2005 Racing Issue - UAW-Chrysler.com

Side by Side 

On the Fast Track 

WHEN IT COMES TO SPORTS FANS, there’s always 

a spirited debate about who’s the most dedicated. You 

can make a case for football fanatics, basketball buffs or 

ice hockey junkies. But in our book, no one can match 

NASCAR fans for fierce loyalty to their heroes behind 

the wheel, in good times and bad. 

Take Patricia Johnson, a UAW member at 

DaimlerChrysler’s Indianapolis Foundry. She’s a perfect 

example of what we’re talking about. She went to her first 

Winston Cup race in 2002, and she’s been hooked ever 

DaimlerChrysler Senior Vice 

since. “I never thought I’d be into NASCAR, but that was 

President John Franciosi (left) and 

only because I hadn’t given it a try,” explains Patricia. 

UAW Vice President Nate Gooden 

We’re dedicating this 2005 Special Racing Issue of 

Tomorrow to Patricia Johnson (see page 9) and the millions of kindred NASCAR nuts who have 

made the Nextel Cup Series the hottest ticket in motorsports — and perhaps the most successful of 

all professional sports. The UAW-DaimlerChrysler National Training Center is proud to publish this 

issue, distributed through the NTC’s NASCAR Exhibit at selected races during the season. 

Our association with NASCAR is a great showcase for our union-management alliance, which 

has helped to fuel Chrysler Group’s recent success in the automotive 

marketplace. Our support begins early in the year with title sponsorship 

of the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway 

(see page 6) and continues all season through our partnership with 

Evernham Motorsports. 

Like many NASCAR fans, we were thrilled to watch our guys, 

Kasey Kahne and Jeremy Mayfield, power toward the front of the 

Nextel Cup pack in the UAW-DaimlerChrysler NTC–sponsored 

No. 9 and No. 19 Dodges in 2004 (see page 12). And we expect 

them to make another strong showing in 2005 piloting newgeneration 

Dodge Chargers. 

Patricia Johnson, page 9 

Kasey and Jeremy are helping to write a new chapter in the Charger’s fabled history on the 

racetrack. The legacy also continues off the track, with the arrival of the 2006 Dodge Charger 

sedan, a muscle car for the family. 

Throughout the season, our association with NASCAR gives us an opportunity to share our 

pride in all Chrysler Group products and in the workers who build them. We hope you enjoy 

the NTC’s NASCAR Exhibit and experience the knowledge and infectious enthusiasm of our P3 

(People, Pride and Product) Team members (see page 24). These sales ambassadors from the plant 

floor are helping the UAW and DaimlerChrysler establish a winning tradition in dealer showrooms 

as well as on the racetrack. 

UAW-DAIMLERCHRYSLER 

NATIONAL TRAINING CENTER 

2211 East Jefferson Avenue 

Detroit, MI 48207 

313.567.3300 

Fax: 313.567.4971 

E-mail: rrussell@ucntc.org 

www.uaw-daimlerchryslerntc.org 

JOINT ACTIVITIES BOARD 

NATE GOODEN 

VICE PRESIDENT, DIRECTOR 

DAIMLERCHRYSLER DEPARTMENT 

UAW, CO-CHAIRMAN 

JOHN S. FRANCIOSI 

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, EMPLOYEE 

RELATIONS DAIMLERCHRYSLER 

CO-CHAIRMAN 

DAVE MCALLISTER 

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT TO 

VICE PRESIDENT, DIRECTOR 

DAIMLERCHRYSLER DEPARTMENT UAW 

KEN MCCARTER 

VICE PRESIDENT, UNION RELATIONS AND 

SECURITY OPERATIONS DAIMLERCHRYSLER 

JAMES DAVIS 

CO-DIRECTOR UAW-DAIMLERCHRYSLER 


FRANK L. SLAUGHTER 

CO-DIRECTOR UAW-DAIMLERCHRYSLER 


RON RUSSELL 

COMMUNICATIONS ADMINISTRATOR 

BOB ERICKSON 

COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST 

TANISHA PEREZ 

STAFF WRITER 

MICHAEL BULLER 

EDITOR 

KAREN ENGLISH 

SENIOR EDITOR 

MEGHAN LITTLE 

SENIOR MANAGING EDITOR 

TIMOTHY MAHER 

COPY EDITOR 

JAMEE FARINELLA 

ART DIRECTOR 

LIZ O’DONNELL 

PRODUCTION COORDINATOR 

Nate Gooden 

John Franciosi 

This magazine is printed by a union 

printer on union-made recycled paper. 

2 www.uawdcx.com

LOOKING AHEAD AT THE UAW-DAIMLERCHRYSLER NATIONAL TRAINING CENTER 

Volume 9 • Number 1 

www.uawdcx.com 

Features 

Special Issue: Racing 2005 

12 

20 

24 

Charging Ahead 

COVER 

STORY 

A hot new car and a pair of determined young drivers tear up 

the track for Evernham Motorsports. 

By Dennis McCafferty 

Midgets, Sprints and Trucks 

It’s all about speed. In every NASCAR series, look for Dodges 

to push the pack. 

By Jim Morrison 

Fan Magnet 

For racing fun and a great deal on a new Chrysler Group vehicle, 

visit the P3 Team at the UAW-DaimlerChrysler National Training 

Center’s exhibit. 

By Molly Rose Teuke 

10 

12 

Departments 

2 Side by Side 

Fantastic Fans 

4 Start Your Engines 

Charger to Charger; trackor 

street-worthy tires; 

magnificent Magnum; 

the truth behind the paint 

6 UAW-DC 400 

Pulling off the perfect race 

8 Our Fans 

Restoring a ’69 Charger; 

time out for the races; 

Kathy Petty hits the track; 

the High & Mighty makes 

a comeback 

26 Racing Savvy 

Drafting: art or science? 

20 

A professed lifelong car lover, Marc Rozman has 

been with DaimlerChrysler for 28 years. 

SEE PAGE 8 FOR MORE 

PHOTOS: COVER: GETTY; BACK COVER: GETTY; THIS PAGE SECOND 

FROM TOP: GETTY; THIRD FROM TOP: GETTY 

fpo 

24 

Tomorrow (ISSN: 1096-1429) is published quarterly with two special issues in spring and fall by Pohly & Partners, Inc., on behalf of the UAW-DaimlerChrysler National Training 

Center. Pohly & Partners, Inc., 27 Melcher Street, 2nd floor, Boston, MA 02210, 800.383.0888. Periodicals postage rates paid at Boston, Mass. and additional entry offices. 

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Tomorrow, 2211 East Jefferson Ave., Detroit, MI 48207. © 2005 by UAW-DaimlerChrysler National Training Center. 

All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part of any text, photograph or illustration without prior written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited.

Start Engines 

YOUR 

BURN 

RUBBER,BABY 

At around $400 a pop, it’s a good thing all vehicles 

aren’t equipped with the tires required on 

the Nextel Cup circuit. Likewise, street 

motorists should be glad they don’t have to change 

tires based on road surface. That’s right, NASCAR tire 

specifications differ from race to race depending upon 

the degree of track banking and whether the racing 

surface is asphalt, concrete or a mix of both. 

Tire Talk: GOODYEAR STREET vs. RACE TIRES 

STREET 

RACE 

ESTIMATED COST $150–$200 each $400+/- each 

AVERAGE LIFE 50,000 miles 150 miles 

AIR PRESSURE (COLD PSI) 35 psi 30 psi left/45 psi right 

INFLATED WITH air dry air or nitrogen 

WEIGHT 30 pounds 24 pounds 

TREAD THICKNESS 3 

/8 inch 1 

/8 inch 

CHARGER 

TO CHARGER 

THIS SEASON, THE CHARGER is turning heads on 

and off the track. The motorsports version of 

the famed muscle car and the shiny production 

vehicle you can test drive at your Dodge dealer 

share a proud heritage and many similarities. To 

learn what sets the NASCAR Charger apart, we 

talked to some experts at Dodge Motorsports. 

Obviously, the Dodge Charger that you see 

zooming past on the racetrack needs much more 

power than is legal on the street. The NASCAR 

Charger boasts a 5.9-liter V-8, MOPAR Cast Iron 

Block and aluminum heads with more than 

800 horsepower, while the performance vehicle 

runs on a still impressive 5.7-liter Hemi multidisplacement 

V-8 engine with 340 horsepower. 

Because weight can literally be a drag, the 

engineers of 

the racing 

Charger designed the mighty vehicle to weigh 

only 3,400 pounds, versus the 4,031-pound 

street legal Charger. 

Speed is the name of the game. The racing 

Charger can reach 0 to 60 in just four seconds. 

But for quick highway merging, the 

street Charger isn’t far behind, with the same 

acceleration taking only six seconds. 

Two big differences in the racing and production 

Chargers are in sound systems and 

safety belts. The street edition comes with a sixspeaker, 

276-watt digital amplifier and threepoint 

seatbelts, whereas the racing Charger has 

a two-way radio and a six-point harness. 

For more information on how you could own a 

street-legal Dodge Charger with plenty of power 

and performance — and options a NASCAR 

driver would envy — go to www.dodge.com. 

TOP: GETTY; BOTTOM: COURTESY OF DAIMLERCHRYSLER 


RACING 

pretty 

A TRIP TO THE RACETRACK offers more than 

just a high-speed chase to Victory Lane. 

Along with the excitement of roaring engines 

comes a mesmerizing swish of color from 

the vehicles on the track. 

Over the years, paint 

schemes of racecars have evolved from racing 

stripes to logos to special themes. Race fans 

can’t always count on easily spotting their 

favorite driver’s car because, as in the case of 

the No. 9 and No. 19 Dodges, the cars could 

carry up to six special paint schemes determined 

by their sponsor per season. 

When it’s time for the No. 9 and No. 19 Chargers to dazzle 

fans with a new theme, Dodge and the Dodge Dealers work with 

Competition Graphics and Action Performance to come up 

with a design. Once a design is chosen, it 

takes six to eight hours for a car to be 

decaled. If a car is being converted from a 

special paint scheme and requires a new 

color, the makeover can mean two to three 

days in a body shop. 

All Evernham Motorsports cars are painted 

with PPG paint, unless a particular paint 

scheme or timing warrants a different technique. 

For example, at the October 2004 race 

in Charlotte, Kasey Kahne’s No. 9 Dodge 

Intrepid was sporting a Mopar paint scheme, 

which was created with a vinyl wrap. Because 

Kahne had competed with the same car the 

prior weekend in Kansas, it was not possible to 

repaint and redecal the vehicle before the starting 

gun in Charlotte six days later. 

Though Kahne and No. 19 driver Jeremy 

Mayfield are the ones who bring the themes 

to the public, they have little say in what is 

painted on the cars. Dodge and Evernham 

Motorsports drive these decisions and then 

must submit the designs to NASCAR for 

final approval. 

PAINT SCHEMES FROM TOP: SPY VS SPY; MOPAR; SUMMER SALES DRIVE; HEMI; MOUNTAIN DEW 

VroommMagnum! 

It’s not surprising that the Chicago Speedway 

chose the Dodge Magnum for its 

pace car at the 2004 Tropicana 400. 

Between its jaw-dropping curb appeal and 

the power it represents, the flashy Magnum 

is a fitting vehicle for the racetrack. But if 

you find yourself checking out the pace car 

more than the No. 9 or No. 19, you might 

want to head to your Dodge dealer and see 

how you look sitting in the driver’s seat. 

What makes the Magnum so great? For 

some, it’s the 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 engine. 

For others it’s the return of rear-wheel 

drive performance to the Dodge line. Then 

there’s the 1,000- to 3,800-pound towing 

capability. As mighty as the Magnum is, 

engineers had more than brawn in mind 

when designing the vehicle. For them, 

safety is as high a priority as performance. 

In fact, the Dodge Magnum has received 

the highest government frontal crash test 

rating for both driver and passenger safety. 

The attention to detail visible throughout 

the Magnum’s interior is just as 

impressive as its performance. The front 

seats are set two inches higher than most 

vehicles’ seats to give the driver a clear 

view out over the road. The rear seats, 

too, are positioned higher, giving those 

passengers a front view as well. Versatility 

reigns in the 2005 sedan: 27.2 cubic 

feet of cargo space grows to 71.6 cubic 

feet once the rear seats are folded down; 

the bilevel cargo floor and removable trifold 

upper divider store valuables out of 

sight; and the cargo management system 

includes a floor liner and net separators 

to keep items in place during travel. 

For more information on the Dodge 

Magnum, go to www.dodge.com. 

TOMORROW SPECIAL RACING 2005 5

UAW-DC 400 

Pulling Off the Perfect Race 

Behind the scenes at the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 

Even before the race, NASCAR 

fans at the 2005 UAW- 

DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las 

Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS) get 

a thrill. 

Picture the opening ceremonies: All 

eyes turn toward the American flag 

when the first notes of the national 

anthem ring out, and a formation of 

fighter jets from nearby Nellis Air 

Force Base streaks across the sky when 

the song ends. 

Staging a Nextel Cup event doesn’t 

just happen. Hundreds of people put 

in tens of thousands of hours working 

behind the scenes to pull it 

together, and their work starts many 

months before the first thundering 

roar of a 750-horsepower engine 

shatters the still of the surrounding 

desert air. 

Track Teamwork 

For David Stetzer, vice president of 

operations at LVMS, the biggest task 

is handling traffic flow — not on the 

track, but through the feeder roads 

and parking lots ringing it. “The goal 

6 www.uawdcx.com 

is to reduce the amount of time needed 

to get 140,000 fans in and out of the 

property each year without risking 

their safety,” he says. 

To achieve that objective at the 

UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400, Stetzer’s 

department employs 3,160 people on 

race weekend and works closely with 

the Nevada Highway Patrol, the Las 

Vegas Metro Police Department, the 

Nevada Department of Transportation 

and other public agencies. 

