Going back to Intrepid in nascar

[69_500]

Definately the truth. Why do you think that the HEMI and Ford's Boss 429 and 427 SOHC engines were outlawed in  the early 70's?

[Orange_Crush]

       Even if Dodge does come up with something better, NA$CAR will make sure that they are not dominant.   That will always be a Chevy.   It is a shame but it is true.

Or maybe Toyota...there may not be a Chevy a few years down the road...Or, who knows, it may be the Chevrolet division of Toyota Motors...Or it may be the Chevrolet division of DaimlerChrysler.

[Ponch ®]

       now the question comes up, WHY DIDNT THEY DO THIS EARLYER IN THE SEASON???   dugh didnt the teams realise they could still run a car that was good?

It probably would have looked pretty bad for Dodge to be promoting the new Charger, naming the Darlington race the "Dodge Charger 500", having most of the drivers praise the new design...only to to go back to last year's model. True, the NASCAR model looks nothing like the production model, but it would still be a marketing nightmare.

BTW- I do wonder if the teams that run the Intrepid body will still put Charger decals on it?

[69_500]

I don't know if any of them are actually going to run the Intrepid or not. I mean really it didn't run that well the last year either.

[chrisII]

       now the question comes up, WHY DIDNT THEY DO THIS EARLYER IN THE SEASON???   dugh didnt the teams realise they could still run a car that was good?

It probably would have looked pretty bad for Dodge to be promoting the new Charger, naming the Darlington race the "Dodge Charger 500", having most of the drivers praise the new design...only to to go back to last year's model. True, the NASCAR model looks nothing like the production model, but it would still be a marketing nightmare.

uuumm..is there anything about the new charger that isnt a marketing nightmare??   a friend of mine who cares verry little about cars was talking about one, but said he really wishes they had given it a better name  so he will probly keep his impala a while yet lol..ooh yeah an he prefers to buy chrysler

[1970440RT]

Definitely the truth. Why do you think that the HEMI and Ford's Boss 429 and 427 SOHC engines were outlawed in the early 70's?

     I really believe that ford and Chrysler got under the France family's skin with all the ferocious competition in the late sixties and early seventies.  After Chrysler bowed out due to financial reasons, the Chevys took over and never looked back.  This is kind of ironic, considering General Motors did not factory back the racers in the sixties and seventies.  Chrysler and Ford dumped gobs of money into it only to be slapped with the energy crisis.

Or maybe Toyota...there may not be a Chevy a few years down the road...Or, who knows, it may be the Chevrolet division of Toyota Motors...Or it may be the Chevrolet division of DaimlerChrysler.

    An interesting note:  Industry insiders claim that Toyota is spending more money on their truck series teams than the big three are spending on their Busch teams.  All Toyota Craftsman truck series truck bodies are built at Toyota racing development facilities by Toyota, not the race teams as the other manufacturers.  The Toyota truck motors have consistently dynoed 25 to 35 hp more than Dodge, Chevy or Ford.  Much of this is Na$car giving them more to work with to establish themselves.  Toyota essentially has a sanctioned advantage over the other manufacturers courtesy of Na$car.  So much for parity.  Expect the same when Toyota enters Cup in 07. 

Also, Dodge is pulling most of their factory support from the Truck series next year and putting it towards Cup competition.

[Brock Samson]

i wasn't aware toyota made pushrod v-8s with carbs.. 

[69_500]

Can someone tell me who won the manufactuer's championship in 1968, 1969, 1970, and 1971?

[hemihead]

I believe Toyota is tied closely with GM , is it not? Expect Ford to bring Mazda into the game soon.Then Mopar will follow with Mitsubshi.

[dodgeboy67]

 i think that since they dont make a 2 door model it,, the charger should be banned from nascar....i thought that to be a stock car , they had to make  a certain # of them to be elgible?

have any of you guys seen a 2 door production model????i havent

lookin at the first nascar pic....it appears they modified the front end of the car??? or is that the way they all are?
anyway, it seems to look better that way imo

[69_500]

I guess I'll answer my own trivia question.

1968 Manufactuer Champ was Ford
1969 Manufactuer Champ was Ford
1970 Manufactuer Champ was Plymouth
1971 Champ was Chevrolet.

What seemed odd to me about 1971 was that Petty won the Championship. However in 1971 only 3 of the 48 races that year were won by Chevrolet. Now Plymouth won 22 races, Dodge Won 8 races, Ford won 3 races (1 of which was in a Mustang), Mercury won 11 races. Now how does Chevrolet get the manufactuer's title in 1971?

