Why Isn't ChryCo Dodging NASCAR?

Dodge doesn’t compete in NASCAR to test new technology. Nor does NASCAR highlight fundamental attributes of Dodge vehicles the way, say, Subaru’s rally competition does. So why stick around when resources are so tight? “NASCAR fans love performance and Dodge fans love to win,” explains Michael Accavitti, Director of Dodge Brand and SRT Marketing at Chrysler Blog. “It’s always been a match made in heaven and we intend to remain involved in the NASCAR sport for the foreseeable future.”

We currently have seven teams representing Dodge, which we truly believe is the right level this year. In the past, we’ve sponsored as many as 12 cars at one time. Our experience showed that we spread our resources a little bit too thin. We’ve never been a big organization; we’ve always prided ourselves on being more nimble and smaller than the other guys to succeed. We’ll strike that appropriate balance where we can have a good Sunday afternoon for our Dodge fans. That’s what it’s really all about. So we’ve refocused our resources on fewer teams to produce better results, and I think that’s what you’re seeing on the track this year.

Refocused? So why are Dodge-backed teams still waiting on ChryCo for money? And yet, despite the “procedural issues,” even the new Italian bosses are behind the effort.

It’s worth noting that Fiat has already proven to be a valuable partner. From a corporate and engineering standpoint, Fiat is quickly offering us new technologies for production vehicles, and that technology sharing can carry over to motorsports. Anything that we could use, and that NASCAR would allow us to use in this sport, is something that we would certainly want to look at.

But in this statement lies the essence of why NASCAR simply isn’t worth the effort. Specifically, the “anything NASCAR would allow us to use” part. New fuel injection technology? Forget it. Traction control? Ha! Hybrid powertrains? What is this, Formula 1? If Dodge is going to enter the 21st Century, technology has to be fundamental to its performance image.

In this sense, NASCAR is a historical deadweight anchoring Dodge to the past. Which would be bad enough on the brand level alone, but this atavistic approach is more than just evident in Dodge’s products: it defines them. Challenger sales have already started to drop off as the novelty of its retro looks falls victim to its utter lack of value as a sports car. Yet, as long as NASCAR remains Dodge’s sole motorsport focus, there’s little chance of developments filtering their way into retail products. Creating sporting vehicles which attract sustained interest and enthusiasm requires more than NASCAR’s time-warp retro racing as a draw. It might not make sense for Dodge to withdraw from NASCAR completely, but the time has come to think about making a right-hand turn.