Great Charger paint scheme from 2007

830 Views 15 Replies 5 Participants Last post by codypet, 2 mo ago

Fast Eddie

Discussion Starter · 3 mo ago

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codypet

· #2 · 3 mo ago

Really interesting what happened to CGR around this time. After Sterling got hurt it really felt that it took years for CGR to get its rhythm back and even then, they weren't as strong as they were in the early 00's. Was it a talent thing or was it the cars? Or both? Reed, David, and Casey didn't exactly light up the cup series after CGR. I mean McMurray would win later in his career with CGR as would Montoya and Larson, but Larson and Chastain later would be way more competitive leaving CGR.

I guess that 01/41 wasn't ever particularly strong, but I feel like the 40 and 42 were.

Beentherebefore

· #3 · 3 mo ago

codypet said:
Really interesting what happened to CGR around this time. After Sterling got hurt it really felt that it took years for CGR to get its rhythm back and even then, they weren't as strong as they were in the early 00's. Was it a talent thing or was it the cars? Or both? Reed, David, and Casey didn't exactly light up the cup series after CGR. I mean McMurray would win later in his career with CGR as would Montoya and Larson, but Larson and Chastain later would be way more competitive leaving CGR.

I guess that 01/41 wasn't ever particularly strong, but I feel like the 40 and 42 were.

Sterlin' Marlin was by far, the best driver that CGR ever had. He almost pulled off a Championship for CGR & Dodge in 2002 (a decade before Penske/Brad K finally did it) till an inattentive Jeff Burton stuffed him into the wall during a yellow flag (Kansas?) and caused a career ending neck injury.

codypet

· #4 · 3 mo ago

Beentherebefore said:
Sterlin' Marlin was by far, the best driver that CGR ever had. He almost pulled off a Championship for CGR & Dodge in 2002 (a decade before Penske/Brad K finally did it) till an inattentive Jeff Burton stuffed him into the wall during a yellow flag (Kansas?) and caused a career ending neck injury.

Listening to Sterling on the Dale Jr. download he apparently had been hurt already at Richmond and continued to race and Kansas just aggravated the situation.

Interestingly, wasn't CGR a mid-pack car prior to the switch to Dodge in 01? I guess it was officially SABCO at the time but Chip apparently was involved in the middle of the 00 season.

Doug D

· #5 · 3 mo ago

Beentherebefore said:
Sterlin' Marlin was by far, the best driver that CGR ever had. He almost pulled off a Championship for CGR & Dodge in 2002 (a decade before Penske/Brad K finally did it) till an inattentive Jeff Burton stuffed him into the wall during a yellow flag (Kansas?) and caused a career ending neck injury.

I remember it was Richmond where he initially suffered the neck injury. The incident at Kansas forced him out of racing.

Beentherebefore

· #6 · 3 mo ago

codypet said:
Listening to Sterling on the Dale Jr. download he apparently had been hurt already at Richmond and continued to race and Kansas just aggravated the situation.

Interestingly, wasn't CGR a mid-pack car prior to the switch to Dodge in 01? I guess it was officially SABCO at the time but Chip apparently was involved in the middle of the 00 season.

There was a story about that team switching to Dodge in "Autoweek" back circa 2000. Sabco was running Chebbbies and when Ganassi chipped in big $$$ to buy half the team, he apparently told Felix that he saw advantages to switching the team to Dodge. Felix's reaction?........ "You've got to be f****ng kidding me".

Which was the track where an inattentive Jeff Burton stuffed Sterlin' into the wall during a yellow flag?

codypet

· #7 · 3 mo ago

Beentherebefore said:
There was a story about that team switching to Dodge in "Autoweek" back circa 2000. Sabco was running Chebbbies and when Ganassi chipped in big $$$ to buy half the team, he apparently told Felix that he saw advantages to switching the team to Dodge. Felix's reaction?........ "You've got to be f****ng kidding me".

Which was the track where an inattentive Jeff Burton stuffed Sterlin' into the wall during a yellow flag?

That was Kansas.

Beentherebefore

· #8 · 2 mo ago

codypet said:
That was Kansas.

Thx..........I kinda (vaguely) remembered that. I told Mrs BTB at the time that GM & Ford would be concerned enough about Ol' Sterlin' leading the points that they would pressure Nascar to "equalize" the Dodge's performance and that it would take 10 more years for Dodge to win a championship.

Beentherebefore

· #9 · 2 mo ago

For fonder Mopar memories, this Ganassi team paint job tops all the others

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codypet

· #10 · 2 mo ago

That paint scheme is looked back even today as one of the best schemes ever.

IMO. It with the 2004 nose is best

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Beentherebefore

· #11 · 2 mo ago

codypet said:
That paint scheme is looked back even today as one of the best schemes ever.

IMO. It with the 2004 nose is best

I always liked ol' Sterlin' - even when he drove "Brand C". I was really pulling for him to win his 3rd Daytona 500 in 2002, not that I was unhappy when "Wawd" Burton pulled it off in Bill Davis' Dodge.

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codypet

· #12 · 2 mo ago

Beentherebefore said:
I always liked ol' Sterlin' - even when he drove "Brand C". I was really pulling for him to win his 3rd Daytona 500 in 2002, not that I was unhappy when "Wawd" Burton pulled it off in Bill Davis' Dodge.

That drag race between the 40 and 22 when the field accordioned up behind them, and Gordon subsequently spun was one of the most fun moments I'd seen up to that point.

rickielee

· #13 · 2 mo ago

My favorite

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Beentherebefore

· #14 · 2 mo ago

codypet said:
That drag race between the 40 and 22 when the field accordioned up behind them, and Gordon subsequently spun was one of the most fun moments I'd seen up to that point.

We still recall that race fondly, and for more than that. We were in Las Vegas a few weeks before the race and Mrs BTB was standing in line at a betting parlor waiting to place some bets on the Super Bowl for some of her family members. She called me over when she saw that there were some betting lines for the Daytona race and asked me what I thought. I told her as a 40+ years race fan, that betting on any car race was unwise since anything can happen in a race such as tires blowing, crashes etc. Nevertheless, she said that a few bets for the Dodge drivers we liked might be fun and make watching the race more exciting to watch. She placed $10 bets on Sterling Marlin and Ward Burton as I walked away shaking my head. When they threw that red flag w/7 laps to go (when Sterlin' got out of his car to pull on the fender), Mrs BTB looked over at me grinnin' like the proverbial cat that ate the canary. She had betting ticket receipts for the 1st and 2nd place cars!

Ward went off at 25 to 1 and a few days after the race she got a $250 check in the mail from the casino

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codypet

· #15 · 2 mo ago

Anytime you get money from the casino is a good day. I will say having watched that finish over again, two things standout for me. Alan Bestwick had amazing commentary as that was happening. NASCAR even then could not get out of their own way with the bad officiating. They tried to justify not enforcing the yellow line rule when Gordon forced him down there and the contact caused Sterling below the yellow line. Their explanation weirdly was that Sterling was avoiding the wreck that was behind him. In the broadcast, you can tell Wally Dallenbach wasn't buying that explanation. They could have said that Gordon forced him down there, but in saying that, then Gordon would have gotten the penalty.

The working on your car during the red flag was the right call, and I don't blame Sterling for getting out. I know people call that a bad move, but he would have blown a tire with how much that right front was rubbing. I really didn't want to see that red flag, I wanted to see the race under caution with Sterling winning. Oh well. He went and won at Vegas two races later.

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codypet

· #16 · 2 mo ago

rickielee said:
My favorite View attachment 94047

That one looked so good at night. Although, I didn't love the fact that it was close to the 6 Viagra car at the time.

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