Marchionne All for Dodge’s NASCAR Return
Could We See Dodge in NASCAR in the Next Year or Two?
Racing is a business, and a very complicated one. Ask the Andrettis, the Hendricks, the Penskes, and Rahals about running a racing team. The answer will most certainly include loud and explicit words. Professional racing for a profit isn’t a joke.
You probably know Sergio Marchionne is the big boss at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Besides owning a stunning collection of sweaters, he’s also a genius. When Marchionne speaks, people listen, and then they act. No questions asked. So when Marchionne answered a journalist’s question at the Ferrari Finali Mondiali in Daytona last month, people gasped.
When asked if Dodge would be interested in returning to NASCAR, Marchionne said, “Yes, I’d love to. I talked to Jim France about this just last night.”
In case you don’t know, Jim France is the executive vice-president of NASCAR. As a result, everyone from Detroit to North Carolina is going crazy.
So what happens now? As the folks at the The Drive explained, there’s no such thing as just “jumping into NASCAR.” In fact, no one’s done it. Everyone has always taken baby steps until they reached the big boy NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Toyota did it that way. As did Ford. And even Dodge, before their 2012 pullout from the sport.
That leads us to another question. Does Dodge (or Marchionne) have the patience and dinero required to move up through the NASCAR Camping World truck series, the Xfinity series, and lastly, the big circus?
With a new title sponsor, the household name of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is gone. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is ready to roll. And it’s looking for growth and revenue. What better way to do so than by adding a fourth manufacturer to the championship?
In the end, it won’t be easy for Dodge to get back in, but certainly not impossible. Only time will tell!
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Via [The Drive]
Photos [Autoblog]