According to a Jayski article that quotes one from the Orlando Sentinel, Ford has confirmed it will/would use the Mustang in the Nationwide (former Busch) series. However, apparently GM is balking at using the Camaro? Don't want the Camaro to play 2nd to the Impala? Trying to stay away from the NASCAR stigma? Seems strange to not want to have the marketing this would generate.

Also, appartently there are some inside GM who want to rebudy the ALMS C6-R's as Camaros to help launch them. Now this seems like a bad idea to me. Kind of cheapens the tie between the C6-R and the actual Vette.

Article & Link:
http://www.jayski.com/cupnews.htm

A Ford Mustang in NASCAR in 2009? Maybe: A source at Ford Motor Company says the motorsports division expects the Ford Mustang to replace the Fusion in the NASCAR Busch [Nationwide Series in 2008] series. "We're expecting to run the Mustang in 2009," the source said. It's the first confirmation from a manufacturer what I [Cole] first reported in early 2006 - that the cars in the NASCAR Busch series, which will be called the Nationwide series in 2008 and beyond - may soon be substantially different from the cars in the top-tier Nextel Cup series. NASCAR is expected to require the Busch cars to be built to a safety specification similar to the Nextel Cup "Car of Tomorrow," which becomes the standard car at the Daytona 500 in February. If a makeover will be required anyway for the 2009 season, logic suggests that would be a good time for a nameplate change, as well.
That said, it may not be a done deal. Reportedly Chevrolet is balking at running the Camaro in the NASCAR series. Rumors suggest that Dodge is considering a Busch series version of the Challenger, which just went on sale at a price of under $38,000, for delivery in 2008. Dodge will build 5,000 Challengers in 2008, and expects to increase that number by sevenfold for 2009. Sales expectations for the Chevrolet Camaro are higher. With the discontinuation of the Monte Carlo, Chevrolet has no sports coupe aside from the Corvette and the small Cobalt SS, and won't until the Camaro is introduced. The Corvette will continue to race in the American Le Mans and Grand-Am series, though one contingent within General Motors is pressing for a body change for the ALMS GT1 class, where GM's two factory Corvettes literally have no competition: They'd like to see those Corvettes rebodied as Camaros to help launch that model, which won't hit the market until well after the Challenger.
Also, the move to "pony car" coupes could cause a problem for Toyota. The Camry Solara, a two-door sedan version of the top-selling car in the United States, may disappear after the 2008 model year. Sales are dismal; Toyota is expected to build only about 30,000 Solaras this year, compared to about 400,000 Camry sedans. One possibility at Toyota: Automotive News says that the company is expected to introduce a new Celica sports coupe in Europe in 2009. If that car comes here, it could be raced in NASCAR. The discontinued Celica made some appearances in the now-defunct NASCAR Dash series. If the move to the Mustang, et al, is to be made for 2009, that announcement would be expected soon after the first of next year.(Orlando Sentinel)(12-1-2007)

 

i REALLY do hope they keep the Camaro away from NASCAR... there are plenty of other motorsports where the Camaro can shine... instead of just turning left....

 

The Camaro is trying to get AWAY from a mullet wearing redneck image, not solidify it.

 

So then the Impala SS, Fusion/Taurus, Charger, and Camary are viewed as Redneck now too? Mustang and Challenger will be if NASCAR goes to the "pony" cars? If NASCAR does go that way, would GM field the Impy name against the Mustang and Challenger?

 

It's hard to associate anything to a car that looks NOTHING like it's "real world" counterpart.

 

Which is why I don't get people who watch drifting competitions.
They're modified cars to hell really but yet people think they can just buy one stock and do all that lame sliding around.

If the Camaro competes in the ALMS in GT1, then it'll get less publicity and will still be snubbed by a majority of their veiwers. There are 4 race classes, the majority people go to the prototypes, and GT2. I mean, think about, race cars and Ferraris, who would want to look at a Camaro besides me?

They need to find a true semi-stock competition, coughIROCcough, but that one's defunct as well. I'm sure there is something out there.

 

I'm pretty sure my opinion on the Camaro wouldn't change regardless of what race they used it in.

 

Sorry, but that might be the lamest comment I have heard in a while. Professional drifting has probably the least modified cars of any racing series I know of -- just look at the number of privateer drivers and the incredibly small shops that support them. And, yes, you can buy a stock car (RWD) and do all that "lame sliding around" if you want to (and are good enough).

With the Vette going to compete in GT2, I can not see the Camaro in ALMS at all. And, it shouldn't be. ALMS is for race machines built from hard-core sports cars -- not 4-seat pony cars.

If anything, I would see the Camaro in the Grand-Am/Koni Challenge series. Though, I would love to see it in Speed GT as well (but I doubt that will happen with the Vettes already there).

 

Not re-body. It would be cool to see them out there.

 

Camaro going NASCAR would immediately bias me against the car. I don't want to own anything associated with NASCAR.

 

The Aussies have it right. We need something similar to the V8 Supercar Series here in the states for Mustang and Camaro et al to compete in.

http://www.v8supercar.com.au/

 

I'm with Rampant on this one. Drifting is infact one automotive competition that uses actual cars you can actually buy from the showroom.

For drifting, you take a regular production RWD car, you essentially tweak the engine, throw on a set of tires, & find some sponsors. NASCAR has as less in common with a production car than a bicycle. The things are built from scratch by the same private few companies (that have nothing to do with the automaker the car's based on). It's even worse with the new COT.


Gotta disagree with you here. I don't think you'd find a single person save Ferrari bluebloods who wouldn't be impressed with a Camaro that runs toe-to-toe in races that include Ferraris & Porsches.

IROC isn't a race that showcases the cars, it showcases the drivers. Besides, you don't need IROC anymore... NASCAR has turned into IROC.

 

(Beside ALMS) You mean like...

http://www.world-challenge.com/index.php and http://www.konichallenge.com/ and http://www.grand-am.com/Home.asp and http://www.av8ss.com/american_v8_sup...car_series.htm

or on a more grassroots level...

http://www.camaromustangchallenge.com/ and http://www.americanironracing.com/ and http://www.scca.com/newsarticle.aspx?hub=1&news=3193

 

Why not just bring back Trans Am racing? You've got 3 ready-made cars for the series. They wouldn't be NEARLY as modified as a Nextel Cup car. And consumers could actually see the similarities between the racers and the stockers.

 

THIS SCCA series I posted above is essentially the Trans Am racing of old.

The SCCA still occasionally runs an oddball race or two each year under the Trans Am banner just to say they have had a continuous series but the field basically consists of cast off ASA cars now.