What Would Happen If Chevy, Dodge Pulled Out Of NASCAR?

As GM considers bankruptcy, and Car and Driver publishes hoax articles about Dodge and Chevy being ordered out of NASCAR, I asked myself what would happen if Dodge and or Chevy pulled out of NASCAR.

The answer? Probably not much would happen.

While NASCAR touted the safety aspects, the savings, and the closer competition as reasons for the new car design, I think that the Car of Tomorrow also freed NASCAR from the mercy of the carmakers.

Sprint Cup cars are made by teams individually. There are no NASCAR factories that crank out COTs like GM or Chrysler plants. These cars are custom built in race shops by Sprint Cup teams. I imagine that other than providing parts, the carmakers have little to do with production or maintenance.

Don’t get me wrong, I know that carmakers provide support for their cars. But, if that support goes away, the make wouldn’t necessarily.

Last year, Dodge announced it would pull its factory support from what is now the Camping world Truck Series. At the time, Mike Delahanty, senior manager of Dodge Motorsports, said:

We’ll have no factory-funded teams. When times are tough, there are certain things that are lower on the priority list than others. There’s a lot of Dodge trucks, engines and parts out there, [teams] may choose to run them. We just won’t be writing the checks to any teams.

I’m sure that any carmaker that left the sport at this point would take the same stance.

Sure, some teams might stop using their cars. But, teams like Hendrick Motorsports and Richard Petty Motorsports would continue building their race cars, and would still compete.

Large sponsorships would, most likely, keep the bigger players in the sport. And the relatively low cost of competing these days, with the testing ban, would keep most of the smaller teams in the sport.

So, even if Dodge and Chevy were to leave, the sport would find a way to survive. After all, this isn’t the first time automaker support was in jeopardy.

Drivers Approve Of Nationwide COT

The Nationwide Series Car Of Tomorrow made its debut on Monday at a test at Richmond International Raceway, and thus far, the driver response has been positive.

Carl Edwards told ESPN:

I hadn’t seen the car all finished and sitting on the ground. It’s good. It drives really well. It feels a lot like the car we’re racing now. Compared to when we first ran the Car of Tomorrow in the [Sprint] Cup series, this is a lot smaller change for us to go to this car. 

According to NASCAR.com, five teams represented the four manufacturers: Roush Fenway Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing, and Richard Childress Racing. Drivers that tested the cars include Bryan Clauson, Carl Edwards, David Ragan, David Reutimann, Morgan Shepard, David Stremme, and Scott Wimmer.

Wimmer said, in the NASCAR.com article:

I’m excited about the car. [There are] a lot of real positive things right now. We’ve been running through the normal things we do at a test and it’s responding well.

The Nationwide COT will have a 110 inch wheelbase, the same as the Sprint Cup COT. This also will allow current Nationwide Series components to be brought forward in an effort to contain costs. The new car will also use a conventional spring suspension instead of bump stops.

To see images of the N’Wide COT, visit Jayski’s 2008 Richmond COT Testing Page.