A force to be reckoned with, Roger Penske will jump from Dodge to Ford in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series.
Only days after the 2012 racing season got underway legendary team owner Roger Penske delivered what could be the big bombshell for 2013 – announcing he will end his long-time affiliation with Dodge next year and put his team colors on a NASCAR entry from Ford.
The move leaves Dodge, the performance brand at the Chrysler Group, frantically searching for a winning team to replace its long-time ally.
“We will be evaluating our options,” said Dodge spokesman Dan Reid.
The announcement by Penske came less than two weeks before Dodge was set to unveil its 2013 entry into the NASCAR circuit, a new version of its Charger muscle car. But Penske’s team – which had run with Dodge for the last 10 years – will instead be racing the new Ford Fusion.
Ford was looking for a high-profile way to promote that midsize sedan – an all-new, highly styled version making its public debut at the Detroit Auto Show last January. Like Dodge, Ford has been a consistent supporter of motor sports, especially NASCAR, the most popular racing series in the U.S., and a direct way to talk to the mainstream buyers Ford hopes to woo over with the new Fusion.
“This is an historic day for our racing program,” said Ford’s President of the Americas Mark Fields, in a prepared statement.
TheDetroitBureau.com sources said they had spotted Fields meeting with Penske during the recent – and much-delayed – opening event of the NASCAR season, the Daytona 500.
Penske is by no means an unknown at Ford. His team raced with the automaker in 1976 and 1977, then again from 1994 through 2002 – before his switch to Dodge.
Currently, there are only two teams representing Dodge in the prime Sprint Cup series.
Penske indicated he wanted to make the announcement early in the 2012 season to give him time to assist in the development of the NASCAR fusion.
But as for Dodge, “they will have to evaluate their position in NASCAR,” cautioned an ESPN news report, noting “there aren’t many teams” that the Chrysler brand will be able to recruit.
“Our motorsports involvement isn’t limited to NASCAR. We do value our NASCAR program and will be evaluating the opportunities available moving forward,” said Ralph Gilles, head of motorsports operations at Chrysler. “As those opportunities materialize, we’ll reveal our 2013 plans, not only in NASCAR but in other forms of motorsports.”