Challenger in Nationwide series future?
Well looks as if the Challenger may be a part of NASCARs future (but will the Challenger be a part of the future?)
The following story was posted on NASCAR.com today.....
NASCAR, team owners discuss new race car
By Staff and Wire reports
July 28, 2009
04:26 PM EDT
type size: + -NASCAR met with team owners from the Nationwide Series on Tuesday to discuss the rollout schedule for that series' new race car.
"In the days ahead, we will digest what was discussed [Tuesday] and make a final decision on the rollout for next season with full anticipation of integrating the new car for the entire 2011 schedule," said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition.
Pemberton"Right now the consensus is that the latter part of the year, we'll go to three intermediate tracks or ovals -- because it may include a Richmond or something else -- and in the first part of the year, the first half of the year, it looks like we're going to try to tackle potentially two speedways, Talladega and Daytona," he said of tentative plans for 2010.
Pemberton added that NASCAR hopes to have a rollout schedule finalized before the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races Aug. 8-9 at Watkins Glen. "We're still in the process of melting all that down, but that seems to be the general consensus from talking with the teams [Tuesday]," he said.
A meeting with approximately 125 fabricators and crew chiefs followed the meeting with team owners at NASCAR's research-and-development center in Concord, N.C.
Pemberton said car builders can expect to start receiving templates for the new cars in approximately two weeks. Not all manufacturers have announced the models for the new Nationwide cars, but the lineup is expected to be as follows: Chevrolet Impala SS, Ford Mustang, Dodge Challenger and Toyota Camry.
"We're excited about Mustang coming to NASCAR," said Brian Wolfe, director of Ford North America Motorsports. "It's the most successful product nameplate in racing history, and it seems only right that it should be coming to the most popular form of racing in North America.
"We had been talking with NASCAR for some time about Mustang as part of its vision for a 'muscle car' rollout for the Nationwide Series. We both saw it as a way of differentiating the series from Sprint Cup. ... I think race fans -- and Mustang loyalists -- will be very pleased when we publicly roll out the first car later this fall."
When it is introduced, the new Nationwide Series car will look and drive differently from the Cup Series' COT. The Nationwide car will feature a more traditional spoiler instead of a rear wing and a spring front suspension instead of bump stops.
"We're fairly wrapped up on what the look of the car is," Pemberton said. "Though our testing -- all of the wind-tunnel numbers -- everybody's pretty much in line, regardless of what platform they decide to market on. The numbers are very good and in close range to be competitive, downforce-wise and drag, things like that."
NASCAR introduced a new race car for the Cup Series in 2007, using the "Car of Tomorrow" in 16 races before making the car mandatory in '08. The primary design considerations were safety innovations, performance and competition, and cost efficiency for teams.
On Monday night, NASCAR chairman Brian France addressed the Nationwide Series' new car on Sirius Speedway. "With the new car, potentially, we are certainly talking to the manufacturers but we're zeroed in also on how do we make sure, from a timing standpoint, that we don't burden the team owners with an enormous amount of cost," he said.
"The teams are going through, as everybody in this economy is, lots of difficulties trying to figure out a new business model in some cases. So we're having to balance all this along with trying to make some progress. But we'll get there. We've got really, really smart people working on it."
Originally, NASCAR had contemplated introducing the new Nationwide Series car at Daytona in February, but team owners generally preferred a rollout later in the year. Accordingly, the probable competitive debut will come in the spring race at Talladega, where teams will test the new Nationwide car after the Cup race in October of this year.
"We're still running the numbers on that, and when you do that -- say it's April [Talladega] and July [Daytona] -- then we would look at an intermediate or an oval track race in August, one in September and maybe one in October to give them enough time in-between races to get prepared," Pemberton said.