Ford Manufacturer NASCAR news and rumors
Some OFFICIAL Ford Sites:
Ford Racing
Ford
Motorcraft
(not posting new unofficial sites anymore: too many have no updates, are old, driver bashing)
Past NASCAR news, rumors about Ford
(note: some links will not work as sites have deleted stuff or moved them)
- Ford improving over 2007: Ford had only one victory in 2007's first eight events, that by #17-Matt Kenseth in Week 2. In three races with the Car of Tomorrow, the manufacturer was winless with only four top-10s, none better than fifth. Rival Chevy had seven wins, including all three races in the COT and 23 top-10s in the new car. Hendrick Motorsports, the top Chevy team, had five wins and was so dominant in the COT the rest of the competition looked clueless. These are much happier times for team owner Jack Roush and Ford exec Dan Davis. "I really felt like we didn't have the engineering base that they had at Hendricks," Davis said. "I felt like, 'OK, it's going to be a struggle all year, and we've got to work really hard to catch up.'" That they did. Two-thirds through the 2007 season, Ford -- specifically Roush Fenway -- had all but eliminated the deficit it faced in the new car. And eight races into the 2008 season, despite Jimmie Johnson's win last weekend at Phoenix to give HMS its first win, one could even argue Ford has taken over the top spot. Edwards' victory at Texas was Ford's third in seven races. Two top-10s at Phoenix gave the manufacturer 18, including eight top-5s, in the new car, which was fully implemented for this season.(ESPN.com)(4-19-2008) Comment here
- Ford commits to NASCAR: Ford isn't giving up on NASCAR. After a dismal 2007 season that saw the manufacturer win only seven Nextel Cup races - to Chevrolet's 26 - Ford officials made a point Thursday to show their commitment to the newly named Sprint Cup. Edsel Ford II, a member of Ford's board of directors and the great-grandson of Henry Ford, visited Roush Fenway Racing's shop Thursday during the final day of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Media Tour. "There's been a lot of talk in the Ford Motor Company in the media in the past year, much of it negative," Ford said. "People have wanted to write us off, to say we couldn't compete in the marketplace or on the race track. I'm here to tell you one thing today: don't underestimate our resolve."(Canadian Press)(1-25-2008) Comment here
- A Ford Mustang in NASCAR in 2009? Maybe: A source at Ford Motor Company says the motorsports division expects the Ford Mustang to replace the Fusion in the NASCAR Busch [Nationwide Series in 2008] series. "We're expecting to run the Mustang in 2009," the source said. It's the first confirmation from a manufacturer what I [Cole] first reported in early 2006 - that the cars in the NASCAR Busch series, which will be called the Nationwide series in 2008 and beyond - may soon be substantially different from the cars in the top-tier Nextel Cup series. NASCAR is expected to require the Busch cars to be built to a safety specification similar to the Nextel Cup "Car of Tomorrow," which becomes the standard car at the Daytona 500 in February. If a makeover will be required anyway for the 2009 season, logic suggests that would be a good time for a nameplate change, as well.
That said, it may not be a done deal. Reportedly Chevrolet is balking at running the Camaro in the NASCAR series. Rumors suggest that Dodge is considering a Busch series version of the Challenger, which just went on sale at a price of under $38,000, for delivery in 2008. Dodge will build 5,000 Challengers in 2008, and expects to increase that number by sevenfold for 2009. Sales expectations for the Chevrolet Camaro are higher. With the discontinuation of the Monte Carlo, Chevrolet has no sports coupe aside from the Corvette and the small Cobalt SS, and won't until the Camaro is introduced. The Corvette will continue to race in the American Le Mans and Grand-Am series, though one contingent within General Motors is pressing for a body change for the ALMS GT1 class, where GM's two factory Corvettes literally have no competition: They'd like to see those Corvettes rebodied as Camaros to help launch that model, which won't hit the market until well after the Challenger.
Also, the move to "pony car" coupes could cause a problem for Toyota. The Camry Solara, a two-door sedan version of the top-selling car in the United States, may disappear after the 2008 model year. Sales are dismal; Toyota is expected to build only about 30,000 Solaras this year, compared to about 400,000 Camry sedans. One possibility at Toyota: Automotive News says that the company is expected to introduce a new Celica sports coupe in Europe in 2009. If that car comes here, it could be raced in NASCAR. The discontinued Celica made some appearances in the now-defunct NASCAR Dash series. If the move to the Mustang, et al, is to be made for 2009, that announcement would be expected soon after the first of next year.(Orlando Sentinel)(12-1-2007)
- Ford boosting Engineering help to teams: Ford has made tremendous advances in providing engineering support to the Ford NASCAR Nextel Cup teams this year, but there are definite lines drawn on what Ford engineers can and will do to help the teams, said Pat DiMarco, the vehicle dynamics and chassis supervisor at Ford Racing Technology.
