Why Isn't Dodge Racing in NASCAR?

April 10th, 2022 Chris Phillip
Why Isn't Dodge Racing in NASCAR?
Anybody notice there's no MOPAR race cars in NASCAR?

Almost seems sacrilegious as a Dodge and Plymouth were the first superspeedway cars to break the 200 mph limit and were so successful that they were outlawed. Think of NASCAR greats Richard Petty, Cotton Owen, David Pearson, Buddy Baker and many others and you'll be remiss to note that they all drove MOPARS.

Dodge last raced in NASCAR 10 years ago in the 2012 season. "The reason for Dodge’s departure after the 2012 season was that it would not give Penske Racing the multi-year contract that they wanted. Instead, Penske as Dodge’s only factory-supported team jumped ship to Ford, leaving the manufacturer without a competitive organization to race their cars. Soon after, an announcement to abandon NASCAR entirely was made." (source: MoparInsiders.com)

It's too late for Dodge to get approval mid-season for a 2022 return to NASCAR.

Could Dodge return to the superspeedways for 2023?

We'll have to wait to see.