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Dodge out of NASCAR?

Anthony

By Anthony
in Competing Products

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NLPRacing

NLPRacing

Posted
Posted

Same here. At this juncture, participation in NASCAR isn't a wise investment from either a marketing or product development standpoint.

PLEASE, get Ford out of NASCAR. :)

 

While it may not be everybody's cup of tea, NASCAR is the number one motorsport in the USA, why wouldn't Ford be involved. With the next years cars looking more like the street version than any "stock" car has in the past 30 years, it only makes more sense for Ford to stay involved.

 

As far as Dodge leaving, it's no surprise. After Penske decided to defect, they really had no choice. All current Cup teams capable of building their own chassis, bodies and/or engines (Roush, Hendrick, RCR, Gibbs & MWR) are all locked up with the other manufacturers in multiyear deals. Dodge would have had to start from scratch like they did with Evernham 12 years ago with somebody like RPM, Furniture Row or Andretti. They will pull out now, re-group and probably be back in a few years. They biggest mistake they made was not going out getting satellite teams for Penske to replace teams like Petty, Ganassi & Gillett-Evernham the way Ford, GM & Toyota have done for their marquis teams.

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akirby

akirby

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Saying that NASCAR is the number one motorsport in the U.S. is like saying the Rangers are the #1 hockey team.

 

On top of that, NASCAR is all about the drivers and the teams now, not the mfrs. All the cars are identical. Winning on Sunday doesn't mean squat for the mfr on Monday.

 

NASCAR is not a wise investment for any mfr right now.

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NLPRacing

NLPRacing

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Saying that NASCAR is the number one motorsport in the U.S. is like saying the Rangers are the #1 hockey team.

 

On top of that, NASCAR is all about the drivers and the teams now, not the mfrs. All the cars are identical. Winning on Sunday doesn't mean squat for the mfr on Monday.

 

NASCAR is not a wise investment for any mfr right now.

 

NASCAR is #1 as in they sell the most tickets & have the best TV ratings of any other motorsport. I'm not saying NASCAR is the best form of motorsports, just #1. The Camry is the #1 selling car, but it is not the best car. The Dallas Cowboys are one of the most popular & profitable sports teams in he world, but they are NOT the best.

 

Have you seen the 2013 NASCAR Fusion? It is the best looking "stock" car ever. I don't know what Ford spends on NASCAR, but it's a form of advertising and even when they were cutting everything they could to save money, getting out of NASCAR completely was never a real option for them which tells me here must be some ROI, even it's break even. I've been to many races, for the fans that are there, the manufacturer logo on the hood is as, if not more important than who's behind the wheel.

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akirby

akirby

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NASCAR is #1 as in they sell the most tickets & have the best TV ratings of any other motorsport. I'm not saying NASCAR is the best form of motorsports, just #1. The Camry is the #1 selling car, but it is not the best car. The Dallas Cowboys are one of the most popular & profitable sports teams in he world, but they are NOT the best.

 

Have you seen the 2013 NASCAR Fusion? It is the best looking "stock" car ever. I don't know what Ford spends on NASCAR, but it's a form of advertising and even when they were cutting everything they could to save money, getting out of NASCAR completely was never a real option for them which tells me here must be some ROI, even it's break even.

 

Think about what you just said - the vast majority of NASCAR fans are already brand loyal - so there's no benefit to advertising to them. I think the main reason Ford is still in NASCAR can be summed up in 4 words: Yates, Roush, Wood Brothers.

 

I've been to many races, for the fans that are there, the manufacturer logo on the hood is as, if not more important than who's behind the wheel.

 

Really? So if Dale Jr. moved to Toyota he wouldn't be the most popular driver any more?

 

If that were true then nobody would be pulling for any Toyota drivers.

 

Outside of a few hardcore brand loyalists I believe most fans root for the drivers, not the makes.

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NLPRacing

NLPRacing

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Think about what you just said - the vast majority of NASCAR fans are already brand loyal - so there's no benefit to advertising to them. I think the main reason Ford is still in NASCAR can be summed up in 4 words: Yates, Roush, Wood Brothers.

 

 

 

Really? So if Dale Jr. moved to Toyota he wouldn't be the most popular driver any more?

 

If that were true then nobody would be pulling for any Toyota drivers.

 

Outside of a few hardcore brand loyalists I believe most fans root for the drivers, not the makes.

 

You obviously have a strong negative opinion of NASCAR, so we'll probably just have to agree to disagree about most things on this topic, but I will comment on a couple of your points.

 

If Ford's involvement was just for Roush, Yates & the Wood Brothers, then why go after Petty and Penske?

 

Dale Jr. would retire before driving anything but a Chevy, so it's a moot point. He probably would still be popular in a Toyota, but he would lose more Chevy fans than he would gain Toyota fans. To prove this, Mark Martin was more popular when driving the #6 Ford than anything since. If Matt Kenseth ends up in a Toyota, he'll lose a lot of fans too.

 

And to conclude, don't underestimate Toyota's popularity. There are way more people that are Toyota fans than you think and many these fans were Ford, Chevy or Dodge fans first.

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fordmantpw

fordmantpw

Posted
Posted (edited)

the manufacturer logo on the hood is as, if not more important than who's behind the wheel.

 

I'm not a NASCAR fan myself, but I know plenty of folks who are, and there is a lot of truth to this. People become fans of the driver because he drives a {insert brand here}. After that, they may follow him around to other manufacturers, but had Dale Jr. started out in a Ford, he would have a completely different group of fans. Same for Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart (wait, does ANYONE like that punk? :) ), etc.

