Return of the Intrepid

[bashlin]

It was reported during NBC's coverage of the Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway that some Dodge teams would roll out a Dodge Intrepid in place of the Dodge Charger for the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.(11-14-2005)
UPDATE: hearing a Penske Team and a Ganassi team are two of the team that may use an Intrepid at Homestead.(11-15-2005)

why would they not run the chargers??

[GoDaddy]

i haven't heard this at all. i will look around and see what i can dig up.

[jcmeci]

The charger has not lived up to the hype with regard to NASCAR. All of the teams feel like they are at an aerodynamic disadvantage with the Charger. I think some engineer really goofed on the nose piece that they got approved by NASCAR.

It doesn't change my opinion of the street charger...in fact, I might be willing to run my charger against some of the lesser dodge teams at say...Bristol or Martinsville....what do you think....could be fun!

I drove the Richard Petty Experience in Orlando (125.45 average MPH) and Monster Racing at Dover International Speedway.

[ChargerSXT]

I haven't heard of this either. The Intrepid isn't supposed to be run in Cup because it isn't in production any more. It can be run in the Busch series, though, since that series doesn't have the same rule about cars having to be in production (I've seen some teams that still have Pontiac bodies).

If anyone finds any info on this, I'd be very interested in seeing it.

[ChargerSXT]

I drove the Richard Petty Experience in Orlando (125.45 average MPH) and Monster Racing at Dover International Speedway.

:drool:

[GoManGoChick]

I heard this during the race coverage also. I checked for updates on nascar.com, the Penske and Ganassi sites, jayski or thatsracin. So far, zilchola beyond what we've already heard. :confused:

[Dodgem]

The Intrepid isn't supposed to be run in Cup because it isn't in production any more. It can be run in the Busch series, though, since that series doesn't have the same rule about cars having to be in production (I've seen some teams that still have Pontiac bodies).

If anyone finds any info on this, I'd be very interested in seeing it.

Well... if thats the case the Ford teams shouldn't be running the Taurus ,which is no longer in production either... ( replaced in the Ford line-up by the 500...I think.)

[THE BIG DOG]

The TaU :sick: rus It Is Still In Production But Only To Fleet Sales The New Nascar Body For Ford Is The Fusion In 2006. : :neutral: :

[ANTMAG06]

They did say that some of the teams were going to do this. I think it is because NASCAR has not made a decision on the new design for the nose and grill.

[GoDaddy]

hey antmag - anything else on when the new cars go into racing. i keep looking and can't find anything about the nascar of the future since that article was posted. i had read some more stuff on nascar.com and then it faded away with all of the great chase and the bousch news.

and yeah taurus isn't replaced until 06 and it will be with the fusion - and what a piece of (insert explanative) that looks like. why are all cars looking more and more like hondas? bueller? bueller?

[bashlin]

UPDATE 2: Ray Evernham of Evernham Motorsports told Claire B. Lang of XM Satellite NASCAR Radio that he's going to run a 2004 dodge as a test this weekend in an effort to find why the Dodges have been struggling: "The car shows great numbers in the wind tunnel, it qualifies great but it seems to struggle in traffic. This week going to Miami, we're going to run a 2004 Dodge as a test....Just a comparison you know we'll basically have two cars with identical chassis set ups prepared by basically the same people just different bodies so hopefully we'll be able to get some feedback on how each car handles in traffic......Car number 9 with Kasey Kahne will run the older model and Jeremy Mayfield will run the 2005 Charger."(XM Satellite NASCAR Radio)(11-18-2005)

[GoDaddy]

great update and like the thought process but how the hell did nascar bite off on this? i am a little confused b/c the new template for the car is not the same as the old template for the intrepid. i am cool with this and this makes for a great study, just can't figure out why nascar says yes - or do they have too?

again - great update. interested in seeing how they handle on sunday.

[bashlin]

what i don't understand is even if the cars run differently untill nascar will approve the new nose on the charger what do they hope to accomplish with the intrepid???does anyone think that nascar is going to let dodge change their nose now, even though all they want to do is make the nose flush with the grill so it won't catch paper.

[OoTLink]

and yeah taurus isn't replaced until 06 and it will be with the fusion - and what a piece of (insert explanative) that looks like. why are all cars looking more and more like hondas? bueller? bueller?

FINALLY someone agrees! :lol: Too many japanese wannabe cars nowadays

[Charger6673]

The nascar version of the Charger was developed with the 2004 spoiler rules, AFTER the work and approvals were done, nascar decides it is a good idea to trim some area from the front and rear spoilers. To get an idea what could have been, Ryan Newman ran 6 Busch Grand National races this year, he won FIVE of them. Why is this important? BGN racecars use the same rules they used LAST YEAR.
The 2004 body didn't make as much downforce on the nose as the Charger does. That is why the reason for a few teams running the old car, the nose is really the only difference, if you look at a Nascar Charger, it still uses the same hood as the 2004 car did.
They are searching for balance in the Charger. So far that has been the issue on the tracks where the aero change really comes into play. Unfortunately, that amounts to 75-80% of the schedule.
As far as the "intrepid" not being legal, they have not really called it an Intrepid since 03 (it happens some but not often) In 04 the cars just had "Dodge R/T" designation, they changed the nose work and got new headlight decals. After all this, they look suspiciously like Stratus Coupes! And a lot of the backmarker Dodge teams have used the 04 car all year (the 37 and 89 cars come to mind)

[ChargerSXT]

Charger6673,

Have you seen the 2006 Charger? Here is a like to Kasey Kahne's paint scheme for 2006:

http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/5085866

I understand that for the 2006 season, Dodge basically took a Ford nose and "Charger-ized" it. It doesn't look like the Intrepid / Dodge R/T. Have you seen any other info on this? :confused: