- Ford and Dodge will race their reprised "pony cars" in NASCAR.
- The new Mustang and Challenger will compete in the Nationwide Series.
- Chevy and Toyota took a pass on the sport coupe option.
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — Ford and Dodge will use new racing cars with bodies based on their Mustang and Challenger "pony cars" in Friday night's Subway 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway.
The cars were developed as part of the second-tier Nationwide (formerly Busch) Series' version of the "car of tomorrow," the new Sprint Cup Series car, which went into full-time use in 2008.
Previously, the Nationwide Series used cars that were virtually identical to the old Cup Series racer, except with a shorter wheelbase and a less powerful engine.
Ford, in particular, has embraced the concept as a part of its wildly successful retro-look Mustang, styled after the 1967-'68 vintage fastback coupe — the model that actor Steve McQueen made iconic in the 1968 movie Bullitt. Among its promotions, the company will award a new street-version Mustang to the Subway 250 winner if the driver is racing a NASCAR-version Ford.
Chevrolet and Toyota will race revised versions of their Cup Series model identities, the Impala and the Camry. That surely disappoints Chevy fans, who were thrilled by the reissue of the Camaro brand in 2009.
Toyota never was a player in the 1960s "pony car" era triggered by the launch of the Mustang in 1964, but the Mustang soon was joined by Camaro, Challenger, Pontiac Firebird, Plymouth Barracuda, Mercury Cougar, American Motors Javelin and other models.
Some of these cars raced in NASCAR, which created a short-lived series for pony cars called Grand Touring, and later named Grand American, in 1968. The late DeWayne "Tiny" Lund won 41 races and three of four championships (1968, 1970-'71) driving Camaros.
Lund and Bobby Allison both won races featuring both Grand National (now Sprint Cup) and Grand American cars in mixed competition.
Inside Line says: Unlike the NASCAR pony cars of the 1960s and early '70s, the new cars are not-so-close facsimiles of production models. The Mustangs and Challengers will be harder to distinguish from the Impalas and Camrys than Allison's and Lund's cars were in comparison with the GN cars they raced against — and defeated. — David Green, Correspondent
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davidgreen says:
06:39 AM, 07/15/2010
Nastiness and sarcasm won't get any response from me. Y'all go ahead and hate all you want, while you still can, until "hate speech" and "hate crime" legislation is extended to apply to automotive conversations.
In my opinion, NASCAR missed a golden opportunity to present stock car racing based on real stock cars with Mustang, Challenger and Camaro models which, clearly, could be modified for safe and entertaining high-speed oval racing, just as the sedans of the 1950s and '60s were.
The new Nationwide cars are, as I stated, "not-so-close facsimiles" of the production models. Bill France's notion about spectator identification proved spot-on, but NASCAR has strayed much too far from that. I think that's the reason Chevy didn't bother putting "Camaro" bodies on its Nationwide cars.
05stangdriver says:
04:03 AM, 07/02/2010
WHAT?!? Balderdash! That's NOT a 'Mustang', not even close! It's a standard fiberglass NASCAR body shell with some effing DECALS on the front! Look at the roofline... 'Coupe' my @$$!!
Ditto with the 'Challenger'. The real version of which I don't particularly care for, but still. Both of these cars are a travesty. Typical NASCAR - slap some decals on any old p.o.s. body shell and assume that nobody will notice. The sad thing is, lol, most of the time THEY'RE RIGHT!! Also, NASCAR hasn't been about 'stock cars' for decades. Until they actually take a car that came off of a regular assembly line and then modify it for racing, they ain't no 'stock' cars!
NASCAR SUCKS!!!
lostboyz says:
03:47 AM, 07/02/2010
@rrocket the mustang is made in michigan
timeless_smurf says:
06:28 PM, 07/01/2010
Camaro...at least spell the car correctly...even if the interior is awful.
rrocket says:
03:48 PM, 07/01/2010
"But I really like the two door Camry NASCAR race car(insert sarcasm)."
Know what's even funnier? The Camry is the most "american" car out of the bunch. Made in the good ole USA. The Impala and Challenger both were "imports" from Canada....
bengal3200 says:
01:38 PM, 07/01/2010
I agree with Goaterguy's sarcasm. Race car's based on hot rods? What a crazy idea! It's very unusual that Chevy has not jumped on this too, with the success of the Camero. Hasn't the Camero even been a pace car a few times? Besides, who wants to race an Impala?? Moreover, I'm surprised that Ford ever stopped using the Mustang for NASCAR/stock car racing, right? And why didn't Dodge replace the Charger as soon as the Challenger came out??
goaterguy says:
01:21 PM, 07/01/2010
Wait... you mean that the two door body cars will be based (aesthetically) on real production 2 door cars!?
But I really like the two door Camry NASCAR race car(insert sarcasm).