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The Mopar Dodge Avenger pro stock car
When Dodge released images of the new Challenger stock car a few weeks ago, I referred to the Avenger previously used in NASCAR as being “Ultra vanilla”. Evidently Ma Mopar took offense to my comment, as on the opening day of the 2009 SEMA Show the indoor Mopar display brought us the debut of the new Dodge Avenger pro stock body and this new car is anything but vanilla.
The car was displayed in the familiar Mopar team scheme with the giant blue M and blue/black/white finish, proudly sporting Allen Johnson’s name on the sides of the car. However, I spoke last night with a contact within the Chrysler Corporation who told me that during the SEMA Show some other Mopar drivers such as V. Gaines stopped by to check out the new Avenger body. My contact told me that it based on the initial reaction from the drivers, it looks like sometime during the 2010 season we will see a full shift from the Dodge Stratus body that has been used for the past 6 years to the new Avenger body. This is all based on things going smoothly early on for the teams using the Dodge Avenger bodies, and there was no time frame from my contact as to when we can expect to see more teams using the new body.
In the meantime, I’m forced to eat my words, as Mopar has shown just how un-vanilla the Avenger can be but Dodge has proven that if they make a car a rear wheel drive and add a Hemi, the car will do well for itself. It’s a shame that they don’t give cars like the Avenger any balls in production form but that is an entirely different discussion.
Opinions about Dodges production lineup aside, the new pro stock body looks great and is supposed to be aerodynamic (and legal for competition) so with the NASCAR end of the Mopar Racing teams struggling it looks like the company is still making strides to stay competitive in the pro drag racing circuit.
Check out the gallery below of the Dodge Avenger pro stock unveiling t the 2009 SEMA Show and stay tuned to the Detroit Auto Examiner for continuing galleries and reviews of SEMA 09s hottest cars!
Comments
Not only are the NASCAR Dodge teams competative, but the Pro Stock cars, even in the old bodies have done well. This new body should propel the MoPars to the top of the field and make defectors, Larry Morgan, Ricky Jones and John Nobile regret their decisions. Hope to see some new faces in MoPars next season.
Dodge has a couple teams that do alright for themselves, but in the manufacturers points I would think that Dodge trails the other three...plus theyre losing more big teams this year.
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