Dodge's 'Car of the Future' Lands at Daytona Friday

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On Friday, the Dodge Challenger name will return to NASCAR competition following an absence of almost thirty years. The NASCAR Nationwide series event runs this weekend at Daytona International Speedway and Ralph Gilles, President and CEO, Dodge Brand wants everyone to participate.


Photos: Chrysler LLC

To that end, Dodge is running a number of fan events and activities throughout the weekend. "We've been looking forward to this race weekend for quite some time, and our loyal owners and fans are going to have a lot of opportunities to celebrate the return of the Dodge Challenger," Gilles said.

The #22 Penske Racing Discount Tire Dodge Challenger team will use chassis PRS-203 during Friday’s 250-mile race at Daytona. This is the first Dodge Challenger chassis built by the Penske team. Keselowski and the #22 team currently lead the Nationwide Series driver point standings by 247 points over ROUSH Fenway driver, Carl Edwards.



Keselowski is looking forward to the debut of the new Dodge Challenger, as it has some special importance for him. "I'm really excited to debut the new Dodge Challenger this weekend. I think the fans are going to enjoy the character that these new cars are going to bring to the Nationwide Series. If you took the spoiler off this car, it looks just like one you can buy in any Dodge showroom in America."

"My dad and uncle raced Challengers back in the 70s so this is something that really hits home for me. Those cars were some of the coolest racecars ever and I think this new Challenger is right up there with them. We had a good test at Daytona in May, so hopefully we can go down there and win the first race with the new car," he continued.

Crew chief Paul Wolfe is cautiously optimistic. "We've all been pretty anxious to get the new car on the track. It’s been great to be a part of this process of building something new. Now we just need to make sure that it provides good racing. We saw at the test in May that it drives much different than the current car. It moves around a bunch so I think you'll see most of the teams working on ride quality and stability, especially during the open test on Wednesday."

Penske drivers Parker Kligerman (#26) and Justin Allgaier (#12) will also debut new Challenger cars for the event.




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