Dodge Collects Two Wins in Three Weeks as it Marks 200 Days in Winston Cup Return

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (September 7, 2001) - Dodge Motorsports took 500 days to build the Dodge Intrepid R/T Winston Cup race car from scratch, but only 184 days to win its first race and prove that its Winston Cup program is on track - and in Victory Lane.

Dodge began counting down its return to NASCAR Winston Cup racing 500 days before the 2001 Daytona 500. It competed in 23 races in the 2001 season - taking three poles, 15 top fives and 35 top-10 finishes - before taking its first checkered flag at the Pepsi 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Dodge followed up its first win since 1977 with a victory at the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway last weekend.

But the two recent trips to Victory Lane are only the tip of the iceberg in Dodge Motorsports' progress over the past 100 days.

"Our NASCAR Winston Cup program has been a winner since the day we launched it," said Jim Julow, vice president, Dodge Global Brand Center. "But now, we've moved into high gear. The momentum has been building throughout the year - on track, with the fans, at the dealerships and with our customers. The wins at Michigan and Darlington really took the excitement and interest to a whole new level."

For the Dodge dealers in the region, the program is paying off. Bob Urse, president of the South Atlantic Dodge Dealers Advertising Association and owner of Urse Dodge in Fairmont, W. VA., said he is seeing increased brand awareness of Dodge in his own store and at the dealers he represents.

"There's a lot of excitement about Dodge in NASCAR Winston Cup," said Urse. "Customers come in and say they are glad Dodge is finally back. One guy drove his Ford in and said if Bill Elliott was driving a Dodge, so was he and he traded for a Dodge Dakota on the spot. The recent wins have accelerated that excitement. We've had a lot of folks come to the dealership because they're interested in Dodge. We're buying a lot of Dodge merchandise - hats, shirts and diecasts - for the showroom and the sales have been phenomenal."

Dodge Visits Victory Lane and Tallies More Top 10s

Dodge has continued its unique one-team approach to running race cars and teams. This one-team approach brought together racing veterans such as Ray Evernham, Bill Davis and Richard Petty with one-car team owners like Mark Melling and Winston Cup newcomers such as Chip Ganassi. When NASCAR handed down a rules change in July that extended the front air dam of the Dodge Intrepid R/T race car, the teams shared data and wind tunnel results to expedite the change from concept to on-track performance.

"We are proud of all five of our teams," said Bob Wildberger, senior manager, NASCAR Operations for Dodge. "In the first 100 days of this season, we proved that this program had a solid foundation and that our teams had a lot of potential to win. In the past 100 days, we've proven that we can run up front week in and week out and win races. That's a big accomplishment."

* In the last 100 days, Dodge has earned two wins, nine top-five finishes and 20 top-10 finishes. For the season, Dodge has two wins, 15 top-five finishes, 35 top-10 finishes and three poles in 26 starts. Sterling Marlin took the first Dodge win at the Pepsi 400 at Michigan, followed two weeks later by Ward Burton at Darlington.

* Other top Dodge finishes include two seconds (Andretti at Bristol, Marlin at Indianapolis), three thirds (Elliott at Michigan, Marlin at Las Vegas and Michigan), three fourths (Elliott and Marlin in two races at Pocono, Burton at Daytona), and five fifth-place finishes (Marlin at Darlington and Martinsville, Elliott at Daytona and Darlington, Burton at Bristol).

* Bill Elliott has embodied the momentum that Dodge is making in NASCAR, having captured three of his top fives, and four of his top tens within the last six races.

* Dodge has three drivers in the top 20 in points: Sterling Marlin is 3rd, Bill Elliott is 14th, and Ward Burton is 17th.

* Dodge has led 685 laps this season: Sterling Marlin led 343, Ward Burton led 118 laps, Bill Elliott led 78 laps, Dave Blaney led 70 laps, John Andretti led 51 laps, Casey Atwood led 13 laps, Stacy Compton led nine laps, Buckshot Jones led two laps and Jason Leffler led one lap. All five teams and nine of the 10 drivers have led laps this season.

* Dodge's Winston Cup program has not come at the expense of its NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series involvement. Out of 18 races, Dodge has won 12 races and has 10 poles. Dodge is leveraging its NCTS success with print ads such as the "Dodge is kicking everyone's tailgate" and "The winner's circle looks like a Ram showroom".

* In addition, Dodge Motorsports recently named the six recipients of the Dodge Motorsports Diversity Scholarship, who will receive technical training and an opportunity to work with a NASCAR race team. The students -- Ithiel Cruz and Mily Cruz, 19, from Houston, Texas; Jason Flamer, 22, from Houston, Texas; Carlos Marquez, 21, from Ft. Meade, Maryland; David Whippy, 20, from Mangilao, Guam, and Ramon Zambrano, 20, from Arlington, Virginia -- were selected from hundreds of qualified applicants through an extensive screening process. The scholarship recipients will receive NASCAR-approved training at Universal Technical Institute (UTI) in Houston, Texas.

"We've had confidence in our decision (to switch to Dodge) all along," said Bill Davis, owner of Bill Davis Racing and the No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge that visited Victory Lane last weekend. "Even when we thought we were struggling somewhere due to the change or when struggled getting the right handle on the motor and the aero at different places, we still knew that overall for the long haul for the next five years at Bill Davis Racing, it was the change to make.

"It's not magic, making a brand new race car go fast," he added. "It's just not an overnight project making the Intrepid a good race car. Sterling's win at Michigan and our win at Darlington are proof that we're coming along to where we can close the deal but we've still got a long way to go to be competitive the way we want at all the different race tracks we go to over the course of the season."

