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Joe Finn pointed out: "Your NHRA report of 5-6 was somewhat disappointing in that, in the process chronicaling Alerman's and Wilson's losses, you did not point out the the Pro Stock event was won by the 'other' Dodge of Allen Johnson. I like the factory team, but it's nice to see Johnson's team coming around as well."
Winston Cup
Jeremy Mayfield posted his second top-five finish in 11 starts this season in the No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Intrepid R/T at Richmond International Raceway this weekend. Mayfield's fifth-place finish was the best for Dodge at the D-shaped track. He jumped four spots in the series standings and ranks 19th, 200 points out of 10th.
Series points leader Sterling Marlin finished 11th and continues to lead the NASCAR Winston Cup Standings. Marlin entered Sunday's race with a 143-point advantage over second-place Kurt Busch. Busch finished 27th Sunday and dropped to third in the standings. Marlin now leads Matt Kenseth by 132 points.
Steve Grissom, in only his third start behind the wheel of the No. 44 Dodge Intrepid R/T out of the Petty Enterprises stables, finished eighth Sunday, and Jimmy Spencer drove his No. 41 Target Dodge Intrepid R/T to a 10th-place finish.
Ward Burton led the most laps, 125 of 400, but his transmission broke
on lap 226 and Burton ended up with a 30th-place finish. Other Dodge
finishers were:
* Bill Elliott (No. 9 Dodge Dealers Dodge Intrepid R/T) 14th
* Hut Stricklin (No. 23 Hills Bros Coffee Dodge Intrepid R/T) 16th
* John Andretti (No. 43 Cheerios Dodge Intrepid R/T) 20th
* Casey Atwood (No. 7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge Intrepid R/T) 22nd
* Kyle Petty (No. 45 Sprint Dodge Intrepid R/T) 23rd
* Randy Renfrow (No. 59 Price Motorsports Dodge Intrepid R/T) 43rd.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Robert Pressley didn't complete his first lap of the race before mechanical "gremlins" caught his No. 18 Bobby Hamilton Racing Dodge Ram. Going into the first turn Pressley broke a drive train and immediately dropped back from his seventh-place starting position. His Dodge was forced behind the wall for repairs and wouldn't return to the race until lap 19. The NASCAR veteran finished 31st in the 160-lap race.
Musgrave was a major force throughout the first three-quarters of the race. Unlike last race, the No. 1 Mopar Performance Parts Dodge Ram was able to avoid incidental contact on the track as Musgrave dodged the spinning truck of Travis Kvapil prior to the race's second caution. Musgrave would re-start in second place and grab the lead by lap 36. He was running in the top five after about 120 laps, but began experiencing engine problems that kept him from running at full power for the remainder of the race. Despite mechanical woes, Musgrave held onto a 12th-place finish.
Jason Leffler was in the lead as his Ultra Motorsports teammate began to fight engine problems. Leffler started the race fifth and never seemed to fall lower than that as he turned in a solid day's work in his No. 2 Dodge Ram. He led twice and finished second for his best finish of the season.
Brian Rose earned an eighth-place finish, giving him three top-10s on the year - most by any Dodge driver. Brendan Gaughan finished as the top rookie of the race (11th).
Dodge remains first in the manufacturer's points standings with 28 points. Chevy has 25, and Ford has 23.
Mopar Parts teams completed eliminations for this weekend’s NHRA Nationals at the Atlanta Dragway.
Darrell Alderman and the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T drove to the semifinals before losing to Allen Johnson. Alderman, a 28-time NHRA Pro Stock national event winner, ran a slower 6.913-second lap at 200.78 mph.
Alderman outran Ron Krisher in the first round and Warren Johnson in the second round. The Morehead, Ky., resident won his third race of the season on a holeshot (4.49-.469) over Johnson. Alderman’s 6.888-second lap held off Johnson’s 6.878.
Dean Skuza ended his day with a bang. The Mopar Parts Dodge Stratus R/T driver exploded a blower as Frank Pedregon cruised to victory with a 4.916-second lap at 310.41 mph. “We were a little too aggressive on that run,” Skuza said. “I didn’t think we were going in, but it was a little too much after we looked at the computer. After it started to spin, I pedaled it, and fuel dumped in, it made a hydraulic motion, and I knew I shouldn’t have pedaled the last time, but he was right there. I just had to give it one more, and that was the one that did it. Bam. It exploded and that was all she wrote.”
