Dodge Challenger going to NASCAR

With Dodge's involvement in NASCAR remains in question as the Chrysler group continues to restructure their company under a Fiat partnership, a recent announcement for the upcoming NASCAR Nationwide Series could bring a sigh of relief to Mopar fans. On Friday, October 30th Dodge and Penske Racing unveiled that the Dodge Challenger in a ceremony at Talladega attended by current NASCAR Nationwide rookie contender Justin Allgaier. For the 2010 Nationwide season, the Challenger bodied car will run in the 4 races which will acquaint teams with the new spec stock car slated for competition starting at the July race at Daytona. “Dodge is the performance brand of Chrysler LLC and the Challenger is the production vehicle that went out to market in 2009. We see this as the perfect opportunity to come in and launch into this (Nationwide) series the look of the car and get that connection back with the fans of this high-horsepower performance car. We’re real happy about the Nationwide Challenger’s design and characteristics and can’t wait for it to hit the track.” says senior manager of Dodge Motorsports Engineering Howard Comstock answering the reason for bringing the Challenger to the Nationwide series.

As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Car of Tomorrow was in development, it was widely rumoured that Dodge was going to rebrand their Dodge Charger entry under the guise of the two-door Challenger. Instead, Dodge Motorsports decided to campaign 10 races in 2007 with COT cars wearing the Avenger name. As the COT Sprint Cup car went full-time in 2008, Dodge ended the Avenger's short-lived affiliation with the upper

Reaffirming their commitment to NASCAR with the activation of the Dodge Challenger in the NASCAR Nationwide series, Dodge Motorsports goes on the comment “Our management has told us that we’re committed to racing in NASCAR and this is part of that commitment. It is a big commitment to build a new car for the Nationwide Series and we’re excited to expand our relationship with Penske Racing next year and beyond”.




Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR