March 2nd, 2012 
Journo In a surprising announcement yesterday, Penske Racing said it would switch manufacturers to Ford at the end of the season. The team left Ford in 2003 and in recent years became the premier organization for Dodge. Together the two had a reasonable amount of success racking up 23 wins (a little less impressive considering 8 of those came in the first season).
It sounds like the logistics of the switch are still being worked out, but this represents a real boon for Ford. Beginning in 2013, they’ll be the manufacturer for three of the sport’s most storied teams.
Dodge on the other hand is left in a pretty difficult position without a single top-flight organization representing them in the sport (sorry Robby Gordon fans). The teams that defected in recent years left because of, among other things, cost and performance issues and not all did so on good terms.
One of the fundamental problems facing Dodge now is that it’s going to have find an organization that can build it’s own engines, or Dodge is going to have to start supplying them. Whichever direction it decides to go, there is going to have to be a serious investment in infrastructure.
It seems unlikely any of the usual suspects would be inclined to leave their current manufacturer for Dodge, though I’ll never say never. Either way, this presents Dodge with a challenge in either lifting an existing organization like say Front Row or Turner, or offering a larger organization enough of a financial incentive that saying no would be very difficult.
This unexpected storyline will no doubt become one of the more intriguing ones to watch this season. Stay tuned.
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Journo,
At first I was surprised by how early Penske announced this, but then I realized just how good this is for both Penske and Dodge to have time to organize for 2013. But it still leaves Penske in an ackward situation this year with Dodge. Do you see any ‘behind the scenes’ shortcomings that Penske will have to deal with. Maybe like fewer resources available than in the past? Anything else along those line that you might be able to elaborate on?
In a way I hate to see this happen to Dodge. On the other hand I welcome it. Here’s why. IMO Dodge is the only mfg of the 4 in CUP that remotely sells what they race. The Camry, Impala and Taurus are all FWD-front wheel drive (w/ only AWD as an option). The Charger is the only one of the bunch that uses RWD in both street and CUP (w/ AWD as an option). If this were old school, Dodge would get the nod for “race on Sunday, sell on Monday”. The SRT arm is a testament to that.
I would welcome Dodge to pull out if they would bring that money back into grassroots motorsports like in the 90’s before they threw all the eggs into CUP via Evernham, Elliot & Mayfield. The ACR cars (Vipers & Neons-hence the tag) were best- bang-4-the-buck cars and series that lead to SRT. So Dodge, let’s get back to a style of racing and racing cars that are relevant to their intended purpose.
As lack luster performance has plagued the Ganassi team since the switch to Chevy, I wonder if Chip is just waiting for the invite from Dodge!
Any insider knowledge from the insiders on Dodge interest?
On one hand, this is a good move for Penske Racing. They want to win championships and I believe Ford is in position to do so with its NASCAR program. Of course Roush-Fenway Racing will continue to be the top Ford team, while Penske Racing will move from top Dodge team to slot into the list of Ford teams. But the manufacturer support is bigger at Ford.
On the other hand, Dodge now has a major problem, they don’t have any teams lined up for 2013. Sorry, but RGM I don’t think they will make 2013. And even worse, Hendrick, RCR, JGR, Roush, MWR are all taken and only EGR might be available.
However I see Dodge not as a NASCAR manufacturer in 2013, but as something else like sponsoring a racetrack, sponsoring events and beyond. I do believe Dodge will be in NASCAR for years to come.
Robby Gordon has fans?
Well lets see. This could be a good thing for Dodge if you look at it and might be good for Nascar. If they could bring in a top team say MWR(Its contract with Toyota is up this year)they can also bring in team like Tommy Baldwins and even make a factory team if need be to make a truly awesome line up. Also in the grape vines is that their are a few manufactures looking at joining. It is shaping up to pull Nascar out of it’s current slump it is currently in.
Tango: even our gracious hosts on this website say that Robby “can be difficult” to work for/with. Be that as it may, this is a guy who loves to race, be it Dakar or Baja or Darlington. I go to the races at Fontana and always get there early to (park and) cruise the merchandise area, and the only driver I have ever seen there is Robby Gordon. And this year, he says his Cup team is losing money, but he’s locked into leases, so keeps on plugging. Gotta admire the determination, if nothing else. I get the impression that Robby, like Tony Stewart, would race lawn mowers if invited.
I 2nd Doug’s analysis of RG. He was actually more fun to watch in the CART days. He thrashed around cars that weren’t meant to be thrashed.
I’m disappointed that Penske left the Dodge stable. I enjoy seeing Dodge in cup!
I think this will give Dodge an out of the cup series,although putting more resourses in Busch and trucks.
Evernham,Petty,Davis really did not give a good effort toward there Dodge cup deal. It’s too bad!
I don’t know where Dodge goes either. I loved what they did with the Challenger in Nationwide. Unless they think outside the box and maybe try to elevate a Nationwide team. I don’t see any of the top Cup teams wanting to switch to Dodge. Probably a really smart move by Penske, maybe the Speedweeks domination by Ford pushed them over the edge and got the deal done. Both the 2013 Fusion Cup Car and street car look great.
I wonder what Fiat is willing to do as far as racing. I think Roger saw the writing on the wall.
journo, thanks for the guts to say you’re sorry. You will probably get a $200k fine from na$car for the “sorry” part. Tango , I bet you could beat up 3rd graders when you were in high school. It’s amazimg how quick some people are to bash the real underdog,rather than realize what he up against with the Hendricks, RCR, Roush etc. Robby is the only owner so far to create a company to sponsor a team. He has givin more seat time to other drivers than most of the big teams as well. He has created many jobs for people in a bad economy. He uses $40k rebuilt motors to race against the big guys and made the Daytona 500. They only show him on tv when they have to, which isn’t much, usually to blame him for a wreck when he is not even on the track, so what is your problem? Grow up.
new car next week no one to race it !! from a life long dodge fan its over boys hate to say
Mike in Boston :
Didn’t Petty quit Dodge because they weren’t paying him as promised? I can’t see that Evernham etc weren’t trying.
Remember now, coming into Cup w/ Evernham, Elliot & Mayfield (Arrrrgh)Dodge took on the whole deal including sponsorship. It was a psuedo-factory effort where the local Dodge dealers bore the $-brunt of that deal. IMO that was a BIG mistake not to expect “team” to secure funding. It’s not F1 afterall.
Either way you cut it,this is a HUGE disappointment to loyal Dodge fans.
I hope Ralph G has a plan.