Dodge struggling with lack of support, loss of teams

It has been 55 years since Lee Petty drove a Dodge Diplomat to victory in NASCAR's premier series at a race in West Palm Beach, Fla.

That was the first victory at what now is the Sprint Cup Series level for the manufacturer, and it fittingly came with a Petty behind the wheel. With Petty Enterprises in the news this week, and apparently very close to ceasing to exist as NASCAR has known it, there is no diplomatic way to say it: Dodge has become an also-ran when it comes to stacking up against the other three manufacturers who compete at the Cup level.

Kasey Kahne has nine of Dodge's 17 wins since 2005.

Manufacturer Wins

Since 2001

Year	Chevy	Ford	Dodge	Other*
2001	16	11	4	5
2002	10	14	7	5
2003	19	7	9	1
2004	22	10	4	--
2005	17	16	3	--
2006	23	6	7	--
2007	26	7	3	0
2008	11	11	4	10
Total	144	82	41	21

* Pontiac (2001-03)
   Toyota (2007-08)

The problems that have led to the apparent pending demise of Petty Enterprises are tied closely to the fortunes of Dodge. So if everyone is scratching their heads these days and wondering how this could happen to one of NASCAR's most storied race organizations, perhaps another question begs to be asked:

What has happened to Dodge?

Dodge-backed cars have won a total of seven Cup races in the past two seasons -- two fewer than the series-high nine registered in 2008 alone by the No. 99 Ford driven by Carl Edwards of Roush Fenway Racing.

Richard Petty won four championships driving a Dodge in the 1970s, before the manufacturer discontinued widespread involvement in the sport in 1977. Dodge didn't return to the NASCAR scene until 2001, when Ray Evernham started his own race team. Success, however, has been spotty since then -- and certainly hasn't come close to matching the on-track success enjoyed by Toyota, the latest manufacturer to get involved in NASCAR.

Petty, owner of Petty Enterprises (along with the investment group Boston Ventures) and a record 200 race victories at the Cup level, explained at the end of last season why he thought the Dodge-backed teams were struggling to keep up with the Chevrolets fielded by Hendrick Motorsports, the Fords run by Roush, and the Toyotas of Joe Gibbs Racing.

"I think you look at who has been successful [in recent years], and Roush has seven or eight cars he's working with; Hendrick has six or seven that he's been working with; even Gibbs has had some other deals they've been working with," Petty said of the alliances Roush Fenway has with Yates Racing, Hendrick has had with what soon will operate as Stewart-Haas Racing, and Gibbs has enjoyed with other Toyota-backed teams.

"It's hard to compete with that. You look at the Dodge teams, and you've got four teams that have been totally independent. We've not thrown our stuff into the middle of the pot, like the other teams have done, and tried to work through things together. Hopefully, we can do that next year." (Continued)