posted 08-07-2012 07:34 PM                  

Fitzgerald Cecilio – 4E Sports Reporter
Detroit, MI, United States (4E Sports) – After 11 years of racing, Dodge formally announced Tuesday its withdrawal from all NASCAR events at the end of the season.
“We’ve spent an intense five months working to identify and evaluate all options for our future involvement in NASCAR,” said Ralph Gilles, President and CEO of Street and Racing Technology Brand and Motorsports, Chrysler Group LLC, via conference call.
“A number of opportunities emerged, and our team worked diligently to put a structure together to fit our overall business and competitive objectives. While we have been pleased and enthused with the amount of interest from teams and sponsors over that time, in the end, we simply couldn’t develop the right structure,” he said.
The announcement came as a surprise as Dodge recently unveiled its 2013 Charger at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March, indicating its participation in both of NASCAR’s top two divisions next year and for the years to come.
The decision affects current involvement in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series.
Currently, Penske Racing is the only organization to run under the Dodge brand in the Cup Series. Penske Racing currently fields two Dodge Charger cars in the Sprint Cup Series and two Dodge Challenger cars in the Nationwide Series.
After Penske earlier announced it would join Ford in 2013, Dodge tried to find new teams to run under its banner but failed, forcing it to leave the report for the second time. The manufacturer withdrew from NASCAR in 1977 and returned in 2001. Dodge has not won a Sprint Cup Series championship since Richard Petty’s title in 1975.
“It’s an extremely difficult decision to know that we won’t be there for our fans next season,” Gilles added. “It’s important to note that we have not lost focus on 2012 or the commitment to our partnership with Penske Racing in both the Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series this season.”
Penske will run the last fifteen races of this season with Brad Keselowski and primarily Sam Hornish Jr. as the final Dodge Sprint Cup entries for now.
“Dodge has been a great partner to NASCAR for many years, and they have been part of numerous memorable moments throughout our history,” NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France said in a statement. “They made a business decision not to return in 2013, as they did in 1977 before returning in 2001. We wish them well and hope they again will choose to return to NASCAR at a later date.”