Posted on: June 28, 2011 – 11:04 am by RLD
There’s been a flurry of activity in the ‘Blogosphere’ on our 2011 Avenger and Charger. Numerous lifestyle websites such as Bullz-Eyes, Cool Hunting and Latina on Mission posted some great reviews of our vehicles. Click on the links below to read all about their driving impressions from these diverse bloggers with different audiences.
Bullz-Eye hits New York City with Dodge
Cool Hunting: 2011 Charger R/T
Posted on: June 21, 2011 – 4:27 pm by RLD
Vintage Dodge muscle was swarming around one of America’s most magnificent estates this past weekend during the annual EyesOn Design car show. Held on the majestic grounds of the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan, classic and iconic vehicles were “invited” to this show based on their unique and avant-garde design and styling features from the era.
Among the Bugattis, Duesenbergs, Packards and other classics from virtually every decade, the EyesOn Design committee recognized the role muscle cars played in the automotive landscape and American Pop Culture. Three generations of Chargers, including a rare 1971 HEMI®-powered R/T “survivor” were represented, along with a 1971 Challenger R/T and a 1972 Dodge Demon 340. Over 4,000 classic car lovers came through the gates on Father’s Day to see the vast array of historical vehicles.
All of the gate proceeds went to the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology, an internationally-recognized non-profit which accelerates the development of “artificial vision,” technology which will one day allow some blind and visually impaired persons to regain the vision to see the world around them, including the design of automobiles.
So if you’re in the Detroit area next Father’s day, make sure to save the day and take your dad to a show you’ll both enjoy.
Posted on: June 20, 2011 – 12:25 pm by RLD
For the fourth consecutive week, a Dodge Charger R/T led the field to green in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Penske Racing’s Kurt Busch continued his torrid four-week stretch by earning his third straight and 15th-career pole position for Sunday’s HELUVA GOOD! Sour Cream Dips 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
Success at the two-mile oval in Irish Hills is simple, have a race car that handles well on long green-flag runs. Cautions flags are traditionally rare as horsepower is trumped by a well-handling race car. Track position is king. Unfortunately, finding that right balance on the slick race track proved to be the undoing for the Dodge Boys.
Hoping to capitalize on early track position, Busch struggled finding the right setup on his Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger. Despite never racing outside of the top 10 for the first 198 of the 200-lap race, Busch’s car seesawed from ‘loose’ to ‘tight’. Finding the happy medium was a struggle.
“A really up and down day for us,” Busch said. “It’s always tough when you earn a pole position and can’t take advantage of it during the race. Our Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger was just too inconsistent today to contend for a race win. We were a solid top-10 race car, but just couldn’t get (it) dialed in enough to run with the leaders. We ran 198 laps inside the top 10, finished 11th after getting nudged out on that last restart. It was really a seesaw day for us.”
Mechanical grip was the major issue for the 2004 series champion. A solid top-10 car for nearly the entire race, Busch and crew chief Steve Addington used multiple air pressure, track bar and wedge adjustments searching for the right combination.
“It seemed like our car would be good for the first five laps of a green flag run, and then once the track would rubber-in, we would run tight,” Busch added. “Our first lap was awesome; the last 199 were a challenge. You have to be rock-solid on these two-mile race tracks. You need a good race car, solid pit stops and good changes to keep up with the track and we just were too inconsistent today. A solid points day for us and that’s important in the big picture.”
With his 11th-place finish, Busch dropped one position to seventh in the Sprint Cup driver standings – 41 points behind the leader.
Looking for his second win in four Sprint Cup races, Michigan-native Brad Keselowski turned a poor qualifying effort into early race motivation. Starting 41st, he gained 21 positions and raced his Miller Lite Dodge Charger into the top 20 by lap 15. Unfortunately for the recent Kansas winner, a fast race car didn’t multiply into race results.
Running 18th, Keselowski brought out the race’s third-caution on lap 81 when he blew a right-front tire after making contact with the outside retaining wall. The incident dropped Keselowski 13 positions for the restart on Lap 89. With the loss of track position and a damaged front-splitter, Keselowski could only manage to run as high as 21st position, fell a lap down, took a wave around on the race’s final caution on lap 192 and finished 25th.