 

The exception is female fans...they are fans for the driver's looks! :)

Edited by fordmantpw
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aneekr

aneekr

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Tony Stewart (wait, does ANYONE like that punk? :) )

 

I do, though mainly for the fact he's a native of the Hoosier state like me, some activities of his charitable foundation, and for his 1997 and 1998 Indy Racing League seasons with Team Menard.

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NLPRacing

NLPRacing

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I'm pretty sure Roush was at the forefront of efforts to land RPM & Penske, and I think he stands to gain more from the relationship than Ford.

 

RPM "merged" with what was left of Yates Racing, so I will give you that one. But, I bet Ford had more to do with getting Penske than Roush did as all Penske is going to buy from Roush is engines (and that was only recently decided). Who knows, maybe Ford is planning a return to Indy using EcoBoost and wanted Penske to head it up (that's long shot I know, but stranger things have happened).

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97svtgoin05gt

97svtgoin05gt

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Think about what you just said - the vast majority of NASCAR fans are already brand loyal - so there's no benefit to advertising to them. I think the main reason Ford is still in NASCAR can be summed up in 4 words: Yates, Roush, Wood Brothers.

 

 

 

Really? So if Dale Jr. moved to Toyota he wouldn't be the most popular driver any more?

 

If that were true then nobody would be pulling for any Toyota drivers.

 

Outside of a few hardcore brand loyalists I believe most fans root for the drivers, not the makes.

 

Theres no benefit to advertising to them? Well sure, stop advertising to them so that the ones who CONTINUE to advertise lure them away from the dropped brand (ie: Dodge or in this case Ford as you're proposing). This isn't a difficult concept to grasp right?

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97svtgoin05gt

97svtgoin05gt

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Fords NASCAR program for me right now is a bit of a disappointment however I believe there are other forces at work against ALL brands not Chevy. Chevy is NASCARs darling and as far as I can tell probably will be for the forseeable future. When the FR9 was introduced, the Fords walked everything on the track like butter and it wasn't long before Tony Stewart and others as a matter of fact were WHINING about the Fords advantage. Suddenly without too much noise at all, Stewart catches Edwards in the points race and wins the cup last year due to an additional win or two over Edwards with a dead even tie in the points. How does that happen?? Did Stewarts team suddenly just get a truckload of MoJo?? Did NASCAR quietly change something for the Chevys to negate the Ford advantage? My guess is yes, that is exactly what happened and now every single week the Hendrick cars are back in front with very few if any possible cars to challenge them. Hendrick & Chevy bought NASCAR and it shows weekly. That being said, it definitely cannot hurt to have more Fords on the track. It will definitely increase our chances for wins. Welcome Penske and good luck.

Edited by 97svtgoin05gt
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mettech

mettech

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I find it difficult to believe that fan of motor sports would buy a Ford product because it competes in today's NASCAR events.

 

Has anyone here on BON bought a new Ford product because a NASCAR Ford Fusion won a race or do you know of anyone that has?

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NLPRacing

NLPRacing

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I find it difficult to believe that fan of motor sports would buy a Ford product because it competes in today's NASCAR events.

 

Has anyone here on BON bought a new Ford product because a NASCAR Ford Fusion won a race or do you know of anyone that has?

 

I doubt anybody has or would, but despite the myth of "win on Sunday, sell on Monday", that's not why automakers engage in motor sports. It's to bring about brand awareness and to elevate the brand's identity. If Ford wins or competes well in NASCAR or any other motor sport, it gives current owners & Ford fans a warm & fuzzy feeling. That's basically what Edsel Ford said in an interveiw on Speed TV back a few months ago. He said Ford is in NASCAR and other forms of motor sports as a thank you to their customers and employees.

 

Here's a transcript from Edsel Ford's interview on Speed:

 

Edited by NLPRacing
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RichardJensen

RichardJensen

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RPM "merged" with what was left of Yates Racing, so I will give you that one. But, I bet Ford had more to do with getting Penske than Roush did as all Penske is going to buy from Roush is engines (and that was only recently decided). Who knows, maybe Ford is planning a return to Indy using EcoBoost and wanted Penske to head it up (that's long shot I know, but stranger things have happened).

Hmm. I thought Penske buying Roush engines was set much earlier in the process.

 

But going farther along on this one, I wouldn't be surprised if Penske approached Ford, rather than the opposite, and that because you could see the writing on the wall with Dodge. I mean, shoot, it's been what? Over 15 years? since Ford made serious efforts to bring on a front line team? It just doesn't seem like all of a sudden they'd be pitching Penske, unless at the very least, they'd gotten word that he was tired of dealing with Dodge.

Edited by RichardJensen
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NLPRacing

NLPRacing

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Hmm. I thought Penske buying Roush engines was set much earlier in the process.

 

But going farther along on this one, I wouldn't be surprised if Penske approached Ford, rather than the opposite, and that because you could see the writing on the wall with Dodge.

 

When Dodge decided to pull out (which was only official yesterday, but they said internally the decided only on 08/03/12), that's when Penske decided to shut down his engine shop instead of either building his own Ford engines or selling it to somebody to continue building Dodge engines. I'm pretty sure he was going to use Roush-Yates power all along anyway, but it was only official this week.

 

So Penske may have been the pursuer, but for some reason I doubt it.

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RichardJensen

RichardJensen

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So Penske may have been the pursuer, but for some reason I doubt it.

 

In my edited post, I posted the notion that Ford got wind of Penske's frustrations (he can't have been satisfied with Fiat at any point this year, or, probably, much of last year), and started a dialogue. Shoot. As long as Ford and Penske have been in this business, it might've started over booze of some sort at an event of some sort.

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