Gene Wilson guided his Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T to his first NHRA round victory of his career. Wilson, who lost on a holeshot to Jim Yates in the second round, beat out V. Gaines with a 6.884-second elapsed time at 200.50 mph. Yates posted a slower 6.901-second lap at 199.82 mph, but it was enough to hold off Wilson’s time at 200.50 mph.
We've now had two reports of Hyundais sold as Dodges, one in Mexico (the Dodge Atos, which we've noted earlier, is a Hyundai Accent - thanks, Chris Krisocki) and one in Venezuela. The latter is in some ways more interesting, since it involves every non-Mercedes component of DCX. Roberto Iregui wrote:
[The Dodge Brisa] is a Hyundai Accent, assembled by Mitsubishi in Venezuela, and sold under a Dodge badge for about 8-9000 US dollars. Brisa means Breeze in Spanish.The Dodge-Venezuela Web site lists only two vehicles, the Brisa and the Dodge Ram - the smallest and biggest Dodges!
Mopar Parts NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series teams completed the first day of qualifying for this weekend’s Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at the Atlanta Dragway. Darrell Alderman debuted his brand new Jerry Bickel-built Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T.
Dean Skuza tossed aside a lot of the monkeys that have plagued the team this season. The new Dodge Stratus R/T grabbed the fifth slot with a 4.960-second lap at 310.84 mph. “We found a problem that’s been plaguing us on and off for the last two years,” Skuza said. “We addressed it in our testing session at Bristol (Tenn.), even though we didn’t go down the track. When we smoked the tires all three times, it showed us something. We looked at run after run over the last two years and we kept seeing the same problem in the clutch. We changed it and made a great run. the problem was such an intermentant deal that it was hard to track. On that run, we left it soft, it we made a beautiful run.”
Prior to one of many rain showers, Gene Wilson tried to qualify his Hemi-powered Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T in his hometown. Mechanical bugs hurt Wilson in his first qualifying effort. “The two-step broke in the clutch,” Wilson said. “The car would never rev up off the line and it just shut off about 100 feet out. It looks good for tomorrow, so we should be in good shape.”
Despite making a solid run, Larry Morgan, who pilots the blue Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T was unhappy with his 6.976-second lap at 198.29 mph. The Newark, Ohio resident collected the 16th- qualifying position
Darrell Alderman and the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T lit up the Atlanta night and grabbed the provisional fourth qualifying position. The three-time POWERade Pro Stock World Champion ran a 6.904-second elapse time at 200.02 mph. It was Alderman’s first pass in his new Jerry Bickel-built car. “We made a nice first pass,” Alderman said. “We have this new Jerry Bickel car and it felt real good. My crew chief Rickie Smith likes to work with the new car. The good news is that we still have quite a bit more in this Hemi engine left.”
DaimlerChrysler will build the new four-cylinder engines designed mostly by Hyundai (with late input from Chrysler and Mitsubishi) in its Alabama plant, and will sell the completed engines to Mitsubishi, presumably for use in the US-based Diamond Star factory. The engines will also be used in Mitsubishi-engineered cars sold by Dodge and Chrysler, including the Neon and Stratus replacements. (This news is from an auto.com story; thanks, Keitho). Prior reports suggested that a similar deal for small six-cylinder engines may also be in the works, presumably replacing the current Chrysler 2.7 and 3.2 engines.
/rant on/ While we applaud the arrival of any superior technology - assuming this will indeed be superior - we wonder about the future of Chrysler when we know they will be using mostly Hyundai engines, Mercedes and Mitsubishi engines, suspensions, electronics, and platforms, and apparently not producing any car platforms or major components on their own. At this point, the only Chrysler designs which seem to project into the "next generation" are large V6 engines, minivans, SUVs, and trucks. Even then, Mitsubishi and Mercedes overlap on many fronts with Chrysler - and from what we've seen, when there's overlap, Chrysler's design tends to be replaced. /rant off/
Last week, Dodge demonstrated a military version of the Ram HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle), developed jointly with the U.S. Army Tank Automotive & Armaments Command (TACOM) - National Automotive Center (NAC). The vehicle was developed in conjunction with the Army's Commercially Based Tactical Truck (COMBATT) program.
The COMBATT HEV achieves about 15 percent improvement in fuel efficiency and reduced tailpipe emissions. When the vehicle is parked, the hybrid powertrain converts to an electric generator to provide 12.5 kW continuous electric power or up to 30 kW peak electric power, eliminating the need for portable generators at remote sites. The vehicle can be operated in either diesel-electric hybrid or electric-only ("stealth") modes.