“Obviously we had a poor qualifying effort that forced us to start at the rear of the field,” said Keselowski. “Once the green flag flew, our Miller Lite Dodge was a rocket. We were able to make our way up the field and raced as high as 18th. I was just trying to move around on the race track, trying to get us to where we needed to be. I just pushed too hard and hit the wall and that led to a flat tire that totally changed our day. It’s tough and this track and race means so much to me. I really wanted to have good run and we just didn’t make it happen today. It was just one of those days where it didn’t matter what we did, we were going to have a bad day. We’ll just keep working at it.”
Our Dodge boys will head back to the shop and regroup before heading to Infineon Raceway in California for the next stop on the grueling 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule.
Posted on: June 13, 2011 – 11:00 am by RLD
After a hard fought battle, Kurt Busch posted his best finish of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season here Sunday at Pocono Raceway, driving his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger to a second-place finish in the 5-Hour Energy 500 on the 2.5-mile track.
Busch started from the pole at the triangle-shaped track, led three times for 37 laps and was never outside the top five. The race came down to a battle between Busch and race winner Jeff Gordon over the final 80 laps. Both came to pit road for the final time on lap 178 of the 200-lap event with Gordon the leader and Busch a close second. Both had flawless pit stops, but Gordon maintained the advantage on exit. Busch finished three seconds back at the checkered flag.
It was the second straight pole of Busch. He started from the point last week at Kansas and led 152 laps before finishing ninth in what turned out to be a fuel-mileage race won by his teammate Brad Keselowski. Busch relinquished the lead with nine laps remaining to make a stop for fuel.
“It was a great run,” said Kurt of his runner-up finish. “It’s pleasing to see that result. I’m exhausted. It was a hard-fought battle with Jeff Gordon at the end. We ran him strong, we ran him hard. It started with about 70 to go. We were able to take the lead and stretch it out. Then there was a caution. The 24 beat us out of the pits and that was the difference. I’m real proud of our Shell/Pennzoil Dodge today, our team, and our teamwork. To finish second is a good feeling. Even though it’s a backup, it was a strong car today. We were working it hard today. I’m thankful to have good equipment and thank Roger Penske and the Dodge team. We were good enough to win today.”
Keselowski started 20th in the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, but had made his way into the top 10 by lap 50. Running in the top 15 on lap 78, he radioed crew chief Paul Wolfe and crew the car had developed a vibration. He made an unscheduled trip to pit road on lap 80, replacing all four tires. That didn’t correct the vibration. The problem turned out to be a broken left rear shock mount. The team corrected the issue only to have it break a second time. Keselowski finished 23rd.
“I think we had a top-five car there at the end when it mattered,” he said. “We had a broken shock, got it fixed and then it broke again. It’s just unfortunate. We had a really, really strong car and didn’t capitalize on it today. We did what we could, but there are some things you just can’t overcome.”
Keselowski slipped one spot to 22nd in the standings, but he’s only 13 points out of 20th.
Our Dodge Chargers will be back at it next weekend at the Michigan International Speedway.
The LX & Beyond Nationals has always been and will continue to be about the Modern Mopar and performance vehicles of the 21st century and celebrating the rebirth of the muscle car era that has been sparked by the innovation and pioneering vision of the designers and engineers at Chrysler Group LLC.
We also recognize and appreciate where the DNA of many of our favorite modern Mopars came from and why the names “Dodge Charger” and “Dodge Challenger” immediately spark thoughts of a famous Hemi Orange car jumping thru the air to avoid being captured by an also famous sheriff, or an Alpine White car racing from Colorado to be delivered to San Francisco.
This year we are adding the “HEMI Heritage Shootout Series” to the racing events of the LX & Beyond Nationals. All 1966-1978 (B-body) first generation Dodge Charger and 1970-1974 (E-platform) first generation Dodge Challenger vehicles, all engines (must be Mopar-powered) and all trim styles are welcome. We look forward to celebrating the beginning and the future of the Mopar muscle car era at Quaker City Motorsports Park on July 16-17, 2011. Race details will be posted later this week on www.lxandbeyondnats.com
Posted on: June 6, 2011 – 12:08 pm by RLD
Penske Racing and Dodge dominated Sunday’s STP 400 at Kansas Speedway. Kurt Busch started from the pole and led 152 of the 267 laps in the No. 22 AAA Dodge Charger, but it was Penske teammate Brad Keselowski with the right fuel strategy that propelled the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger team to victory lane. Busch finished ninth after a late stop for a splash of fuel.
