The next manufacturer to join NASCAR is... - Motorsport.com
I think it was the first Phoenix race in 2013, when I noticed a little wire carousel in the press room with four baskets for press releases – Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota and Dodge. The one labeled “Dodge” was empty, appropriate since the company pulled out of NASCAR at the end of 2012, after its two-car Penske team won the championship with Brad Keselowski. After having four for so many years, just three manufacturers in NASCAR didn’t seem right, and still doesn’t. It’s no secret that NASCAR would love to have a fourth manufacturer in the series: It looks bad when a company the size of Chrysler essentially tells the world that the payback from NASCAR is not worth the investment. Dodge The decision to drop NASCAR did not come from inside Chrysler’s U. S. headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan – of that you can be assured. The loss of NASCAR, and then the loss of the factory-sponsored, title-winning Dodge Viper effort in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and the fledgling Dart showcase in Global Rally Cross series, still stings the performance-minded employees... Even the small amount spent last year on the Trans-Am series, supporting the Dodge Challenger, is gone. No, that decision pretty much came at the top – Sergio Marchione, the sweater-wearing, 63-year-old CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, who engineered the rescue of Chrysler out of bankruptcy in 2009. And as. Source: www.motorsport.com
