On the Chevrolet side, Dale Earnhardt Inc. (now Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing) and Richard Childress Racing merged their engine departments last year, as well. However, I doubt the day will ever come that Hendrick Motorsports and the RCR camp fuse into one big Chevrolet motor room because neither team needs that information exchange at this point.

The trend is certainly toward unification of engine departments within manufacturers, with the exception of Chevy. Penske, Petty and Gillett are all driven to succeed and I think they’ll sit down, discuss an alliance and reach an agreement.

Roger Penske is an American success story – he is a hard worker who has been very successful in everything he’s attempted. Unfortunately, he never enjoyed success in the Cup Series to the extent he did in IndyCar, but he has won a lot of races. Ryan Newman, one of the best drivers in the sport, left Penske last year and I think The Rocket’s departure really forced Penske to examine why a driver would choose to leave his stable. At Hendrick, drivers leave of their own free will – they have to be fired for lack of performance or other reasons. So, I think Penske needs to restructure his organization and he probably recognizes that.

The Dodge teams are in dire need of improvement but I think they’ll get the kinks worked out. Sharing information with another Dodge team would be a huge step in the right direction and can only make them stronger.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

Jimmy Spencer calls it like he sees it as an analyst on NASCAR RaceDay and NASCAR Victory Lane on SPEED. He retired from driving with two NASCAR Sprint Cup, 12 NASCAR Nationwide and one NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory, putting him in an elite group of drivers who have logged wins in all three of NASCAR’s premier divisions. In 478 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts, Spencer amassed 28 top-five and 80 top-10 finishes. He won back-to-back NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championships in 1986 and 1987 on the heels of 15 victories, becoming the first driver ever to earn consecutive titles in the series. He earned the nickname “Mr. Excitement” for his flamboyant and aggressive driving style early in his racing career.

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