For the second consecutive week, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race came down to fuel mileage. Unlike last week at Charlotte when Keselowski saw his chance of victory vanish when, running fourth on a restart for a green-white-checkered finish, he was caught up in a mishap. There was no mishap this time around. Keselowski took the lead on lap 259 when Busch yielded the point and headed to pit road for fuel. Keselowski coasted to a 2.8-second victory.
The final green-flag pit sequence came between laps 200 and 216. Busch made his stop for tires and fuel on lap 205. Keselowski made his top five laps later. That gave the driver of the “Blue Deuce” enough fuel to make it to the finish. There were 16 cars on the lead lap at the checkered flag.
While Keselowski and Busch were getting it done on the track, the pit crews were equally impressive on pit road. Keselowski’s Miller Lite Dodge team continually gained positions during stops and, with the exception of a malfunction in the dry-break fueling system during one stop, it was the same for the Double Deuce crew.
Keselowski started 24th, but had made his way into the top 10 by lap 73. He raced in the top 15 throughout the race, most of the time in the top 10. He was eighth with 37 laps remaining, but one of only three cars that had enough fuel to make it to the finish.
It was Keselowski’s second victory in 66 Sprint Cup races. It was the first victory for crew chief Paul Wolfe. It was the first win for Dodge since Kurt Busch’s victory in the 2010 Coca-Cola 500.
“It was a team victory today,” said Keselowski. Kurt, my teammate, led the majority of the race and had good speed and the 2 car had great speed as well. Kurt had them covered on speed. We had them covered on strategy. And together, one of us two was going to win. I’m proud that it was a Penske car that won. We had a car that I thought was capable of winning. I had a car last week that sat on the pole and had a shot at it, but caught the wrong line on the restart. The same thing at Dover and Darlington, we could just never catch that good break. You can only put yourself in that position so many times before you’re going to catch the right break. We caught a great break today because of all the hard work by the Miller Lite team that works on these Dodge Chargers. We got great gas mileage and that doesn’t hurt either.”
The win moves Keselowski up four spots in the season point standings, just seven out of 20th. This season, the top 10 in points after the 26th race will advance to the Chase. The final two spots – 11 and 12 – will be filled by the two drivers with the most wins, but they must be inside the top 20 in the standings.
There wasn’t any question about Busch’s fuel situation. He and crew chief Steve Addington knew that when they made the pit stop on lap 205. They were four laps short. A caution could have helped, but the final 102 laps went green.
“I’m proud of the way that this team has run,” Busch said. “To lead laps today and be very competitive, I’m all smiles. I felt coming into the weekend that if we could pace ourselves, have good team communication, we would be competitive. It was great. There was something in the back of my mind today that we weren’t going to win, but I’m glad that Brad got the win for those Miller Lite guys, for Dodge. We’re really happy to keep AAA up front all day. It’s just one of those days where you’re on the right side, sometimes you’re not. For all my guys, we’ll take this one and the points. I’m not discouraged at all.”
Busch remains sixth in the season point standings, 71 behind the leader. He’s the only driver that’s remained in the top 10 in the standings through all 13 races.
Posted on: June 1, 2011 – 3:50 pm by RLD
Our neighbors to the north are into more than just hockey, curling and snowmobiling. They also love sights and sounds of high-horsepower V8 engines racing side-by-side and bumper-to-bumper. That’s why we’ve teamed up with our fellow gearheads over at Mopar® and have committed to support NASCAR® in Canada for 2011. In our official role as automotive sponsor, the awesome 2011 Charger R/T and its powerful 5.7L HEMI® will be the pace car at many events throughout the season.
We’re also putting some more greenbacks up for grabs for eligible racers. The “Dodge –Mopar Fast Five” will reward the top five participating teams at every race. We’ve also sweetened the deal with the “Mopar Top Dodge Cup” that will recognize the top-five eligible Dodge-Mopar race teams for superior performance over the course of the entire season as determined by the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series final championship driver standings.
“Our Dodge vehicles and Mopar parts are a natural fit with NASCAR racing in Canada,” said Ed Broadbear, our vice president of marketing in Canada. “Motorsports is at the heart of Dodge. In fact, many of our products are race-inspired, which is why it is so vital for us to support and recognize the passion of drivers and fans that follow the sport.”
We’ll also be the event sponsor for the NAPA Auto Parts 200 as part of the NASCAR Nationwide Series on August 20 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.