What the engineers share among the teams is how to tackle problems and find solutions. What’s closely protected is the specifics of the setups each team runs. “We share processes and simulation tools, the development of those to make them better, so if some of the stuff that the Roush guys are working on makes our simulation tools better, that gets applied across the board,” DiMarco, who has Ford engineers working in every Ford NASCAR shop lending help to individual teams. But those engineers who work on behalf of specific teams aren’t allowed to compare notes with the engineers at other Ford teams. They won’t take a setup—and I won’t let ‘em take a setup and go say, ‘Hey, why don’t you guys go try something like this?’ I pride myself on ethics, that my guys don’t go do that,” said DiMarco. “We do not take things off the car on race weekend … it’s more the tools and the methodologies, the processes that we share across the teams. All the teams know that going in.”(Ford Racing)(10-23-2007)
- Ford-Yates-Roush wins the weekend: at Michigan, Ford with Roush Fenway Racing won all three races, ARCA, Trucks and Nextel Cup with Eric Darnell, Travis Kvapil and Carl Edwards, plus Ford won with Yates Racing at Kentucky Speedway with Stephen Leicht, all powered by Yates-Roush engines.(6-19-2007)
- RYR re-signs with Ford for 5 years: Robert Yates has signed a five-year extension with the Ford, he told ESPN.com today. There will be a formal announcement on Friday at Dover International Raceway. "What it says to me is that Ford intends to win on Sundays and Mondays, and they're committed," Yates said. "We're happy they're happy with us. It's nice we have signed the thing."
This ends any speculation that Robert Yates Racing was looking elsewhere [rumors with DEI/Chevy, and also Toyota]. What the five-year deal offers Yates is some stability and credibility as he continues talks with potential business partners. "The fact is, it's organizational racing now and not individual racing," Yates said. "We have been talking to different people and they ask, 'What manufacturer are you with? How strong is that? How long term is it?' [This contract] puts a lot to bed. We have a good relationship with Ford, and we continue to." Clearly, Yates is upbeat about the future. He said his team is financially healthy with "zero debt and quite a lot of money in the bank," he said. "I'm OK, but what I want to do is race and win," Yates said. There was a much-publicized flirtation between Robert Yates Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc., about a month ago, but there was an obvious conflict -- Yates had always been a Ford devotee, and DEI owner Teresa Earnhardt has made it clear she has deep Chevrolet ties she is unlikely to break.(ESPN.com)(5-31-2007)
- Ford Racing Aware of DEI-RYR Merger Talk: In response to media reports from this past weekend, Ford Racing confirmed it is fully aware of merger talks that have taken place between Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) and Robert Yates Racing (RYR) officials. “Ford is fully committed to Robert Yates Racing for the long-term, and they have assured us that are similarly committed to Ford,” said Kevin Kennedy, Ford Racing Technology Communications Manager. “Robert and Doug have been in contact with Ford about the nature of the discussions. We have a valued partnership with them, and they are keeping us informed of those discussions like a true partner would.
