Dodging Success at Every Turn
Have you ever had a friend that no matter what they do can’t seem to get out of their own way? Maybe they get a raise at work, but then blow it on a new TV they can’t afford? You can’t help but slap your forehead and cover your eyes. In NASCAR that friend is Dodge. For every triumph, there seems to be self-inflicted Dodge has won three of the last six Cup races. When you throw in Kasey Kahne’s All-Star win, that’s 4 in the last seven, which is more than the manufacturer won in all of 2007. On paper, things look pretty good for Dodge and its teams. Of course reality tells a different story, and to anyone that has followed NASCAR in recent years knows how self-sabotaging the Dodge teams can be. Even during high spots, there are more problems than positives.
The big news this week is that Chip Ganassi is putting the #40 car up on cinder blocks for the rest of 2008, meaning Dario Franchitti’s Cup career will also see weeds and grass sprout around it while it sits in the backyard at Ganassi’s shop. The lack of sponsorship was the final blow for the car. While Franchitti entered NASCAR with great credentials like an Indy 500 win and an IRL championship (not to mention the Judd marketing factor), it’s pretty easy to see why companies passed on Ganassi. Their NASCAR teams stink. One Cup win since 2002, no driver has ever made the Chase and since 2005 no driver has scored more than 10 top 10’s in a season. In the middle of 2005 Ganassi announced tentative plans to expand to four cars. It never happened because Jamie McMurray successfully voided his contract and moved to Roush-Fenway, but at the time Ganassi did have enough sponsorship for all four teams. Of course that was before the mortgage crisis (remember Home 1-2-3?) and the overall economic slowdown. It’s a little surprising Franchitti was willing to come to NASCAR despite the lack of funding.
In 2006 Kasey Kahne won a series high 6 races and made the Chase for Evernham Motorsports. At the same time teammate Jeremy Mayfield struggled to stay inside the top 35, was ultimately fired in midseason and threatened legal action. The ugliness only intensified with the inappropriate relationship between Ray Evernham and Erin Crocker. That ultimately played a part in the team’s abysmal 2007 season where the team realized halfway through that their season was wasted due using incorrect data to build their cars. Things are just now returning to normal, almost a year and a half later.
How about Penske Racing? In the summer of 2005 they signed one of the biggest free agents, Kurt Busch, to replace the retiring Rusty Wallace. It was the perfect driver to build upon a successful 2005 season that saw two of the three Penske cars make the Chase. Instead Penske chopped the #77 team (not due to sponsorship) and contracted back to two teams. To make things worse, the Penske teams spent the majority of the offseason and the spring trying to run the older Intrepid instead of the current Charger model. The result was-you guessed it-a wasted season. After two seasons of two cars the #77 finally returned to the track this year, but is again struggling as a new team. Had it been running continuously, the team might be a lot further along and more competitive with the other top teams at Chevrolet, Toyota and Ford.
All of the teams at Dodge (don’t forget Petty Enterprises, who is in serious danger of becoming irrelevant) have struggled in the last five years. It’s fitting given the unstable nature of Dodge. Daimler sold the company in 2007 and they are still struggling to compete. Things could only get worse for Dodge on the competition side. With factory support an unknown quantity, there is no real hope for drastic improvement on the track. And based on some of the rumors, top drivers like Ryan Newman and Juan Pablo Montoya could have other opportunities with different teams next year as well. While the wins might increase with Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch, the overall picture in the Dodge camp is pretty gloomy.
July 2nd, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I knew Dodge wasn’t as competitive as the other car manufacturers, but until I read this I didn’t know how bad it really was. I think with Toyota coming into NASCAR, Dodge needs to step up their program or they will be left behind. The only bright spot this season for Dodge has been, in my opinion, Kasey Kahne. Sure Ryan Newman won the Daytona 500, but in the words of Janet Jackson, “what have you done for me lately?”. If Dodge doesn’t step up, other teams make have to make that tough choice of going to another manufacturer or completely shut down as Ganassi did.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:11 am
I agree with Trixie. I knew it was bad but had no idea had bad it really was. That makes silly season
and “What will Ryan and Juan do” all the more interesting. Good post!!!!!
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:08 am
Well, don’t forget who owns Chrysler now. They are investment bankers and they are looking for one thing, to make money on the deal and milk the company. If the racing program isn’t making it they will cut it in a second. Look at the actually automobile manufacturing side of the business. They are planning to cut the cars that made them successful over the last few years like the PT Cruiser and others but have nothing outstanding coming down the pick. If the Avenger is any indication, Chrysler is in big trouble.
Unless something happens I wouldn’t be surprised if there is no Dodges in the field by 2010.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:51 am
Trixie, anytime you can work in a Janet Jackson reference that’s a good thing (I think). Remember after DAytona how everyone was praising Dodge because they had five cars in the top 10? That was a little shortsighted.
Kendria, it sounds like Newman is as good as gone. I want to see what happens with John Paul Montoya, because he could be phenomenal in better cars.
John, you are right. I mentioned this a few weeks ago how silly Dodge’s plan seems to be. Instead of working on hybrid or more fuel efficient cars, they run a promotion for $2.99 gas. I could see Dodge getting out of Cup, and I was actually surprised that neither Penske or Ganassi left for Toyota.
Thanks for all the good comments.