Dodge has been seriously entertaining the idea of re-joining NASCAR in the coming years, per sourcesGetty Images
Dodge’s talks with NASCAR about re-entering the racing series as a manufacturer have stalled, according to sources, as NASCAR’s search for an elusive fourth OEM to join the sport continues. Execs from the series have been working hard behind the scenes in recent years to find a car company to join Chevy, Ford and Toyota in providing engines to teams while advertising their road cars to fans and exposing the sport to their customers. Dodge was one of the companies that was pitched and it had been seriously entertaining the idea of re-joining NASCAR in the coming years, sources said. Dodge has had multiple stints in NASCAR, most recently from 2001-12, but it left after winning a championship with Team Penske and Brad Keselowski. Penske was switching to Ford, and Dodge said it could not find another top-tier team to partner. However, talks have cooled in recent months; the exact reasoning was unclear, but starting a new NASCAR program would be a significant financial investment for any car company. Dodge owner Stellantis was formed when Fiat Chrysler Automobiles merged with the parent company of Peugeot in 2020.
EXAMINING A POTENTIAL LANDING SPOT: At the same time that Dodge explored entering NASCAR over the last year, it held exploratory talks with at least one team, RFK Racing, about a prospective partnership should it have decided to re-enter the sport, sources said. RFK is currently aligned with Ford. One series where Dodge is a manufacturer is the NHRA drag racing series, where it is now aligned with Tony Stewart, though it is unclear whether Stewart’s NASCAR team could have also been an option for Dodge. Stewart-Haas Racing’s current partner is also Ford. Dodge told SBJ last week that it is not working on expanding into any new series, saying in a statement, “Dodge is focused on our NHRA Camping World Drag Racing series efforts and the NHRA ‘Countdown to the Championship’ with Tony Stewart Racing and not expanding our efforts into other forms of racing at this time.” Ford, RFK and NASCAR all declined comment. One avenue for NASCAR to try to get Dodge back to the negotiating table could be its ownership of the IMSA sports car series. Media reports over the last year indicated that Stellantis was interested in possibly entering a car in IMSA with Dodge, while using its Peugeot brand in the WEC series, and NASCAR could try to leverage Stellantis to do a dual deal if it wants to join IMSA. The prospects of Stellantis agreeing to such a move are unclear.
LOOKING AT ELECTRIC OPTIONS: Like many car companies these days, Dodge is planning for an electrified future and starting to design hybrid and all-electric vehicles -- and NASCAR’s plans in the electric and sustainability space were likely of interest to the car company. On top of considering turning its Cup Series cars into hybrid vehicles as soon as 2024, NASCAR has been planning an all-electric exhibition series. Documents leaked this summer by the KickinTheTires.Net website indicated that the exhibition series was set to debut next year. However, sources now say that the all-electric exhibition series will not start next season as originally planned. It was unclear whether the stalled talks with Dodge played a role in NASCAR’s decision to not start the exhibition series next year as the documents previously suggested. If NASCAR does ever introduce an all-electric series, it could one day fill the role of what is currently NASCAR’s secondary Xfinity Series.
