Dodge Viper Wins Endurance Championship, Then Quits Again

This was going to be a piece about how Kumo Wittmer won the 2014 Tudor IMSA United SportsCar Championship GTLM drivers championship and how the #93 Dodge Viper won the team championship this past weekend in Atlanta with their 7^th podium finish in 8 races. That was, however, before the Chrysler Group issued a statement this morning stating that the company was pulling factory backing from the Dodge Viper endurance racing program – essentially killing yet another Dodge Motorsports program.

Kumo Wittmer and Jonathan Bomarito came into the final race of the 2014 IMSA United SportsCar Championship season with a seven point lead over Corvette driver Antonia Garcia while their #93 Dodge Viper had a seven point lead over Garcia’s #3 Corvette C7R race car. The Viper owners just had to finish better than Garcia and his Corvette to secure both the driver’s championship and the team championship while Garcia would need to finish at least four positions better than both of those drivers and the #93 Viper to claim the titles. Garcia finished 8^th, removing any chance of winning the title while Kumo helped drive the #91 Viper (yes, he changed cars after racing in the #93 Viper all season long) to a 3^rd place finish and the driver’s championship while Bomarito and his teammates finished 6^th to lock down the team championship.

Dodge fans rejoiced, as once again the brand that we all love so much was once again the top dog in a major racing circuit and it wasn’t just any car – it was the mighty Viper. However, the money men in Auburn Hills didn’t even give us 48 hours to celebrate, as it was announced late this morning that Dodge was pulling its support of the Viper racing program. Like the championship caliber NASCAR program and the championship caliber offroad truck racing program, the bean counters who call the shots at Chrysler killed off yet another successful racing program.

There was no real explanation as to why yet another racing program was being killed off, with just a run of the mill corporate fluff announcement with what is very obviously a quote from Ralph Gilles that was written by a bean counter in the headquarters who has never been near a race track unless he or she was required to go for work.

“Our company has made a business decision to discontinue the SRT Motorsports Dodge Viper GTS-R racing program,” said Ralph Gilles, Senior Vice President of Product Design, Chrysler Group LLC. “We are very proud of the amazing achievements our fantastic teams, drivers and partners have achieved on track the last few seasons. We thank them for their hard work, effort and commitment to SRT Motorsports. It’s been an honor to be a part of the inaugural IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season and we wish them every success in the future.”

As was the case when the bean counters killed the NASCAR, offroad truck racing, D1 Drift and Global RallyCross program, the statement proclaimed that “the Dodge brand will redirect its focus and efforts on the brand’s product lineup.“

In other words, the accountants don’t see enough sales level return from racing programs to justify the costs so in an effort to better support the high performance Dodge brand – the accountants are slowly continuing to kill all Dodge racing programs. That makes good sense…you know, because you wouldn’t want a performance brand represented by race cars.

You really have to wonder about the people making decisions for a brand that sells two of the most powerful production cars in American history (Hellcat Challenger and Hellcat Charger) while not seeing a good reason to support factory racing programs. It might make business sense, but it is just the latest shot against Dodge fans who want to have something to cheer about in the racing world.

At this point, they are running out of forms of racing to compete in and then quit so it looks as though before long – Dodge Motorsports will be nothing but history. All that is left is the NHRA program and based on the crazy success of the Dodge drag racing program, it seems to be doing exactly the right thing for the ignorant accountants who call the shots at Chrysler to put an end to that as well.

So, Dodge racing fans, drink up this pair of Viper championships as it will likely be the last endurance championship for a good long time and at this rate – we might all have no choice but to root for another automaker if we want to be motorsports fans.

Im not sure if the folks at Fiat care if loyal fans of the Dodge brand hate them – but killing off all of the racing programs is one sure-fire way to make sure that Fiat ends up in the same negative light as the people at Daimler.

Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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