Rogue vs. Dodge Motorsports and Co-Defendant DaimlerChrysler
By: Andy Kondratick
By now you have all heard about Dodge Motorsports pulling factory backing and funds from Bill Davis Racing for a supposed breach of contract. I am privy to why but I promised my sources that I wouldn't reveal the reason. But I sure can give you some hints.
The supposed breach of contract is rumored to have happened at Charlotte during the Coca-Cola 600 weekend. That is not true. It was before that. Was Davis Racing looking at the possibility of running a different manufacture next year? That is a possibility. What would be wrong with that? Teams do it all the time. Could they be testing different front ends on their cars and trucks or did they have a prototype from a different manufacture? Also another possibility but I still see no breach of contract with that. Every team will look at the other manufactures and try and see what works well for them. Did they speak with representatives about maybe being the first to help in the big changes about to come in our beloved sport of NASCAR racing? That is also another good assumption. I believe this is a case of extreme BCP. Big Company Politics.
When Dodge says jump you are supposed get on your knees and thank them for coming back into NASCAR. You aren't allowed to do anything without the express written consent of Dodge Motorsports. Sorry, Mr. Davis. Thanks for being one of the first teams to help Dodge with their big comeback by winning the Daytona 500 with Ward Burton. Thanks for fielding three Dodge cars with big named drivers but we do have a contract and we feel you are wrong so we are just going to pull out on you since you think the grass is green on the other side.
Who are they!? Oh that's right, they are Dodge Motorsports. They are the big conglomerate that will have their lawyers eat you for breakfast and spit your shoes out as if they were a piece of burnt toast crust. They are the guys who will single-handedly screw over the little guy just cause they can, if you don't do exactly as they say. Oh, you still can buy our product though.
Here is the scoop as I have it so far gang. It seems a lawsuit filed by Dodge's parent company, DaimlerChrysler, alleges that Davis' team breached its contract by building and testing a prototype Toyota vehicle for NASCAR's Craftsman Truck series. In the lawsuit, DaimlerChrysler alleges that at least one member of Davis' team represented Toyota at a NASCAR wind tunnel test in Marietta, GA, on April 30.
The suit says NASCAR officials performed aerodynamic tests on a Toyota prototype that bore decals from Davis' team and was powered by a Dodge engine. The suit says this violates a clause in Davis' contract with DaimlerChrysler that requires Davis and his team to "represent, endorse or otherwise promote" Dodge products. The suit, filed in a Michigan state circuit court on May 23, does not ask for a specific dollar amount in damages. But as a reward for racing Dodges, DaimlerChrysler pays its designated "factory" teams an annual sum believed to be in the low seven-figure range. The suit estimates that Davis' team has spent only 50-60% of this year's money, and asks for the remainder to be repaid. The suit also says DaimlerChrysler "fears that (Davis' team) has or will share DaimlerChrysler's confidential information with Toyota, in violation of the agreement," and wants the courts to force Davis' team to keep secret any confidential information they have obtained from Dodge.
Here we have a huge company that is scared of its competition and is willing to sacrifice relations with smaller race teams because they might share information. They haven't said that they did share information just that they fear it. Well, I can honestly say that I think Dodge jumped the gun and read into the situation more than it needed to. According to my sources, Bill Davis Racing was just looking at the difference between both manufactures and was running a Dodge motor in the Toyota chassis for their own records. They wanted to see how the truck would run with the engines they had. In part because they are looking at the possibility of running a Toyota truck in the Craftsman Truck Series and in part because, if they can run their motors in the Tundra, they would save money. That would mean no factory support from the Toyota people. Get it? They were just looking at the body.
Bill Davis is no traitor folks. He and his organization are as American as Apple Pie and they have built themselves up from scratch over the years as they continue to grow and prosper. We all know that Toyotas are coming and there ain't a damn thing we can do about it. I am not happy about it because it seems so Un-American to me but if American workers are going to get paid to build them, pit and drive them then I say let them. What the hell is wrong with taking a look at something? Research is a bad thing? Maybe Bill was going to share the information with Dodge. I am sure there will be plenty more said about this. Dodge has a reputation to protect and they went the wrong way on this one. There is a reason Toyotas are here in this country gang, it's because we buy them!
Dodge Motorsports and DaimlerChrysler are getting too big for their own britches in my opinion. I am a loyal and faithful Dodge owner and they have been paid over 100,000 dollars by me personally since 1995, when I started buying their products again. I have to tell you that as Dodge got bigger in the manufactures game again and since they came back to NASCAR racing, I have been cheering the loudest for them. But after the way I was just treated by DaimlerChrysler this past week and the way they treated Bill Davis Racing, I am finding their Five-Star Customer Service at the bottom of my wallet digging for every last penny.
To further add to my dislike for DaimlerChrysler and Dodge as a company, the transmission went out in my 1999 Dodge pick-up that only has 40,000 miles on it last week. The very same truck that makes it into every infield of the races I attend. Displaying and beating my Dodge chest, I always brag about how she never lets me down. That being said, I took it to my local Five-Star Dodge dealer (Bergey's in PA) and they told me that it wasn't covered under warranty and that it would cost $2,400 to fix it. I had a cow, to say the least but I followed protocol and called the DaimlerChrysler customer service line as instructed by the service manager named Ed. It took me two days to get through. They are only open between 8-5 to take customer concerns. What? People have to work to buy your high-priced product and you are only there for them at your convenience? Now I am pissed. I finally get through and the guy on the other end asks me some info, puts me on hold for 10 minutes and then comes back on. He tells me he fed the information I gave him into his little computer and it spit out an answer of "NO" to my question about if Dodge would give me some help money wise since the truck isn't that old or that far out of warranty. I assumed that I had a 5-50 warranty on the power-train. Wrong!!!
I can't believe that I was told "NO" by a freakin’ computer! I still love my Dodge and wouldn't trade it for the world. It's not the trucks fault after all. It's the fault of Big Business in America today and the crappy computerized customer service system. I know how you feel Mr. Davis. Bend over and take your punishment or get up and tell the people you won't stand for being pushed around by the "Big Guys"!
I got my transmission fixed at a small hometown shop that charged me half of what Dodge said it would cost to fix and she is back and running without Dodge’s help. If I can do it Bill so can you. I am proud to be an American and I support the little guy. The one who gets picked on just because people (or a computer) think they can.
This has been just one race fan's opinion with facts and anger mixed in.
- Rogue Reporter Andy
E-mail me at roguereporter@comcast.net
June 3, 2003 -
If there is one thing I hate more than anything else, it would be a big guy picking on a little guy. That is exactly what Dodge is doing in the NASCAR garage and they are even doing it in my very own driveway.