Dodge won’t have the body panels for its Cup Series entry for about two weeks, but NASCAR still expects the car to be ready for 2027 Speedweeks, including the Clash that’s scheduled for the weekend before the Daytona 500.
“This was done about as fast as we can do it once they decided to go,” NASCAR Event Management President John Probst said about the approval process.
With Monday night’s official announcement that Dodge was returning to the Cup Series after a 14-year absence, the OEM is now eligible to participate in Goodyear tire tests as well as wheel force transducer tests; however, Dodge must have its car ready to race to participate.
“There are no body panels as of this moment in time,” Probst said. “We’ve just got to work out the timing of when they’ll actually have vehicles on the ground that could make laps.”
Getting a new car approved by NASCAR and ready to race is about an 18-month process, still Probst expects to see a Dodge in the February 13 Clash at Daytona.
“They go in the wind tunnel, and they have to fit in the performance box,” Probst explained. “They have done that, but those are all on prototype stuff that may or may not fit on an actual race car, so the exoskeleton is correct. But a lot of times the mounting of those body panels is a little bit different than how it would be on the race car. So, once they pass the wind tunnel test for the exoskeleton, we then kick off the manufacture of the actual body panels.
“Then when those body panels come in, we go back into the wind tunnel and just make sure that with the actual production level body panels they’re still in the box and we’re waiting to do that now. That is largely formality. We have not had any real instances where an OEM would pass the wind tunnel test and then fail with the production panels. If they do, we have tools in our arsenal to adjust it to get it back into the box.”
Probst said NASCAR’s current rulebook doesn’t allow a new manufacturer in the sport to test, but he noted November 15 was the launch date for the 2027 rules.
“We’ll obviously have some discussions around new manufacturer tests and things of that nature,” Probst said.
There’s also still a question about the engine Dodge will use in its Cup car. It’s been rumored that Dodge might use an engine provided by another OEM for a year while the Stellantis brand develops its powerplant. When asked about Dodge’s engine Probst would only say, “The engine that they will run is compliant with our rulebook.” He said he would let Dodge address its engine situation.
Dodge’s return to Cup now gives NASCAR four OEMs in stock car racing’s premier series, and the sanctioning body continues its efforts to bring more into the sport. Probst says talks are underway with its current OEMs about the engine that will be used in the sport in 2030 to 2032.
“There’s certainly been a lot of vacillation around how much of the powertrain should be electrified,” Probst said. “We just want to make sure that we don’t rush into something.
“We recognize engines do have a long development and that decisions have to be made first quarter of next year time frame, so the engine builders and the OEMs have time to start working on the future.”
A North Carolina native, Deb Williams is an award-winning motorsports journalist who is in her fourth decade covering auto racing. In addition to covering the sport for United Press International, she has written motorsports articles for several newspapers, magazines and websites including espnW.com, USA Today, and The Charlotte Observer. Her awards include the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence, two-time National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year, and two-time recipient of the Russ Catlin award. She also has won an award in the North Carolina Press Association’s sports feature category. During her career, Deb has been managing editor of GT Motorsports magazine and was with Winston Cup Scene and NASCAR Winston Cup Scene for 18 years, serving as the publication’s editor for 10 years. In 2024 she was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame.
