Everyone knows that Dodge is a world famous brand, it’s one of the most recognized car brands in the world.
Many experts have speculated that Nascar would’ve accepted Dodge back into the sport had they just negotiated with them first or offered them a better deal. So, why is Dodge not in NASCAR? Let’s find out together!
Why Is Dodge Not In Nascar?
1. Sponsorship Issues
The company’s name on the team has nothing to do with it, but rather Nascar’s rules and regulations, which now require that all teams have unique names.
Further, Dodge lacked experience in sponsorship deals and marketing strategies for consumer products like cars that are used for racing events such as Nascar events.
So, it means that Dodge no longer has the chance to recreate its record-setting dominance that occurred during the 1960s and 1970s.
These regulations are put into place by Nascar to prevent any brand or sponsor from being banned.
2. Elite Drivers
Dodge believes that Nascar is a great branding opportunity. Nascar is also one of the few sports where Dodge can get equal air time with the long time dominant manufacturers, Chevrolet and Ford.
Further, Dodge has no plans as of now to enter Nascar with a Manufacturer level team. They feel that if they want to do it, they want to do it right.
Build a separate brand new team from the ground up and hire Elite Drivers, who are almost always with another Manufacturer in Nascar today.
Of course. it would take an investment of millions of dollars and several years to develop before launching a Championship-contending effort, which is what Dodge wants from Nascar.
Discount Tire will continue with its strong contract through 2024 at least.
3. Safety Issues
There are lots of reasons why Dodge is not in NASCAR.
However, one major reason is that it has been involved in several scandals in the past and has also failed to meet the quality standards that are expected from a manufacturer like Dodge.
Dodge has not been able to compete with other automakers because of their poor track record. In fact, they have had several incidents that have tarnished their image.
For instance, when they were involved in a scandal regarding safety issues during their production line, which resulted in deaths and injuries to workers who were working on the assembly line.
They also faced an issue with their emissions testing equipment which resulted in cars failing emission tests but passing them on road tests.
4. Not Interested In Investing Millions Of Dollars
Dodge is not in NASCAR because they are not interested in investing millions of dollars in order to support the racing team. They are only interested in short term profit instead of long term growth.
In addition, they do not want to be associated with Nascar as it will limit their brand recognition and sales from customers who might be watching or listening to Nascar races.
They do not want to spend millions of dollars on building an entire racing team which would require them to hire hundreds of employees for training, and other activities related to racing.
They do not want to compete directly with other manufacturers who also manufacture cars based on their designs (such as Ford) which will result in lower profits due to competition between companies selling similar products.
5. Failed To Matched The Feat It Achieved In 1999
With Dodge’s return to Nascar, people have been wondering why the company isn’t in the series. The answer is simple: It’s because Dodge failed to duplicate the feat it achieved in 1999.
In 1999, Dodge won its first Nascar race since 1955. They did this by finishing third in points for both their driver and team.
However, when they came back to Nascar after a brief absence, it didn’t go as well.
They finished eighth in points in 2015 and seventh in 2016—not good enough to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup (the playoff round of Nascar).
To know more, you can also read our posts on why Ford is better than Dodge, why your Dodge Ram shut off while driving, and Dodge bad alternator symptoms.
Conclusion
So why isn’t Dodge in Nascar? There are a number of factors that may have contributed to Dodge’s choice.
It may simply be that they were spending so much money on research and development that they couldn’t commit to the sport.
But Dodge isn’t the only brand who has skipped out on Nascar, although others have returned.