So if you’re looking for some great racing action along with new names and faces in the sport, check out the link below for the complete schedule “eh”!
Posted on: May 24, 2011 – 12:00 pm by RLD
When Kurt Busch is not running his No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Sprint Cup Charger on the NASCAR high banks, he’s busy helping others in need. The Kurt Busch Foundation www.kurtbusch.com/foundation lends meaningful support for the betterment of organizations. They get involved in the areas of health care, education, career training and rehabilitation and lend support to military families going through rough times.
Kurt wanted to do something very cool to raise funds for his foundation and collaborated with us and Mopar® to customize a “one-off” 2011 Charger R/T. This awesome looking ride is painted in our new Redline Red color and features a yellow centered racing stripe. It’s also been fitted with door scoops inspired right from the 1970 Charger R/T. The rear spoiler and front fascia are also unique and tell folks this is no ordinary R/T model. Black chrome 20-inch wheels and Mopar Performance lowering kit give the Charger and even more aggressive stance. The 370 horsepower 5.7L HEMI® V8 will breathe a little easier and have an even throatier note thanks to Mopar Cat-Back exhaust system. On the inside, Mopar Katzkin® leather seats featuring Busch’s signature and number are fitted on the high-buckets.
“This is one fabulous Dodge,” said Kurt. “I’m delighted with what Dodge and Mopar have done and how they’ve helped the Foundation. They’ve done a stand-out job on this car. Someone is going to be very happy driving this amazing Dodge around town.”
This is the second time the Kurt Busch Foundation has conducted a car raffle as in 2009, a lucky winner laid some rubber in a Challenger SRT8. So don’t be left at the curb and put in gear as only 5,000 raffle tickets will be sold for this head turning Charger R/T. Tickets may be purchased online at www.kurtbusch.com for $100.00 each. Additional photos of the Charger along with a schedule of events to see this muscle machine in person can also be found on the website.
Posted on: May 23, 2011 – 11:00 am by RLD
The fate of both Dodge drivers in the annual Sprint All-Star Race was decided early Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski had problems in the first 25 laps of the 100-lap event run in four segments, creating a deficit they could not overcome.
Keselowski had to earn his way into the All-Star field and did so by finishing second in the 40-lap Sprint Showdown. Busch was making his 10th consecutive start in the spectacle.
Busch started 16th in the 21-car field in his Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger. His car was fast for three or four laps and then started dropping off. By lap 10, Busch had his hands full just keeping his car off the wall. Add in a pit road penalty during the mandatory pit stop on lap 25 which required a drive through penalty and the No. 22 was a lap down.
“We just have to get our cars turning better in the corners,” said Busch, winner of the All-Star event and the $1 million payday last year. It was a situation where our Shell/Pennzoil Dodge was a real rocketship for the first three laps of a run, fast and a little on the loose side. Then, we’d be pretty good for three laps. Then the handling would go away; it would just go way too tight.
Busch got the free pass at the end of the first session and managed to work his way into the top 10 in both the second and third segment, but by the end of the 20 laps in each, the handling would go away.
“We got the lucky dog after going a lap down in the first segment and that helped keep us in the game,” he said. “Steve (Addington, crew chief) and the guys threw everything they could at it. When you have to go five rounds on a wedge adjustment like we did that made very little difference, you know you’re in trouble.
“If we could have been up there in fifth or sixth at the start of the last 10-lap segment, we might have been able to pull something out. But starting back as far as we did (12th), it was a case of our car getting too tight too fast and we just had to hang on for all we could get.”
Keselowski made contact with the outside wall and had brake problems in the first 30 laps, leaving the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge six laps down. He didn’t give up. Neither did his “Blue Deuce” team. In the next 20 laps of the 50-lap segment, he passed the leader on the track to make up one of the laps. In fact, the No. 2 Dodge was the fastest car on the track. Cautions helped reduce the deficit to one lap heading into the final segment, but the 10-lap shootout was run without a caution.
“We had a great race car most of the night,” he said. “We just needed one more break to get us back on the lead lap there at the end. One more yellow and I think we had the car to really do some damage. I’m so proud of the recovery we had, getting five out of six laps back including one on the track. We’ve got something to be proud of. The Miller Lite Dodge was fast. We just got behind early and ran out of time before we could make up the deficit. My guys gave me a good car tonight. If we keep working, we’ll get there.”