We fully expect they will remain with Ford for many, many years.” Robert Yates Racing and Ford have a relationship that goes back to the formation of the race team in the late 1980s, and Dan Davis, director of Ford Racing Technology, has repeatedly stated that the manufacturer is fully committed to bringing RYR back to the top of the field. Media reports this past weekend also stated that Ford had been in discussions with DEI about a switch from Chevrolet to Ford for the 2008 season. Davis has repeatedly said that Ford is interested in adding championship-level teams to its Cup roster. “We definitely have been talking with DEI. Truthfully, we’ve been having informal talks with them for several years,” said Kennedy. “We have not yet made a formal offer to them, but we know that their GM contract is up at the end of the year. We had some discussions with them, and we’ve made it clear that we’d love to have them in our program.”(Ford Racing)(5-1-2007)
- Ford sticking around: It will take more than record losses and massive staff cutbacks to push Ford out of NASCAR. After a company record $12.7 billion loss in 2006 and a planned staff reduction of 40,000 this year, racing boss Dan Davis admitted he was nervous about getting the estimated $20 million racing budget for nine full-time Cup cars approved. "But there was no problem," he said. "This is something that the people at the top levels of the company believe is a positive force for Ford. You don't stop your marketing in hard times, you work harder to market the product." Ford's investment in NASCAR, including its marketing budget, is estimated to be just under $100 million. The company is focusing more and more on stock cars, pulling its marketing support from the struggling Champ Car World Series this season. Things won't get any easier this year for Ford in NASCAR's Nextel Cup, with Japanese rival Toyota joining DaimlerChrysler's Dodge brand and General Motors' Chevrolets as Cup rivals. "I feel like all we really need is 10 good cars, and we have nine now," said Davis, director of Ford Racing Technology. "They're not all as strong as we'd like them to be, but we feel like we're close. We would like to win 25 percent of the races on a consistent basis, and I feel like we're within striking distance."(Associated Press)(2-19-2007)
- Iconic Ford Race Vehicles Headline New Commercial: Eight historic Ford race cars star alongside a 2007 Ford Fusion in Ford Division's new commercial spot that will debut during this Sunday's telecast of the 2007 Daytona 500. Shot over three days just outside of Los Angeles, California, the commercial shows a 2007 Ford Fusion in a fantasy "race" with Ford race vehicles representing Ford's 106 years of racing. Some of the cars highlighted are the #17 DeWalt Ford Fusion driven by Matt Kenseth; the 1965 Mark IV GT40 that competed in the Le Mans 24-hour race; the 1955 "Purple Hog," which was Ford's first factory NASCAR stock car; the Ford F-150 driven in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series by Rick Crawford; and "Sweepstakes," which was driven to victory in 1901 by company founder Henry Ford in his first and only race. The theme of the 30-second spot represents the past, present and future of Ford, and all the historic race vehicles showcased are authentic racecars that have been restored to running condition.(Ford Racing PR)(2-17-2007)
- Dodge staying in NASCAR..Ford?: So said Dodge racing boss Mike Accavitti in opening remarks at the Evernham Motorsports NASCAR media stop Thursday, the final day of the tour. Accavitti, director of Dodge Motorsports Operations and SRT Planning, said Dodge wouldn't back out of Nextel Cup racing, as some have suggested Dodge and Ford might. "Dodge is here to stay," Accavitti said. "I'm very proud our message is sinking in. Dodge buyers value the fact that we race." Accavitti said Dodge's goal this year is to improve upon last season's Cup performance, in which its teams won seven times and claimed 16 poles -- the manufacturer's best year since rejoining NASCAR's premier series in 2001. Achieving more consistent finishes is a priority, Accavitti said. Accavitti will try to entice Dodge drivers, including Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman, at Daytona next month. Should one win the Daytona 500, the driver will get to choose an SRT vehicle, including the V-10 Viper.(Detroit Free Press)(1-26-2007)
- Ford withdraws Champ Car sponsorship/No effect on NASCAR: Ford Motor Company said Wednesday it has withdrawn as an official Champ Car World Series sponsor. "We evaluate all of our racing programs on an annual basis and have decided that this sponsorship does not align with our current business objectives," said Dan Davis, director of Ford Racing Technology. Davis said Ford's withdrawal from Champ Car will not affect the other racing programs the company supports, including NASCAR's three major national touring series, the NHRA PowerAde Drag Racing Series, the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car and KONI Challenge Series, as well as several U.S. Auto Club-sanctioned series.(ESPN.com/AP)(1-25-2007)
