Dodge is counting on a successful 2009 NASCAR season
Heading into the 2004 season, the Dodge brand seemed to be emerging as a force in NASCAR. Ryan Newman was exiting a year in which he won a series-high eight races with Penske Racing. Newman’s teammate Rusty Wallace was still somewhat competitive, and he was a valued veteran supporting the manufacturer.
A young hotshot driver, Kasey Kahne, was entering his rookie season, replacing Bill Elliott in the famed ‘9’ car for Evernham Motorsports, which happened to be the one of the fastest cars on a consistent basis down the stretch of the 2003 season. Mayfield and his team had high expectations after a solid finish to the previous season.
At Chip Ganassi Racing, there was an excellent blend of young talent and veteran leadership with soaring expectations. Jamie McMurray was coming off a season in which he clinched the rookie of the year title. Casey Mears was beginning to show some promise, and the genial Sterling Marlin still appeared to have a few good races left in him.
Well, aside from Ryan Newman’s two wins, Rusty Wallace’s final career victory at Martinsville, and Jeremy Mayfield’s clutch victory at Richmond, Dodge was 0 for 32 in 2004.
Other than 2006, when Kahne won six races, Dodge has won no more than four races in a 36-race season. They were the only manufacturer that did not boast a driver in the 2008 Chase for the Championship.
In 2005, Dodge supporters blamed the Charger body style; however, NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow should eliminate any front end disadvantage. The bottom line is Dodge has never been able to keep up with Chevrolet and Ford, and now Toyota.
Following the 2008 season, Dodge lost three big name drivers. They lost their most successful driver from a winning standpoint in Ryan Newman, as his twelve wins are most among all Dodge drivers since their return in 2001. They lost Juan Pablo Montoya, who has yet to see much success in stock cars, but his name alone invites international interest and exposure. They lost 2000 champion Bobby Labonte after he was released from what was left of Petty Enterprises. In fact, they lost the entire Chip Ganassi Racing operation as a result of the merger with DEI. As of now, there are only six Dodge teams expected to run the full slate of races in 2009.
The future seems grim for the Dodge brand; however, they have not lost their enthusiasm despite the loss of drivers, teams, and the recent budget cuts.
“You want to have a portfolio of drivers that can at any given time deliver a top-five or a victory. We feel with the lineup that we have remaining that we can do that. The seven cars that we have, or eight or six cars or whatever it ends up to be…will be sufficient,” said Mike Accavitti, the director of the Dodge manufacturer.
Unfortunately, Accavitti’s expectations seem unrealistic. Judging by the past few seasons, Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne are the only two drivers that can deliver top five finishes and victories, and that is not even on a consistent basis. Busch and Kahne are two of NASCAR’s most unpredictable drivers, based on 2007 and 2008.
Kahne and Busch have proven to be great drivers in the past, and A.J. Allmendinger has vastly improved from his rookie season and seems to have boundless potential if he is in the right situation. A few wins in 2009 is a strong possibility, but a championship is a pipe dream.
Dodge teams will have a new engine that will be under the hood in 2009, and according to Accavitti, they shied away from cutting back their engineering. This program needs a positive outcome in 2009, because they cannot continue to lose teams, sponsors, and drivers and expect to stay afloat in this business. Additionally, they could lose their two prized drivers in Kahne and Busch, as their contracts are up for renewal after the 2010 season.
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Dodge is counting on a successful 2009 NASCAR season
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