[Lightning]

i think that since they dont make a 2 door model it,, the charger should be banned from nascar....i thought that to be a stock car , they had to make   a certain # of them to be elgible?

have any of you guys seen a 2 door production model????i havent

lookin at the first nascar pic....it appears they modified the front end of the car??? or is that the way they all are?
anyway, it seems to look better that way imo

that's the way they all are now.

they haven't raced a true 2-dr RWD car in 6 years, the last one was the Thunderbird.

BTW, all of the Cup and Truck teams get their bodies from Evernham Motorsports, or at least that's what the current Mopar Perf Parts book says.

EDIT: I also like the look of the CASCAR Charger, and the Car Of Tomarrow version is the closest thing to a production nose I've seen all year!

[Lowprofile]

i think that since they dont make a 2 door model it,, the charger should be banned from nascar....i thought that to be a stock car , they had to make   a certain # of them to be elgible?

have any of you guys seen a 2 door production model????i havent

lookin at the first nascar pic....it appears they modified the front end of the car??? or is that the way they all are?
anyway, it seems to look better that way imo

After the T-Bird, the Ford Boys were using the Taurus Body [a four door] for their NASCAR Platform.

[Ponch ®]

After the T-Bird, the Ford Boys were using the Taurus Body [a four door] for their NASCAR Platform.

yeah, the Taurus is the car that screwed everything up. Up until then, the production cars might have been V6 or fwd, but the race versions at least kept a lot of the cosmetic characteristics (like the T-Bird and Lumina/95-99 Monte Carlos). When Ford switched to the Taurus, they basically had the advantage of designining the race car the way they wanted it, since the Taurus was a 4-door car. After that, it was either one manufacturer or the other complaining that one had more advantange, so NASCAR kept changing the nose here, the rear there, and so on, until they ended up with the spec cars they have now.

[dodgeboy67]

well they should call it non stock racing anyway,.....these cars arent even close to being stock....lol

[TruckDriver]

well they should call it non stock racing anyway,.....these cars arent even close to being stock....lol

That's why I watch more only for the crashes now. NASCAR wants everything IROC. Take the driver out of the racing factor long as the cars are evenly matched. The generation of driver now couldnt handle the cars of the 80s or older with no power steering. Other then the older guys that are still around, and the sprint car guys, the rest only depend on a good handling car and pit crew.

[Lowprofile]

The more NASCAR sticks their nose into the building of these cars, the worse it gets for the teams, the manufacturers & the fans.   They need to step back, set some basic rules, and let the best teams/cars win.

[Ponch ®]

The more NASCAR sticks their nose into the building of these cars, the worse it gets for the teams, the manufacturers & the fans.   They need to step back, set some basic rules, and let the best teams/cars win.

there has to be a balance though.
That was done in the 60-70-80's and those were the days when the  2nd place car would finish a lap down, third and fourth 2 laps down, and everyone else 5+ laps down. That was way before my time, but I've watched enough of those snoozefests on ESPN Classic. Not very exciting.

[hemihead]

SnoozeFest? I guess you are to young to have seen the 1976 Daytona 500. I guess the excitement now is which Chevy team will win.

[69_500]

I say that if a team can make their car run that much better than the rest of the field then they deserve to win a race by a 1 lap margin. Even if that means that half of the field is 3-5 laps down. Then they need to go back home and do some homework. To me its boring to watch Daytona and talladega today where all the field is bunched up. They just go around and around. It has nothing to do with how good your car is, but how many of your buddies will help you draft to the front.

[1970440RT]

    Just read on jayski.com that Kahne will be running an Intrepid on Sunday.  Mayfield is running the Charger.  I guess it is more than a rumor.

[1970440RT]

Newman will also be running an Intrepid this Sunday.  What an embarrassment for Daimler.

[Ponch ®]

SnoozeFest? I guess you are to young to have seen the 1976 Daytona 500. I guess the excitement now is which Chevy team will win.

is that the one where Pearson and Petty wrecked off the last turn? Yeah..that was exciting. But how do you wreck, spin, and still manage to win the race?

[1970440RT]

BTW, all of the Cup and Truck teams get their bodies from Evernham Motorsports, or at least that's what the current Mopar Perf Parts book says.

That is not true L-06, Bobby Hamilton Racing, Orleans, and Ultra Motorsports all build their own race trucks.  In the Cup series, all major teams build their own racecars.  Info, research, engineering, and special parts may be distributed by Evernham which is the factory flagship team.  Much of that sheetmetal is bent by the shops from flat stock and hung on the cars to conform to the templates.

[hemihead]

Ponch, Petty just kept bumping the starter to make it move.Easy to do being a manual tranny.