- Toyota Over Spending?....One fear is that Toyota will spend its way to domination in the sport [NASCAR], raising costs for everybody and perhaps eventually running off an ailing domestic manufacturer. Officials at Ford, which has struggled financially while sales of Toyota’s have gained greater share in the United States, have been most vocal in their criticism. Dan Davis, director of Ford Racing Technology, said his manufacturer’s NASCAR operation is financially sound. But he said Toyota’s spending spree in acquiring crew chiefs, drivers, engineers, tire changers and other support personnel has affected his teams. That includes Robert Yates Racing, which lost Jarrett and his UPS sponsorship [#44 Toyota]. “I think they have been predators, and people would say that might be extremely negative,” Davis said. “I would say that in the business world, people are predators. That’s how you get things done. When anything new comes in with a lot of resources, then those entities are going to try to acquire the best people, the best equipment, the best that they can get. That’s a bit predatory to me. And if you pay people more money than they were getting and you entice them other ways, in a way that’s more than normal, then it’s a bit predatory.” Team Red Bull has been accused of paying 200 to 300% more to hire John Probst, a top Ford engineer. Davis said he heard that Michael Waltrip Racing came up with more than $20 million to lure Jarrett, the 1999 Cup points champion and a favorite among longtime Southern race fans, away from the Yates team. Salaries are a closely held secret throughout NASCAR, and Michael Waltrip Racing officials have denied those figures. Davis said he voiced his concerns privately with NASCAR. So far, NASCAR officials say they see this as business as usual in a sport in which teams openly raid competitors. Earlier this month, for instance, Roush Racing [#26 Ford] hired the crew chief Larry Carter away from Michael Waltrip Racing [#00 Toyota].(New York Times)(1-18-2007)
- Ford Not leaving NASCAR: Ford Racing Technology’s Greg Specht said this week that the automaker is not panicking in the face of defections by Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett and Elliott Sadler to rival manufacturers, and has absolutely no plans to leave NASCAR. Specht said he has been assured by corporate management that Ford will remain a viable part of NASCAR, and that adequate funding will be allocated to keep the automaker competitive with Chevrolet, Dodge and Toyota. Ford CEO Edsel Ford made similar comments on MRN Radio two weeks ago at Homestead-Miami Speedway.(Motorsports Soapbox)(11-28-2006)
- Ford Mgr May Retire: Greg Specht, a veteran NASCAR field manager and the director of racing operations for Ford, is indicating he will be turning the reins over to someone else for 2007 and possibly retiring after 30 years in the business. But it's unclear who might replace Specht, who has been the right-hand man for Ford racing boss Dan Davis.(Winston Salem Journal)(11-20-2006)
- Ford to help out RYR: Ford director of racing technology Dan Davis said Friday that his company will do everything possible to help Robert Yates Racing regain its competitive footing after two woeful seasons that included the defections of drivers Elliott Sadler and Dale Jarrett. That help will include, he said, finding a sponsor to assure that the #88 Ford will return even though Jarrett took the powerful UPS account with him to Michael Waltrip Racing. "I've told Robert, 'I will do anything in my power to develop whatever you need,' " he said. "It's a struggle for him at the moment." Davis said there was nothing Ford could do about some defections, such as Mark Martin, when owners such as Bobby Ginn are willing to pay an enormous salary for a part-time driver. Martin will contest 20 points races for MB2 Motorsports next year. "It's all about compensation," Davis said. "I'm saying maybe that's happened to one of my friends. Eventually everyone looks at this and says, 'Damn, this is really quite an offer. And you know what? I really have a lot of loyalty and I have a lot of this and I have a lot of friends and I owe my career to somebody and I'm torn on this because of that, but damn. Damn.' And I think we get to that point when you have new manufacturers in the mix. You have new owners in the mix, you have new sponsors in the mix that are willing to upset the norm in terms of compensation." Davis confirmed driver/owner Robby Gordon will switch from Chevrolet to Ford for next season. "He's excited about coming in because he knows the motor program is really good," Davis said. "The chassis are really good, the bodies are really good. He can concentrate on race craft and getting the team working well."(St Petersburg Times)(10-14-2006)
- Brand New Ford Cup Team in 2007?Beyond adding Robby Gordon [to be announced today at LMS 3:30pm/et] to the fold, there’s a good chance that there may be another new Ford team in the Nextel Cup Series next season, sources said Friday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Details remain sketchy, but sources said that the team would be an all-new outfit [Riley-D'Hondt?], not an existing team switching manufacturers as Gordon is.(Speed Channel)(10-14-2006)
