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June 16, 2009

Pony Cars Coming to NASCAR!

BangShift.com

Man this is some good news! Thanks to to a tip from KNN (The Kris News Network) we got ahold of this story that confirms that pony cars are on the way to NASCAR. They’ll hit the Nationwide series first and the story seems to elude to the fact that they will work their way up to the Sprint Cup circuit.

Ford is on board with the Mustang and Chrysler seems to be bringing the Challenger into the mix but Toyota will stick with the Camry and Chevy, it seems for now anyway, to be out of the loop on the whole thing. We’re guessing Congress will now have to approve any such decision as monumental as allowing the Camaro body to be used in NASCAR. Yes, our tongue is in our cheek.

This is great stuff and perhaps a sign that the soundproof windows in the ivory tower down there in Daytona have cracked enough to allow the yearnings from the masses to return to something remotely production looking in. Pony cars beat taxi cabs all day long in our book.

Hopefully they don’t jack around with the bodies too much, there will certainly be some changes, but again, the story seems to imply that there is a definite movement to appease the grumblings of disgruntled fans with this move. Hit the link to read the story from FoxSports.

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Posted at 9:48 am in Bang Shift, Brian Lohnes, Challenger, Mustang, NASCAR, Pony Cars, Racing

Comments

troutster52
Jun 19, 2009 at 12:18 pm

Thanks Sandiego! I think the best way to do it would be just like they did then, with displacement limiters, that way you can level the playing field and get those small blocks screaming up around 8K RPM. Also, there isn’t much better than seeing a muscle car pitched into a corner and power out rumbling.

sandiego74
Jun 18, 2009 at 3:31 pm

I definitely agree with Troutster52 on this one. They should put put the Pony Cars back into some classic Trans-AM racing, not NASCAR. NASCAR cars all look the same with their stupid fiberglass bodies. The Trans-Am cars all look like real race cars should. Great idea, Troutster!

troutster52
Jun 18, 2009 at 12:19 pm

Forget about modifying NASCAR. That ship has already sailed and sank. What if they made a brand new Trans-Am Sanctioning body just like in the 60s and 70s. Seeing the new Mustangs, Camaros and Challengers heaved around corners with factory lines and factory blocks would be much favorable to modifying them into fiberglass wind-tunnel creations like the current NASCAR garbage. Excellently written article, btw. Couldn’t agree more with the Congressional reference and the body mod sentiments.

subcero
Jun 17, 2009 at 5:44 pm

good news

JoeDirt1989
Jun 17, 2009 at 4:24 pm

Only one problem I can see with this. If they did start using the Pony cars and actually used the stock body lines. Say goodbye to the retro styling and all around individuality of those cars, Ford, Chevy, and Dodge would go right back to the design board and streamline their Pony cars to make them less wind resistant and then they’ll just end up looking like the crappy bubbles you see on the ovals today.

P.S. If they actually do this, they better add some road courses to their schedule, like the cars I’m sick of the cookie cutter 1.5 mile tri-ovals.

LedZeppelin
Jun 17, 2009 at 3:43 pm

Like the original Dodge Charger with the flying buttress’s on the rear window, and the inset front grill, Mopar will bring the grill on the Challenger forward….flush with the leading edge of the hood…
Of course the bodies will all have a template like the rest of Nascar. Being the NationWide series, there may be a little more leeway to actual body style…operative word “may Be”

I’m with those of you who want to see the Ponies in the Trans Am series. Thats where some serious action would be.

Hey, scroll down and check out Fireball22. Go to his site and go to the last page for shots of the three ponies outside his job…!!!

(or click here http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2685398/17 )

Moparmaniac07
Jun 17, 2009 at 3:08 pm

nobizero, that would be the camaro that has those problems.
And jalopnik had pictures of an actual car. It was in primer gray, looked like a challenger up front, including the recessed grill and challenger hood, but was a COT from the A-pillars back

2digits
Jun 17, 2009 at 2:16 pm

Fucking sweet!

GTwildfire
Jun 17, 2009 at 6:23 am

I think true stock car racing should be brought back. Require cars to use lightened versions of actual car bodies and engine blocks. Engine mods, transmissions, suspensions etc including of course safety gear would be upgraded.

___nes___
Jun 17, 2009 at 1:04 am

Might look something like this:

http://jonsibal.deviantart.com/art/NASCAR-Challenger-126216099

oldscoob
Jun 16, 2009 at 11:19 pm

my first inspiration to buy a car related to racing was seeing a monte carlo ss in the 80s. Dale died and so did my car. It was teenage fad of course. I now know of an evel word called “capitalist”, and reviving reality is never going to be a production car again, at the pace america has got its butt kicked by it. It is not just american of course, the rally circuits and many other racing leagues fell right into raping minds and walletts. It is a factor of the carpocalypse.

racerjim
Jun 16, 2009 at 7:48 pm

Hey paleface- I thought Toyota’s whole claim to NASCAR fame was that it was “made in America”…they wouldn’t be lying, would they?
Anyhoo, I’d rather see trans-am make a real comeback with ponycars.
-Jim

palefacetsw
Jun 16, 2009 at 6:54 pm

I love the Toyota team…….a japanese car kicking the ass of all those hillbillys…..

fireball22
Jun 16, 2009 at 6:25 pm

NASCAR did this in the 70s with the Grand Am cars. At least they used the actual factory bodies of the Firebirds and Mustangs back then. I’d love to see it… might make we want to follow modern-day NASCAR once again if they at least has SOME connection to their street counterparts.

NobiZero
Jun 16, 2009 at 11:26 am

I’d like to know that if they use a nose piece actually shaped like a Challenger instead of a decal, how are they going to keep that thing from ripping itself apart at 150+ mph?

Chris Bicknell
Jun 16, 2009 at 10:05 am

Good call there GTwildfire…. I think it’s cool. I hope Chevy will follow and I really couldn’t care less what Toyota does.

GTwildfire
Jun 16, 2009 at 10:01 am

correction: body shells that loosely resemble pony cars currently produced are coming to NASCAR!
-
…nothing stock about stock cars anymore