Did anyone read this ESPN post? Dodge should rally the little guys.

Dodge shouldn't be taking phone calls. It should be making them, and not to the NASCAR juggernauts.

No, Dodge should be rounding up the little guys. The brand should embrace its thrust-upon-it role as the ultimate motorsports underdog. It should assemble the single-car, cash-strapped teams from the far end of the Cup garage and go racing.

I'm not talking about start-and-parkers. I'm talking about shoestring-budget outfits that are working toward actually building something. I'm talking about teams like Gordon's, such as Tommy Baldwin Racing, Phoenix Racing, JTG Daugherty, Front Row and Furniture Row. The ones that have to buy used parts at auction, fly coach, don't own their own wind tunnels and stay at the Holiday Inn Express because it comes with free breakfast.
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Permalink Reply by alan4s on March 14, 2012 at 9:56am

Good article. I'd be surprised if Dodge took the advice, but it makes sense in a way.

Permalink Reply by jpman53 on March 14, 2012 at 11:04am

Dodge will make a similiar offer to Chad Knaus, that they made to Ray back in the day. mucho dinero

Permalink Reply by MTG on March 14, 2012 at 11:31am

Great read other than one fact was missed. The writer mentioned that none of the small teams have the ability to build their own engines. RGM deserves better. At least he was mentioned.

Permalink Reply by NIKAL on March 14, 2012 at 1:05pm

Actually many small teams could build their own engines just as RGM is doing. And actually RGM is not building their own engines in house per say. RGM owns a some engines engines and is having Joey Arrington's (Race Engine's Plus (REP) rebuild his motors. I would suspect any team interested in running Dodge could contract REP to do their engines. And since REP is not tied to any one manufacture I believe REP is also building Toyota engines now.

Also on Sirius radio they mention that Coy Gibbs confirmed that JGR is happy with Toyota and has no plans to change manufactures. They made it sound like Dodge might have contacted or shown interest in JGR.

RPM contract with Ford is up at the end of the 2012 season and here is what Richard Petty said about it. Richard Petty Motorsports said: "We welcome Penske Racing to the Ford Racing Family in 2013. Additional teams mean more information for everyone and that's a very good thing from a competition standpoint. We have a partnership with Roush Fenway Racing and we are happy to be a part of the Ford Racing program. As we always do, we will evaluate all of our options and make decisions based on what is ultimately best for our race team."(RPM)(3-2-2012)

I dont think RPM could afford to make the switch to Dodge unless Dodge threw crazy amounts of money at them. RPM is leasing a Roush building and leases all their cars, engines and gets tech support through Roush. I just dont think they have the capital or infrastructure to buy a building, buy equipment they dont have, build their own cars and engines and rely on their own team for technical data with Dodge's help.

As much as I would love to see Dodge jump in the RGM camp with both feet,, I just dont see it. Even with Dodge's full support, you will still need to be a two car minimum team and RGM cant find the funding to run one car full time. Dodge did the sponsorship thing with Evernham and I dont suspect they would ever do that again. I dont think the dealers would do it again. Now Dodge might offer more support to RGM then they have been, but I would not expect Dodge to give RGM a 1/4 of what Penske was getting. And also I dont know if RG really wants to go all in with NASCAR. I think he would if this is what he needs to do to keep afloat, but from what has been said in the past about RG being over the 36 race schedule, and is wanting to do more outside NASCAR. Running a full time team with two or more cars is probably not really what RG would like to do in the big picture.

Permalink Reply by Vlad Rogers on March 14, 2012 at 1:10pm

I suspect 36 races would be appealing if the money and results were there. Lets face it Robby is getting close to retirement age (not there yet though), dont tell me he wouldnt like to show what he can really do before he stops driving in NASCAR.

But I agree, I dont see how, besides full Dodge sponsorship, they could give him support enough to succeed.

Permalink Reply by Karl S. Ivey on March 15, 2012 at 11:58pm
You gotta read the whole article, as Mr. Gilles hinted that he may have an answer for that question...we'll see
Permalink Reply by WestCoast 2 VV on March 14, 2012 at 11:56am
Robby should be first in line since he is the only remaining Dodge that wants to stay with the right support of course.
Permalink Reply by Turtle7 on March 14, 2012 at 12:17pm

Great idea. What is there about 8 to 10 cars that are raced by true independents like RG. That is more then enough to support an engine program and why stop there, Dodge could also buid the chassises and the bodies where the teams would be responsible for the suspension components and tweaks.

Permalink Reply by alan4s on March 14, 2012 at 12:26pm

Or RGM could build chassis and bodies to lease/sell to others, since they make them already. He'd need to ramp that up as a biz, but could generate revenue to support the rest of the operation.

Permalink Reply by NIKAL on March 14, 2012 at 1:22pm

The problem with Dodge just supporting the small independent teams, is that Dodge needs to see a return on their NASCAR investment. Investing in 28th place teams is not going to get you on TV, Not going to get you the big name driver that can help promote the Dodge brand, Not going to get you in the winners circle and is not going to keep the Dodge/Fiat's board of directors happy with their investment.

And Dodge is not in the business to be building chassis and bodies. That is why they sign contracts with teams and parts suppliers in the sport. If Dodge was to do that they would be farther off then RGM is as you need to be in the racing business day in and day out and be making changes to your cars daily to stay competitive. This is why RG has said it is important for him to attempt each race as just missing a few you become that much farther behind the competition. Could you imagine if your tech support was only coming from Dodge in Detroit and not from the race track each week.

And as far as RGM building chassis and bodies for other teams. Well he could be doing that now. He does not need Dodge's support to make that happen. Biggest factor to me would be that RGM equipment has yet to yield results, so why would a team or manufacture want that company to be their supplier of chassis or bodies. My guess is RGM's bodies are per NASCAR spec, but with the lack of funding are no where near what Hendrick, Roush or MWR could offer a team. Even with Dodge's support do you think RGM's development in that dept could equal Hendrick?

Not trying to be a downer, just a realist.

Permalink Reply by TOG on March 14, 2012 at 1:29pm

One can do amazing things when properly funded.

Permalink Reply by alan4s on March 14, 2012 at 2:05pm

That was the unwritten point in my post. Need the bucks to make it work.

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