- Changes at the very top for Ford: In a surprising move, Ford Motor Company chairman Bill Ford Jr. has stepped down as the company's chief executive, tapping former Boeing executive Alan Mulally to replace him. The move comes shortly after Ford Jr. - great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford - outlined to the company's employees a three-point plan to solve FoMoCo's problems. Ford has lost $1.44 billion in the first half of 2006, and recently announced it has put its Aston Martin brand of high-end sports cars for sale. Ford Jr. will stay involved with the company as executive chairman. Mulally, 61, headed Boeing's commercial airplane unit and was one of the top candidates to become that company's CEO last year.(Speed Channel)(9-7-2006)
- Ford withdraws 2007 engine plans: Ford has withdrawn proposed 2007 engine plans, in an odd twist. Toyota, Chevrolet, Dodge and Ford all submitted new engine designs for next season's Nextel Cup tour. Rivals suspect that Ford's withdrawal may be to pressure NASCAR to rethink the other manufacturers' designs. But NASCAR's John Darby, the Nextel Cup tour director, insisted that Ford's move won't affect NASCAR's thinking about the other three engine designs. "Toyota had to build an engine because it currently doesn't have an engine that's acceptable in Cup," Darby said. "Chevrolet and Dodge are just updating their architecture; I don't think that has anything to do with Toyota. Ford has withdrawn, feeling it wants a little longer to get it right before putting it onto the playing field. Ford is fairly confident its parts and pieces won't put it at a disadvantage in 2007."(Winston Salem Journal)(8-26-2006)
- NASCAR Fuel Fillers come to the street..soon:The gas cap, long left sitting on trunk lids or dangling from cars as they leave gas stations, will become a thing of the past on many Ford Motor Co. models in the coming years. At an automotive industry conference near Lake Michigan, the company announced Wednesday that the venerable cap will disappear on its new 2008 Lincoln MKS full-sized car model, and eventually all Ford models will be without them. Replacing the caps will be a flap that opens under pressure from the gas pump nozzle. The flap will fit snugly to the nozzle to stop fumes from escaping, company officials said.
"It eliminates the inconvenience of forgetting to put your gas cap back on after refueling," said Mark Fields, Ford executive vice president and president of the Americas. The new cap came from Ford's NASCAR racing experience and has been used on the Ford GT sports car, Fields said. Eventually Ford will get rid of the caps on all of its vehicles, although it has no timetable to do that, said Said Deep, a company spokesman. The change likely will be made when models are updated, but could be retrofitted onto existing models, Deep said.(AP/Northwest FL Daily News)(8-11-2006)
- Ford Re-evaluating their plans: Roush Racing and Ford officials say they are re-evaluating their plans in the face of a) the Toyota challenge, b) the debacle at Robert Yates Racing, and c) the failure of some young recruits to pan out, thus leaving holes open at Yates's and, possibly, Roush's. Sources say Roush and/or Ford have offered Mark Martin $8m to stay yet another year in the No. 6 car. Martin, who had planned to retire after 2005, stayed one more year to help Roush plug a gap after the departure of Kurt Busch last summer. Meanwhile, Todd Kluever, Roush's top gong show tryout racing the past three years in Trucks, has not shown the kind of progress expected, and newcomers Stephen Leicht (Yates), David Gilliland (Yates) and Danny O'Quinn are not considered ready for big-time competition. If Ford adds a team in 2007 (assuming it can plug the holes at Yates's), it likely will be under the Wood Brothers banner, with Jon Wood at the wheel and Ken Schrader minding the #21 one more year. That, of course, will depend on the Woods finding financing.(Speed Channel)(8-7-2006)
- Jack Roush Honored by Ford: Jack Roush received the highest honor Ford Motor Company can bestow on anyone in racing when he was presented with the Spirit of Ford Award in front of approximately 450 employees at Ford World Headquarters Thursday. Edsel B. Ford II made the presentation during a pep rally involving many of Ford's NASCAR drivers who will be competing in the Nextel Cup and Craftsman Truck Series races at Michigan International Speedway this weekend. Roush was hired as an engineer at Ford in 1964, but got the racing bug when he joined a group called 'The Fastbacks' two years later. The group was made up of Ford employees who competed in drag racing on weekends. Since then, Roush has won championships in all three of NASCAR's top divisions, including back-to-back Nextel Cup titles in 2003 and 2004. In addition, he has three Pro Stock drag racing championships, 24 road racing titles and 10 consecutive victories in the prestigious Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. The Spirit of Ford Award goes to a person who has made significant contributions on and off the track to the sport of auto racing. Other stock car recipients of the Spirit of Ford Award include: Bud Moore, the Wood Brothers, Junie Donlavey, Bill Elliott, Richard Petty, the France family, and Ned Jarrett.(Ford Racing)(6-16-2006)