Marketing Programs Build the Dodge Brand with Consumers and Fans

Dodge kicked off its return to Winston Cup racing with one of the largest marketing campaigns in the series' history. Print and broadcast marketing campaigns have delivered the Dodge message to millions of fans and consumers across the country.

For the first time, Dodge used a race weekend to mark the consumer launch of a new vehicle. The recent Pepsi 400 at Michigan International Speedway provided a stage for an aggressive marketing program to introduce the new Dodge Ram pickup. Both Bill Elliott and Casey Atwood carried special Dodge Ram paint schemes on their Dodge Intrepid R/T race cars. Fans got into the action with special Dodge Ram giveaways of banners, hats and binoculars.

Dodge is expanding this marketing program through promotions with its partners and team sponsors such as Mountain Dew and Coors, among others.

* Mountain Dew recently sponsored the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington. Casey Atwood sported a special Mountain Dew paint scheme on his No. 19 Dodge Intrepid R/T

* Sterling Marlin donned a new look for the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway, driving a special Coors Original racecar to promote the brand throughout the region

* The North Carolina Dodge dealers used last weekend's Darlington event to showcase the New 2002 Ram Pickup, by having 45 new Rams on the track for driver intros. They also kicked off a 2 week dealership promotion for Aerosmith tickets.

* The two cars of Evernham Motorsports will carry a special Action Performance Spiderman paint scheme at the fall race at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Fans Show Their Support of Dodge

Fans have embraced Dodge's return to Winston Cup racing. Merchandise sales for Dodge and its 10 teams are outpacing other manufacturers as fans show their Dodge pride. All of this is translating to Dodge product interest, as nearly 60 percent of Web site visitors expressed interest in purchasing a Dodge Intrepid R/T. In select regions, such as Chicago, Dodge Dealers report sales increases of Intrepid R/T have increased 20 percent since this time last year, making Chicago the country's number one Intrepid market.

* Fan demand for Dodge merchandise put Dodge among the highest-selling trackside trailers - 30 percent higher than competing manufacturers. More than 1,900 Dodge dealers are part of the licensed motorsports product retail chain.

* The Dodge Garage (www.4adodge.com ) has consistently been the top-visited area of the Dodge consumer website. More than 80,000 fans have registered for insider access.

Dealers Bring the Program to Life in the Showroom

Dodge Dealers are helping to bring the excitement of Dodge's return to Winston Cup racing to their local level through grassroots programs that deliver an emotional linkage to the Dodge brand, dealers and vehicles. Dealers are involved at a local level with dedicated motorsports displays, motorsport-themed dealership events and show car appearances

* Dodge Dealer track entitlements include:

* Title sponsor of Florida Dodge Dealers 250 NCTS race at Daytona International Speedway

* Title sponsor of Florida Dodge Dealers 400 NCTS race at Homestead/Miami

* Official Car, Truck and Pace Car of the Pennzoil 400 WCS race at Homestead/Miami

* Title sponsor of Ram Tough 250 NCTS race at Gateway

* Co-sponsor, Official Car, Truck and Pace Car of Dodge/Savemart 350 WCS race at Sears Point

* Official Car, Truck and Pace Car of WCS race at Chicagoland Speedway

* Official Car and Truck of Pikes Peak International Raceway

* Official Car, Truck and Pace vehicle of Pocono International Raceway

* Dodge City is providing dealers with a turn-key fan exhibition that draws enormous crowds. More than 300,000 fans have toured Dodge City since its Daytona debut

One-Team Approach Continues Quest for Engineering Improvements

Dodge's extensive engineering program that built the Intrepid R/T has been hard at work this season refining the race car engine, chassis and aero performance. The Dodge engineers continue to work with the teams under the innovative one-team approach, sharing data and developments to improve the 10 teams' performance.

"The first 100 days we focused on transitioning from developing a car and engine from scratch to managing an ongoing program," said Tim Culbertson, manager, Dodge NASCAR Winston Cup Program Engineering. "The second 100 days, we've worked on getting more competitive, and that work is really beginning to pay off."

* On the engine program, Dodge has proven it has the durability to finish races and the power to win races. The engineers are now working on:

* Continued valve train development

* Reducing engine weight through lighter, stronger parts

* Performance developments such as enhanced intake manifold designs based on computer simulation tools

* From an aero standpoint, Dodge engineers are working to adapt the NASCAR rule change to the front air dam for a variety of racetracks and setups. Dodge has been working in the wind tunnel and with the teams to study on-track performance. Engineering is focused on:

* Studying the opportunity the extended nose offers for more total downforce while maintaining good balance. Dodge is providing the teams opportunities to work on aero jointly and privately in the Lockheed and scale DCTC windtunnels.

* Using CFD to study how to best manage air flow around a race car

* Investigating designs for better brake cooling

* Supplying more sheet metal panels to aid teams in building race cars

* On the chassis, Dodge is studying new front suspension concepts with the teams. It also is running complex analytical and empirical studies of the frame stiffness and performance. It has developed computer simulation tools and is working with the teams to utilize the tools effectively. Dodge and the teams can study the total car performance on specific tracks and analyze how different changes improve performance.

* Dodge continues to study safety. It is working on safety related issues with NASCAR and the other manufacturers. It shared a number of safety concepts with the 10 Dodge teams and commissioned Dr. John Melvin to meet with the teams.

As it counts down the last 100 days of the season, Dodge hopes to add to its list of NASCAR Winston Cup wins and continue improving the performance of its 10 teams. However, win or lose, Dodge has delivered increased interest in the brand, excitement for fans and showroom traffic for dealers. It will continue the strong national marketing initiatives that have made the program a success with dealers and fans. And, it will begin planning for its sophomore season in Winston Cup racing, which is only some 200 days away.