[url]http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-nascar-dodge-20120807,0,4261067.story[/url]
[quote=Los Angeles Times]Dodge said Tuesday it plans to withdraw from NASCAR competition after this season, citing an inability to strike a favorable new deal with one or more race teams.
That leaves NASCAR with three manufacturers: General Motors' Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota.
Dodge is a division of Chrysler Group, which is majority owned by Italy's Fiat, and its decision was not unexpected. Its last remaining team in NASCAR's top-level Sprint Cup Series, Penske Racing, already had said it planned to move to Ford next year.
Penske's Cup drivers are Brad Keselowski and Sam Hornish Jr.
Although "a number of opportunities emerged" to keep Dodge in NASCAR, "in the end we simply couldn't develop the right structure" to continue, Ralph Gilles, president of Chrysler's motor sports unit, said in a statement.
However, Gilles said Dodge had "not lost focus on 2012 or the commitment to our partnership with Penske Racing," which also includes Penske's team in NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide Series.
Dodge and its former Chrysler partner Plymouth were NASCAR powerhouses in the 1960s and early '70s when such legends as Richard Petty drove their cars. But Dodge left the sport in 1977 before returning in 2001.
"We wish them well and hope they again will choose to return to NASCAR at a later date," NASCAR Chairman Brian France said in a statement.[/quote]
And there goes a piece of history. Whether or not you like NASCAR, there's no denying what Mopar did to make it popular.
I'm not all that surprised though. Last I heard Dodge cars weren't winning anything.
Pretty soon it will become just a bunch of Toyota cars going in circles because of how crooked the NASCAR chair is.
Are we going to get another foreign car?
NASCAR isn't even about what it used to be, theres nothing left. It used to be a america being proud of it's cars,high speeds,dirty racing
now it's all about fucking points, clean racing or you get fined literally like 500k just for turning someone sideways or entering pit 1mph higher then the fucking 55mph speedlimit while the whole track is going 200mph
No one cares about the drivers as much anymore, all you hear is "IM THE DRIVER OF THE SPONSER SPONSER SPONSER SPONSER TOYOTA/CHEVY/ETC"
Fucking gay as shit man, NASCAR used to be cool yeah "redneck shit" but when you watch cars in packs of over 10 battling for position going 3 wide in turns inches apart at 200mph you fucking can't do anything but watch
[QUOTE=CubeManv2;37127837]NASCAR isn't even about what it used to be, theres nothing left. It used to be a america being proud of it's cars,high speeds,dirty racing
now it's all about fucking points, clean racing or you get fined literally like 500k just for turning someone sideways or entering pit 1mph higher then the fucking 55mph speedlimit while the whole track is going 200mph
No one cares about the drivers as much anymore, all you hear is "IM THE DRIVER OF THE SPONSER SPONSER SPONSER SPONSER TOYOTA/CHEVY/ETC"
Fucking gay as shit man, NASCAR used to be cool yeah "redneck shit" but when you watch cars in packs of over 10 battling for position going 3 wide in turns inches apart at 200mph you fucking can't do anything but watch[/QUOTE]
Agreed. I stopped watching around '04-'05 because it got boring. All the cars are identical, they all look identical, and the interviews take forever because lolsponsors. They don't even do the victory burnout anymore. It used to be customary, if you won a NASCAR race you liquified the goodyears on the back of the car up and down the front straight, cut a bunch of donuts in the infield, and generally made it impossible for the TV cameras to see the start/finish line for a good 30-45 seconds. Good, harmless fun, and everyone got to hear lots and lots of V8 noises. Nowadays most drivers don't do anything at all. Only a few still partake of the victory burnout, and they're not as extravagant as they used to be.
I still remember one NASCAR race where the victor limped into the pits with two shredded rear tires and some bodywork damage. God that was a good burnout.
It's starting to happen in F1, too. The cars are different from one another and there's less of a focus on sponsors, sure, but the crazy fines for the slightest penalties are definitely present. A mistake with a lugnut could cost teams nearly a million USD in fines alone, not to mention the DNF from the wheel falling off.
[QUOTE=Zambies!;37127781]Are we going to get another foreign car?[/QUOTE]
I don't really mind. No reason the import guys can't play too. Besides, it's all a ~5.7L OHV V8 in the front, four speed manual in the middle, and a live axle in the back, all of which is bolted to a tubular steel spaceframe. The brakes are no more technologically advanced than the front brakes on any high-performance streetcar either, and thanks to the 15" rim diameter they're absolutely tiny. Strip them of the bodywork and you cannot tell Ford from Chev from Toyota from a distance of more than three or four feet.