- Ford to be Honored by Boy Scouts: Ford Motor Company will be honored as the Motorsports Company of the Year by the Boy Scouts of America's Cascade Pacific Council during the 17th annual Motorsports Breakfast on Thursday, June 15 in Portland, Ore. The breakfast takes place during festivities surrounding the Grand Prix of Portland, an annual stop for the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford. The Boy Scouts Motorsports Breakfast is the Cascade Pacific Council's second largest annual fundraiser, raising more than $30,000 each year. Since the inception of the breakfast seventeen years ago, more than 700,000 inner-city and at-risk youth have been given the opportunity to participate in the Scouting program, an opportunity they otherwise could
not afford.(Ford PR)(6-14-2006)
- Ford looking to add teams: A Ford official said Thursday that the manufacturer would like to add "a couple more cars'' to its Nextel Cup roster, although he wouldn't give a timetable. A couple more teams could help Ford keep its young drivers, something Ford and its teams haven't been able to always do. Dale Jarrett's departure to Toyota after this season opens one ride, but several Ford drivers are signed through at least 2008. That could create limited opportunities for the nearly 10 drivers being groomed by Ford's Cup teams. Ford, whose drivers have won two of the past three titles, has the fewest Cup teams competing with eight -- five with Roush Racing, two with Robert Yates Racing and one with the Wood Brothers. Toyota is scheduled to have six teams next year when it enters the Cup series. Greg Specht, manager of racing operations for Ford, says the manufacturer has a goal of more teams. "Ideally, we'd like to have 10-12,'' he said. "We're really looking at our current teams to see how can we expand and grow at a rate that is going to maintain quality.'' Specht wouldn't say if Ford would have additional teams for next season. NASCAR's limit of four Cup teams eventually will force Roush Racing to drop a team or transfer it to a partner. The Wood Brothers could add a second team in the near future. Robert Yates Racing could add a third car next season, depending on sponsorship. Ford has at least 10 developmental drivers between its program and those of its Cup teams. Only two are expected to move to Cup for 2007. Roush Racing announced months ago that Todd Kluever would replace Mark Martin in Cup next season with Martin moving to the truck series. Also expected to move to Cup full time next season is 24-year-old Jon Wood, a third-generation member of the Wood Brothers.(Roanoke Times)(5-19-2006)
- More on the possible Busch Series car change: The Busch Series eventually will have a new car, but not before NASCAR debuts the Nextel Cup "car of tomorrow." The car of tomorrow debuts next season with a 16-race schedule. Full implementation at all track is scheduled for 2009. Any plans for the Busch Series to have a new car won't be decided on until NASCAR evaluates the Cup car.
"The main thing is that we take things we've learned from this car of tomorrow project, safety and things like that, and continue to integrate that into the other series," NASCAR Vice President for Pemberton%22">Competition Robin Pemberton said April 20. "But as far as a total tearup of chassis and bodies, we haven't come to a timeline on any of that." There has been talk about the Busch Series using totally different cars, such as Mustangs. "It's in the talking stages right now," Pemberton said April 21. "A couple of the manufacturers have come to us and expressed a desire to look at running maybe different makes in the Busch Series versus the Cup series. I think that's a pretty good idea and we're looking at it."(SceneDaily.com)(4-24-2006)
- One of the Manufacturers pulling out of NASCAR? UPDATE 2 comments from all: an autoextremeist.com column is reporting that: It has come to our attention that serious discussions are taking place for the first time in the conference rooms of one domestic manufacturer in particular on a subject heretofore unthinkable in Detroit. The subject? Pulling out of NASCAR. Yes, it has been mentioned before, and I have predicted it for months now - ever since the announcement was made that Toyota would be buying its way into the France family circus - but we have confirmation that not only are the discussions taking place, they're so far down the road that a timetable for a pullout has been created, taking into account the end dates of existing contracts with individual racing teams currently aligned with this particular manufacturer. This Detroit manufacturer has decided that if it competes in motorsports in the future, it will only compete in three basic areas: 1. In production-based racing series that by rule and specification retain more than a passing resemblance to the cars they sell and the competitors they compete against in showrooms. 2. "Technical" efforts, in other words, engine programs for open-wheel and prototype racing series, but stopping short of Formula 1. And 3. Developing an effort to compete for the overall victory at Le Mans. Any other efforts, grass-roots racing, drag racing, etc., would be covered as the need and budget allow.(in part....see full article at autoextremeist.com, note: thr article doesn't say which manufacturer COULD be leaving [Chevy, Dodge, Ford] and this column will only be up a few days), Peter M. DeLorenzo, who owns and writes for the site has been on Speed Channel's Wind Tunnel a few times and tends to be controversal and a bit anti-NASCAR, however doesn't tend to just post stuff for the sake of posting it and has a lot of sources.(4-20-2006)
