NASCAR/Charger News

[Ritterkreuz]

Charger submitted to NASCAR by Dodge: A reborn version of Chrysler’s legendary Dodge Charger muscle car could be screaming around the high-walled turns of the Daytona 500 in February — at least one month before a street-ready Charger sedan lands in dealer showrooms. DaimlerChrysler AG’s Dodge division has submitted a new car design to NASCAR for the 2005 Nextel Cup racing season, and is expected to name it Charger. The racing debut could also create buzz for the mass-market Charger sedan that will be launched in the spring of 2005 and is another key vehicle for the Chrysler Group, which is struggling to return to profitability. That’s part of the reason why Dodge has taken its time in developing a new race car for NASCAR. Mike Zizzo, a NASCAR spokesman, said the racing association and Dodge have been in talks about a new design since the spring of 2003. He said NASCAR will give Dodge final approval on the design by Sept. 1, assuming it passes a variety of safety and performance tests. That would make it ready to race in February’s Daytona 500, the official kickoff of NASCAR’s racing season. “The (review) process is in the final stages, and it’s moving along quite well,” Zizzo said. Dodge has raced the Intrepid sedan in NASCAR’s flagship circuit since 2001, but according to NASCAR rules, could not run the car in 2005 because the car is no longer in production. The Intrepid was replaced in May by the new Dodge Magnum station wagon. The full-size Charger, which will be sold as a four-door sedan, is a closer match to the Ford Taurus and Chevrolet Monte Carlo — the only three other vehicles competing in NASCAR’s top-tier Nextel Cup next year. Though the Ford Taurus is expected to be phased out in the next four years, Kevin Kennedy, a Ford racing spokesman said “as long as Taurus is around, it will be our car.” Pat Suhy, GM’s engineering group manager, said the Monte Carlo would not change for the 2005 racing season. The 2005 Dodge Charger will be built at Chrysler’s Brampton, Ontario, assembly plant. The rear-wheel-drive sedan will share the same underpinnings as the new Chrysler 300 sedan and Dodge Magnum wagon.(Detroit News)(7-18-2004)

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