Sprint Showdown
Keselowski used a bold move to grab the lead on the restart of the second 20-lap segment of the 40-lap Showdown and held on to finish second to advance to the Sprint All-Star Race. His move was to the inside of the two front runners. He went all the way to the grass before finally clearing the pair.
Keselowski held the point for 18 laps, but couldn’t hold off pole winner David Ragan who reclaimed the lead with two laps remaining.
“I was just trying to pass David (Ragan) on that restart, but David spun his tires and I had the opportunity to capitalize and made a run for it (the lead),” said Keselowski. “That’s what this is all about, doing all you can to transfer. I’m happy that we were able to get our Miller Lite Dodge into the big show.
“Our goal was to transfer, but we wanted to win the Showdown too. I didn’t just let him by me; he drove by me. He had the faster car. I’m happy for everybody at Penske Racing. We have both cars in the All-Star Race with Kurt’s (Busch) Shell/Pennzoil Dodge and my Miller Lite Dodge. I’m happy to make it to the big show; this is my third year to be in it.
“We’re on the cusp of getting things going really well for everybody at Penske. We’re starting to capitalize on some momentum. We know we need more speed, but we’re executing. We executed tonight with perhaps not the fastest car, but as a team and we got it done.”
Posted on: May 12, 2011 – 2:34 pm by RLD
The automotive world has changed a great deal in the 50 years since the muscle car era. Madison Avenue is no longer dominated by a male culture, the average lunch no longer mandates three Manhattans’ or other high-octane concoctions once referred to as ‘brown water’. We’d like to think that everything is a little more gentle than it once was. The truth be told is that the musclecar business was never, has never, and will never be a bastion of political correctness. You either had the need for speed, or you didn’t and on that merit alone, it was always sort of ‘us versus them.’
A name like Charger denoted speed and aggression; not for the namby-pamby set. Adding R/T to it meant you had bought power to match the name. For the chosen ones, the car names rolled our tongues off easy enough –Charger, Dart, Challenger. They denoted something that was not passé, something guaranteed to be more than a pedestrian walk down the boulevard. Sure, nobody really knew what a Polara or Monaco was, and those names subsequently faded away. But a Coronet denoted the torrid era of jazz, Swinger was slang for a certain type of fast and easy lifestyle, and Demon, well, that title spoke for itself. Then you could put some initials on it – R/T for Road / Track, GTS for Gran Turismo Sport, T/A for Trans Am and on it went. The names were not for the faint of heart, and were badges worn with honor at the local drive-in.
Then there were the engines – Magnum, Six Pack, Hemi, Max Wedge, Ramcharger. One early variety was a race six cylinder called a Hyper Pak; again, not the stoic motivation that took your mom down to the grocery store. Nope, these were engines that often right came from the factory with chrome and high-lift camshafts. You ended up at the gas station (sometimes more often then you wanted), showing everyone in walking distance what was under the hood. You didn’t have to ask them to look, either; once that hood was open, they’d just show up to scope it out.
The dealerships would use whatever incentives they could find to get people to come in and check them all out. It was the Lively Set, then the Hot Ones, the Dodge Rebellion, the White Hat Guys, and Dodge Fever, Dodge Material, and the Scat Pack. Sure, there were thousands upon thousands of non-performance cars that came out at the same time, but marketing the excitement of performance was a huge part of selling them as well. The idea was to use that excitement to put someone into a similarly-styled 318 Charger, or slant six Dart, or Coronet station wagon.
Hiring winning drivers like Dick Landy, Don Garlits, David Pearson, and Buddy Baker led to notoriety on the sports pages as well. It was a big deal during this time period to have a ‘win on Sunday, sell on Monday’ mentality. Most manufacturers pushed the sanctioning bodies for favorable rules, and built cars to meet the needs. In the first part of the 1969 model run, there was a semi-sleek Charger 500, and that was followed up after a close-but-no-cigar effort in Florida that winter with a radically-restyled Charger called the Daytona (named for the race), with a pointed nose and skyscraper deck wing.
We still like to have fun marketing musclecars. Our Chargers and Challengers still run the high-banks of NASCAR and NHRA strips. Our current batch of TV spots and prints speak of the passion, performance and the spirit that drives us. And who could forget our now infamous Challenger Freedom TV spot?
Here our future president George Washington and his worn band of patriots route a regiment of British Redcoats by a trio of black Challengers SRT8s.
