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| This is all you get to see until March 11... |
Sam Hornish,
Jr, is admittedly a bit partial to the 2013 Dodge Charger that is set to make
its NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut in next year’s Daytona 500. But after
becoming the first driver to test the new 2013 Charger at a closed test at the
Homestead-Miami Speedway earlier this year, Hornish said he cannot wait for the
car’s official unveiling next month at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
“The car looks the best out of any of the new cars, that’s for sure,” said Hornish, who has seen all four of the new manufacturer entries. “Nice, sharp lines -- and you can see a lot of the street car in the race car. It brings the Charger’s identity back onto the racetrack.”
In the interest of parity and safety, NASCAR race cars have strayed further from the stock appearance of the street-legal vehicles they are based on. For a series that has always appealed to manufacturers with a “Race on Sunday, sell on Monday” philosophy, it has been challenging to maintain a high level of brand enthusiasm when the cars look so similar on the race track.
“The car looks the best out of any of the new cars, that’s for sure,” said Hornish, who has seen all four of the new manufacturer entries. “Nice, sharp lines -- and you can see a lot of the street car in the race car. It brings the Charger’s identity back onto the racetrack.”
In the interest of parity and safety, NASCAR race cars have strayed further from the stock appearance of the street-legal vehicles they are based on. For a series that has always appealed to manufacturers with a “Race on Sunday, sell on Monday” philosophy, it has been challenging to maintain a high level of brand enthusiasm when the cars look so similar on the race track.
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| Hornish has seen it, and he likes it! |
Dodge fans cling to the fact that the showroom version of the Charger is the
only rear-wheel drive, V8-powered model featured in Sprint Cup Series
competition. And soon, the relationship between the street Dodge Charger street
car and NASCAR Dodge Charger will be unmistakable.
In 2010, NASCAR held a summit with representatives of all four brands. The
central issue: returning brand identity to the cars on the track. The concept
was launched full-time in the2011 Nationwide Series, where all four
manufacturers introduced body styles that looked very much like their road-going
counterparts. “The response was phenomenal,” recalls Ralph Gilles, President
and CEO of Dodge’s Street & Racing Technology (SRT) Brand. “The fans were
like, `Hallelujah, finally, the race cars look a lot like the cars I can buy
and drive.’”
Key to the process was NASCAR’s decision to ease its requirements governing where manufacturers could put “glass,” as opposed to solid body pieces. This freed designers to make the “greenhouse” area above the doors, hood and trunk lid more closely resemble that of a production car. Rules were also eased for the front, rear and sides, allowing the introduction of character lines that come directly from the street car.
NASCAR still must aero-balance all four models, using extensive testing in the wind tunnel and on the track.
Mark Trostle, who heads Dodge’s design team for motorsports and worked on the Nationwide Series Dodge Challenger and new Sprint Cup Charger, said, “I feel like we’re helping change the feel of the sport and putting design and brand identity back into NASCAR. I think we’ve taken all the ingredients, and we’ve done a pretty awesome job with them.”
The public debut of the NASCAR 2013 Dodge Charger comes March 11 at 10:30 a.m. in the Neon Garage at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, just before the green flag falls on the Kobalt Tools 400.
Key to the process was NASCAR’s decision to ease its requirements governing where manufacturers could put “glass,” as opposed to solid body pieces. This freed designers to make the “greenhouse” area above the doors, hood and trunk lid more closely resemble that of a production car. Rules were also eased for the front, rear and sides, allowing the introduction of character lines that come directly from the street car.
NASCAR still must aero-balance all four models, using extensive testing in the wind tunnel and on the track.
Mark Trostle, who heads Dodge’s design team for motorsports and worked on the Nationwide Series Dodge Challenger and new Sprint Cup Charger, said, “I feel like we’re helping change the feel of the sport and putting design and brand identity back into NASCAR. I think we’ve taken all the ingredients, and we’ve done a pretty awesome job with them.”
The public debut of the NASCAR 2013 Dodge Charger comes March 11 at 10:30 a.m. in the Neon Garage at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, just before the green flag falls on the Kobalt Tools 400.
Hornish probably should try to refocus his excitement on 2013s Ford model.
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