three have also played an important role in NASCAR for decades," Childress said. "I can’t imagine racing anything but Chevrolets," Childress said. (More at SceneDaily.com)
June 14, 2007
Dodge reaffirms NASCAR commitment: Dodge's director of brand marketing and communication says Chrysler's sale to a private equity firm, Cerberus Capital Management, won't change the carmaker's long-term relationship with NASCAR. "I had the pleasure of going to Manhattan last week and I met the leadership team at Cerberus," Mike Accavitti said in a NASCAR teleconference. Though the racing program wasn't specifically addressed, Accavitti said the 16 members of the Dodge dealers council also at the meeting were very supportive. (Arizona Daily Star)
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