What do you think of this??

[JohnMickish]

Do you guys think this is true or B.S.? And who do you think it is?

One of the Manufacturers pulling out of NASCAR? an autoextremeist.com column is reporting that: It has come to our attention that serious discussions are taking place for the first time in the conference rooms of one domestic manufacturer in particular on a subject heretofore unthinkable in Detroit. The subject? Pulling out of NASCAR. Yes, it has been mentioned before, and I have predicted it for months now - ever since the announcement was made that Toyota would be buying its way into the France family circus - but we have confirmation that not only are the discussions taking place, they're so far down the road that a timetable for a pullout has been created, taking into account the end dates of existing contracts with individual racing teams currently aligned with this particular manufacturer. This Detroit manufacturer has decided that if it competes in motorsports in the future, it will only compete in three basic areas: 1. In production-based racing series that by rule and specification retain more than a passing resemblance to the cars they sell and the competitors they compete against in showrooms. 2. "Technical" efforts, in other words, engine programs for open-wheel and prototype racing series, but stopping short of Formula 1. And 3. Developing an effort to compete for the overall victory at Le Mans. Any other efforts, grass-roots racing, drag racing, etc., would be covered as the need and budget allow.(in part....see full article at autoextremeist.com, note: thr article doesn't say which manufacturer COULD be leaving [Chevy, Dodge, Ford] and this column will only be up a few days), Peter M. DeLorenzo, who owns and writes for the site has been on Speed Channel's Wind Tunnel a few times and tends to be controversal and a bit anti-NASCAR, however doesn't tend to just post stuff for the sake of posting it and has a lot of sources.(4-20-2006

[bearplott]

Quite the circus this is going to become I think.

[harvey lee]

I will guess FORD.Maybe they should all pull out and let Toyota and the France family go racing.

[eyepatrol]

This would strike a HUGE blow to NASCAR and the fans of the sport. Speculation right now, but I'll be keeping my eye out for further updates.

Thanks for the info!

[JohnMickish]

I'm actually thinking Chevy on this because they are pretty involved with the Daytona prototype racing and the ALMS racing corvettes. If it is Chevy that would start the nail driving in the cover of NASCARS coffin for sure but Ford only has 7 good teams and they have their feet wet with either Champ Car or the IRL (I can't remember who they supply the engines to) and they also have recently been involved with F1. Mopar also has their hands full with the Benz connection to F1 and you can't say that they have set the stock car world on fire since they came back into the sport so thats a good argument for them to leave.

Either way it would pretty much suck, then when Toyota leaves (and they will) what is going to be left?

[lawdog]

Any of them could be talking about it I guess, but honestly I don't see it happening. NASCAR is huge and getting bigger all the time. Its also consistently rated at the top of the "bang for your buck" for advertising dollars so why walk away from it??? I just don't see it happening...

[JohnMickish]

If GM goes bankrupt that will probably cause them to pull out, at least for a reorganization period.

[VMS]

From what I know, NASCAR is not going to allow Toyota to come in and be able to drop tons of money into research and development. They will be limited to the same amount of $$ other teams and the same number of tests as any other team. They will be under the same scrutiny as all other teams. They will not come in and dominate like they did in Indy cars, or whatever series they run in.

We might see another manufacturer drop from one of the other series to concentrate on Cup stuff (like Dodge did with the truck series), but highly doubtful that we will lose a manufacturer in Cup. Besides, only Bill Davis racing and Michael Waltrip are running toyotas next year... at least at this point in time. That might change as the year progresses, though...

Nothing to get too worked up about.

Steve