The COMBATT Ram HEV is equipped with a 5.9 L Cummins 24-valve diesel engine and 47 RE 4-speed automatic transmission. The vehicle is also equipped with run-flat tires, a central tire inflation system that enables operators to run more efficiently in different terrains and surfaces, and a unique hydro-pneumatic suspension system that enhances operation in severe off-road conditions.
The vehicle developed for the Army will capitalize on several of the Ram
HEV's capabilities:
* On-board battery capacity enabling a 'Stealth' operating mode and 'Silent
Watch' capability
* 110, 220 VAC and 208 VA 3-phase power availability
* Elimination of the need for off-board generators that currently must be
towed to sites to power mobile command centers and surveillance
posts
* Decreased vehicle weight, noise, heat and exhaust emissions
* Increased space available for equipment and personnel
* Reduced installation complexity and maintenance
* Always-available power wherever the vehicle is located
Chrysler Group has also developed a non-hybrid version of the COMBATT truck, also based on the diesel Dodge Ram 2500.
Chrysler is also developing a Dodge Ram HEV for commercial applications, such as the construction and utility industries. The vehicle, based on the Ram pickup, will be available in 1500 and 2500 models with either two-wheel or four-wheel drive and equipped with various gasoline engines. The electric motor provides power assist of 35 kW, or about 47 horsepower. The motor is located between the engine and transmission to create the electric-generating capacity.
The exhaust emissions from the generator on the Ram HEV will be much cleaner than conventional portable generators, because it will be powered by the vehicle's clean hybrid powertrain. The additional components in the hybrid powertrain add 250-300 pounds to the vehicle's weight, compared with 2,500 pounds or more for a portable generator with similar capacity.
The Financial Times reports (according to just-auto.com) that DCX will discuss the future of their joint venture engine program with Hyundai, which made the initial designs for the four-cylinder engine family. Dieter Zetsche, head of Chrysler, will meet with Hyundai's leadership in Korea to discuss production of the new engines. Mitsubishi and Chrysler are both involved in the design of the engine, and will both be using it. All three companies are part of the DCX empire, to some degree: DCX owns 37 percent of Mitsubishi and just over 10 percent of Hyundai.
The new four cylinder would be used first by Hyundai, but would make its way across to Dodge, Chrysler, and Mitsubishi, eventually reaching a volume of 1.5 million engines per year. It may be produced in the US as well as Asia.
The Korea Times introduced a new option, which is that 2.5-3 liter V6 engines may also be produced in the joint venture. Prior announcements had led us to believe that Chrysler would be making all V6 engines for Mitsubishi, but this may not be the case.
Winston Cup
Sterling Marlin continues to pull away from the pack in the race for the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup crown. Marlin has a 143-point advantage over second-place Kurt Busch in the NASCAR Winston Cup Standings after the first 10 races.
NASCAR Truck
Dodge drivers Robert Pressley and Ted Musgrave will renew their on-track Dodge Ram rivalry in the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers Ram Tough 200 at Gateway on Sunday. Pressley and Musgrave have each won a race and finished second in three starts this season. Pressley leads Musgrave by 20 points entering Sunday's event.
Dodge holds a 22-21 manufacturers advantage over Chevy in the truck standings, and Dodge driver Brendan Gaughan leads the Raybestos Rookie of the Year competition.
Musgrave won the pole and scored a 10.428-second victory in last season's race at Gateway. He led 140 of 200 laps in that race and leads the way this season with 178 laps led in the first three events.
NHRA
Dean Skuza grabbed his first No. 1 qualifier during the 2000 season and made his first final-round appearance in his rookie season of 1994, losing to John Force.
Gene Wilson qualified for his first national event at last weekend's Mac Tools Thunder Valley Nationals at the Bristol (Tenn.) Dragway, falling to eventual race winner and defending NHRA Pro Stock World Champion Warren Johnson in round one.
Darrell Alderman is one of only six Pro Stock drivers to qualify for every NHRA national event this season. Alderman, a three-time POWERade Pro Stock World Champion, is currently tied with Ron Krisher for the most rounds won in a row this season at seven.
Pennzoil World of Outlaws
Steve Kinser, Danny Lasoski and Mark Kinser, driver of the Mopar-powered Maxim, will renew their season-long Outlaw battle Friday night. In 15 starts this season, the competition between the Kinser-Lasoski-Kinser trifecta has been amazing. Steve has three wins and 2,338 points. Lasoski has four wins and 2,326 points, while Mark has three wins and 2,318 points.
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