NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
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CUP: Done Deal – Dodge Leaving NASCAR
Dodge officials today announced the manufacturer's departure from NASCAR at the end of the season…
Mike Hembree  |  Posted August 07, 2012   Charlotte, NC
With its top motorsports executive saying it does so with a “heavy, heavy heart,” Dodge announced Tuesday afternoon that it will not field entries in NASCAR in 2013.

Dodge has won 55 Sprint Cup races since making a heavily advertised and expensive return to Sprint Cup racing in 2001, but it failed in its goal to reach the series championship.

The SRT Motorsports arm of the company seemed to struggle with decisions on its future in NASCAR this year, particularly after long-time team owner Roger Penske announced that he would be dumping Dodges to return to Fords for 2013. But company executives had said publicly several times this season they felt good about the car builder’s future in the sport.

Team owners Richard Petty (once Chrysler’s superstar driver) and Barney Visser reportedly had discussions with Dodge about aligning with the manufacturer for next season. But the loss of Penske – the 2012 season had barely begun when he announced his 2013 move to Ford, which reportedly offered a very attractive package – put Dodge on the defensive, and it never recovered.

“We couldn’t put together a puzzle or model that made sense,” said Ralph Gilles, president of Dodge’s SRT Motorsports arm. “We’ve been through a five-month-long process of evaluating all our options. We had an elegant situation with the Penske group with a one-stop shop and a very high quality team to work with. When that changed, everything changed.”

Dodge unveiled its 2013 Charger NASCAR entry in March and had continued preparatory work on the car until recently. “We’ve been developing that car for nearly two years now,” Gilles said. “It will make a beautiful sculpture in the meantime.”

Gilles said the decision to leave NASCAR was made last Friday.

“You have no idea how much we feel the pain,” he said. “My e-mails and Twitter have been blowing up about this subject. People are really passionate and emotional about it.

“We feel the same way. We’re just as devastated as everyone else. It’s with a heavy, heavy heart that we hold this [press] conference. We get it.”

Although Dodge had received proposals from teams and had talks with some, Gilles said there wasn’t a situation that fit with all the categories – drivers, shops, teams, engines, etc. “The game of musical chairs in NASCAR is the real deal,” he said. “There’s shrinking capacity.”

“Dodge has been a great partner to NASCAR for many years, and they have been part of numerous memorable moments throughout our history,” said NASCAR chairman Brian France. “They made a business decision not to return in 2013, as they did in 1977 before returning in 2001. We wish them well and hope they again will choose to return to NASCAR at a later date.”

Penske Racing is switching from Dodge to Ford next season. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Gilles said Dodge will continue to support Penske Racing’s efforts in Sprint Cup and Nationwide this season. Penske driver Brad Keselowski is almost certain to be in the Chase for the Sprint Cup and could give Dodge a series title in its now-lame duck role.

“It would be wonderful, almost a fairy-tale story, to leave on the highest note possible,” Gilles said.

Although Dodge has scored three Cup wins this year (all by Keselowski), the manufacturer’s presence in the sport has been overshadowed by Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota.

A mainstay – and a championship contender – in the sport virtually from its raw beginnings through the mid-1970s, Dodge returned to Sprint Cup racing after a 23-year absence in 2001. The manufacturer made a huge investment in building a racing operation from the ground up, putting Ray Evernham, former championship crew chief for Jeff Gordon, in charge.

Dodge began the 2001 season with a driver corps that included Bill Elliott, Casey Atwood, John Andretti, Kyle Petty, Ward Burton, Dave Blaney and Sterling Marlin.

The manufacturer’s splashy debut in the Daytona 500 that season was overshadowed by the dark results of the day, as NASCAR icon Dale Earnhardt Sr. was killed on the final lap of the race. Much of the attention of that season centered on the investigation into the circumstances of Earnhardt’s death and the beginnings of safety advances that would follow.

Although Dodge has won dozens of Cup races in the 12 seasons since its return, the Sprint Cup championship has remained in the hands of General Motors and Ford. Dodge’s last championship was scored by Richard Petty in 1975.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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