Damn. The 2013 Dodge looked slick as fuck
[img]http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/wp-content/uploads//2012/03/2013-nascar-dodge-charger.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.autoweek.com/storyimage/CW/20120311/NASCAR/120319982/AR/0/AR-120319982.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2012/03/13nascarcharger2628.jpg[/img]
The real problem with NASCAR, imo, is that they aren't racing real cars. By 'real' I mean cars that you can buy at the dealer, modified to race.
What you see on today's NASCAR race car is a skin, hiding the underpinings that in no way resemble anything those companies make.
I'd rather watch a 120mph race of modified street cars over a 200mph race of these fake cars any day.
Theres also the issue of the cars they do drive are fucking Impalas, Fusions, and Camrys. That shit ain't sports cars.
[editline]7th August 2012[/editline]
Let me drive my fucking 4 door sedan shitmobile around a track at 200mph, thats cool right?
[editline]7th August 2012[/editline]
If you're going to make a fake as shit car, at least slap a Camero, Mustang, or MR2 logo on it.
[QUOTE=PvtCupcakes;37132136]Theres also the issue of the cars they do drive are fucking Impalas, Fusions, and Camrys. That shit ain't sports cars.
[editline]7th August 2012[/editline]
Let me drive my fucking 4 door sedan shitmobile around a track at 200mph, thats cool right?
[editline]7th August 2012[/editline]
If you're going to make a fake as shit car, at least slap a Camero, Mustang, or MR2 logo on it.[/QUOTE]
The sprint cup has generally had more sedan types where as the nationwide series has more sport car types.
Also, Furniture Row Racing was willing to buy the dodge engine program from Penske. I wonder why dodge decided to pull out then. Was it because Furniture Row was a small team and they wanted a major team?
What bugs me about Nascar is that is back in the day, if an Impala won a race, people would be inclined to buy an Impala. If an "Impala" wins in Nascar today, who gives a shit? It's not even close to a production Impala.
They're just clones racing. Not interesting to me in the least.
[QUOTE=cecilbdemodded;37132093]The real problem with NASCAR, imo, is that they aren't racing real cars. By 'real' I mean cars that you can buy at the dealer, modified to race.
What you see on today's NASCAR race car is a skin, hiding the underpinings that in no way resemble anything those companies make.
I'd rather watch a 120mph race of modified street cars over a 200mph race of these fake cars any day.[/QUOTE]
Absolutely. They aren't dodges or fords, they're just the same old tube frame race cars with different sheet metal and stickers.
[QUOTE=CubeManv2;37127837]NASCAR isn't even about what it used to be, theres nothing left. It used to be a america being proud of it's cars,high speeds,dirty racing
now it's all about fucking points, clean racing or you get fined literally like 500k just for turning someone sideways or entering pit 1mph higher then the fucking 55mph speedlimit while the whole track is going 200mph
No one cares about the drivers as much anymore, all you hear is "IM THE DRIVER OF THE SPONSER SPONSER SPONSER SPONSER TOYOTA/CHEVY/ETC"
Fucking gay as shit man, NASCAR used to be cool yeah "redneck shit" but when you watch cars in packs of over 10 battling for position going 3 wide in turns inches apart at 200mph you fucking can't do anything but watch[/QUOTE]
Racing is still racing, you aren't getting fined for accidents and good old fashioned racing
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFVAE6XuWgE&feature=player_detailpage[/media]
5:40
I wanna get back into rFactor racing again.
NASCAR isn't that fun watching on TV. good thing we got a motor speedway close though, its more exciting if you're there.
[QUOTE=PvtCupcakes;37132136]Theres also the issue of the cars they do drive are fucking Impalas, Fusions, and Camrys. That shit ain't sports cars.
[editline]7th August 2012[/editline]
Let me drive my fucking 4 door sedan shitmobile around a track at 200mph, thats cool right?
[editline]7th August 2012[/editline]
If you're going to make a fake as shit car, at least slap a Camero, Mustang, or MR2 logo on it.[/QUOTE]
Then again, racing actual race-modified Impalas, Fusions and Camrys would be pretty awesome.
[QUOTE=fishyfish777;37144845]Then again, racing actual race-modified Impalas, Fusions and Camrys would be pretty awesome.[/QUOTE]
camry would win at restrictor plate tracks cause the driver wouldnt even need his foot on the accelerator