UPDATE: A report on the website www.autoextremist.com suggested this week that one of Detroit’s big three automakers could pull out of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series some time after NASCAR’s “Car of Tomorrow” debuts next year. Speculation has centered on Chevrolet, given the Draconian financial state of its parent company, General Motors, which lost $10.6 billion in 2005 and $323 million in the first quarter of ’06. Alba Colon, Chevrolet’s Nextel Cup program manager, said Thursday that if there have been discussions about GM leaving Nextel Cup, she hasn’t been part of them. “I will be honest with you, I just learned about that (the autoextremist.com report) last night,” Colon said Thursday morning at Phoenix International Raceway. “I have never been in a meeting where anything like that has ever been discussed, at least not with me or anyone in my office. We have a commitment with all our teams, a long-term commitment. I can’t comment on the contract we have with our teams, but it’s longer than a year, I can tell you that. It’s more than the end of this year, and it’s not GM’s philosophy to break contracts like that.”(Speed Channel)(4-21-2006)
UPDATE 2 - Comments from all 3: Reports that one of Detroit's Big Three auto manufacturersmay be considering dropping out of NASCAR racing swirled through the Cup garage, possibly stemming from the report that Ford's SVT (Special Vehicle Team) program may be shut down in October. But Ford's Kevin Kennedy, the company's public-affairs manager for racing, said that there are no plans to get out of NASCAR: "We've seen that story, and I can assure you Ford does not plan on getting out of NASCAR. Our racing program has support at the highest levels of the company, and our research and data has shown conclusively that there's a viable business case for us being involved in the sport in terms of our market share and purchase consideration among race fans. Racing is part of the Ford DNA and has been since Henry Ford raced back in 1901."
General Motors' Pat Suhy, the company's NASCAR director, said that GM isn't leaving, either: "We're here in NASCAR and we're here to stay. It makes good business sense for us to be here. We get a great return on our investment. We have a lot of activation around this around the country with our dealers and our regional dealer groups. And we have great sponsorship partners with our teams. So if there is any truth to that, I don't know about it, and it certainly isn't us."
Ray Evernham, owner of the season's winningest operation, which is sponsored by Dodge dealers, said: "I can't speak for Dodge, but I can tell you I know they're happy. If you look at their stock, it's up. And they're the only American manufacturer with an increase in market share. I've got a really long-term contract with them, and if I were a betting man, I'd bet it's not Daimler."(Winston Salem Journal)(4-22-2006)
- Different Car Models the answer in Busch Series? NASCAR continues to look for a way to differentiate the Busch Series from the premiere Nextel Cup Series, in answer to critics who suggest Busch has become Cup Lite, with near-identical cars and a plethora of invading Nextel Cup drivers. One possible way: Change the Busch Series cars from sedans to the manufacturers’ “pony” cars—the Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro, Dodge Challenger and Toyota Solara. Sound farfetched? It isn’t. “It’s under discussion with NASCAR,” said John Fernandez, director of Dodge’s racing operation. “It isn’t to what I’d consider the serious stage, but it is under discussion.”
Dan Davis, director of Ford Racing Technology, said, “We’ve discussed it. And I’d like to see it. We need to do something about the Busch Series.” Given the production schedule of the Camaro and Challenger, it is unlikely those cars would be able to enter the Busch Series before the 2008 season, with 2009 a more likely scenario. By then Nextel Cup’s Car of Tomorrow redesign should be in place. One scenario would have the Busch pony cars built on modified platforms from the Nextel Cup cars used now, thus helping team owners who say the Car of Tomorrow seriously reduces the value of the old cars. Manufacturers are hoping that if it happens, NASCAR will allow the pony car racers.(AutoNews.com)(4-18-2006)
- Ford Fusion 7th different Ford to win...and more: The Ford Fusion registered its first Nextel Cup victory at California Speedway on Sunday in only its second series start. ... Fusion is the seventh different Ford model in NASCAR history to win a Cup event, joining Taurus, Thunderbird, Torino, Galaxie, Fairlane and the original Ford. ... The last time Ford Racing swept a NASCAR Craftsman Truck, Busch and Nextel Cup Series weekend was when Roush Racing teammates Greg Biffle and Jeff Burton combined to win all three events at Phoenix in 2001. Biffle captured the Truck and Busch events, and Burton won the Cup feature.(FoxSports)(3-3-2006)