With about 35,000 cars arriving 

and leaving simultaneously, “we are 

basically moving the equivalent of a 

small city in and out of the property 

for three straight days,” Stetzer says. 

“It’s an enormous challenge, but it can 

be done with continuous improvements 

and the assistance of those government 

agencies.” 

March 11, 2005, is “D-Day” for 

Bobby McKenna, director of maintenance 

at LVMS. The toughest job he 

faces is getting the property ready for 

the race by that date and “doing it 

without burning out the staff or 

doing setups so early that things 

“ 

Their Greatest Fears:Worst-Case Scenarios 

” 

“A major wreck on either I-15 or Las Vegas Boulevard. This would cause a 

tremendous delay in traffic flow. We prepare for this by placing wreckers 

and safety vehicles in areas where they can respond in the shortest amount 

of time possible.” 

DAVID STETZER, vice president of operations 

“A power failure or water main break. There’s no quick fix for that 

kind of problem.” 

BOBBY MCKENNA, director of maintenance 

“The worst-case scenario is something I have no control over — 

inclement weather.” 

JEFF MOTLEY, director of public relations 

“It’s an enormous challenge, 

but it can be done with 

continuous improvements 

and the assistance of … 

government agencies.” 

DAVID STETZER, 

vice president of operations at LVMS 

don’t look fresh,” he says. “You 

can’t hang banners, cut grass and 

have the grounds immaculate in 

February and get the look you want 

on March 11.” 

Because the 2005 event is his first 

since being named to his current 

position, McKenna relies heavily 

on two veteran staff members. “I am 

fortunate to have two assistants, 

Frank Borelli and Joe Bravatto, who 

have been here for every NASCAR 

event, and a staff of 27 people who 

know and do their jobs quite well,” 

he says. “I’m staying out of the way 

this year.” 

Bravatto oversees about a third 

of the staff in maintaining all the 

The pit crew in action during the 2004 

UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas 

Motor Speedway.

It’s perpetual motion at the 2004 

UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at 

Las Vegas Motor Speedway. 

CORBIS 

facility’s HVAC, plumbing and electrical 

systems. Borelli is in charge 

of event setup and works with outside 

vendors providing restroom and 

shower services, temporary fencing 

and infield logo painting. Julian 

Hernandez and the housekeeping 

staff keep the restrooms and suites 

clean all week. 

Details, Details 

No doubt about it, Stetzer and 

McKenna and their teams shoulder a 

tremendous load and play a critical 

role in making sure the race comes 

together, but at least their areas of 

responsibility are clearly defined. 

What about the guy who makes sure 

the qualified drivers hit the track at 

just the right time, lines up a singer 

for the national anthem, synchronizes 

the Air Force jets’ fly-over with 

the song and takes care of dozens of 

other details? 

All that falls to Jeff Motley, the 

track’s director of public relations, 

who has no trouble describing his 

biggest challenge in making the 

UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 happen: 

“Simply pulling everything together.” 

Motley’s job is ruled by deadlines. 

He has to make sure information is 

gathered and prepared for printed 

materials, handle the credentialing 

process for the media who attend the 

event, line up and choreograph all the 

pre-race activities and more. 

Having done this several times 

before, Motley has experience on his 

side. He has 50 full-time and part-time 

staffers working for him. 

“The best strategy is to have a 

checklist of everything that needs to be 

done,” Motley says of his keep-itsimple 

approach to organizing the 

event. “You set dates on that checklist 

and do your best to meet them. Once 

you get something checked off, you 

know that it’s handled and you don’t 

have to worry about it any longer.” 

It’s a lot of work, Motley and his 

coworkers admit. But if the end result 

is a UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 that 

comes off without a hitch, it will all 

have been worth it. ■ 

— Michael J. McDermott 

The BIG Event 

by the Numbers 

37,000 

souvenir programs sold 

160,000 

gallons of beverages served — 

enough to fill 10 swimming pools 

60,000 

hamburgers and hot dogs consumed 

300,000 

spectators over the three-day weekend 

148,000 

spectators on race day* 

1,200 

credentialed media members 

*NASCAR/Las Vegas Events estimate; 

LVMS does not release attendance figures. 


Our Fans 

Toy Time 

It was love at first sight for 

Marc Rozman and his Charger. 

Marc Rozman enjoys playing with — er, restoring — his 1969 Charger 

My wife told me, when our kids 

are older, you can buy another 

toy,” says Marc Rozman, 

reminiscing about his prized 1969 

Dodge Dart GTS convertible that 

he was forced to sell years ago. Well, 

the kids are grown and married, and 

guess who’s got a new toy? 

Interestingly, it was his wife, 

Darlene, who spotted the ad for a 

red ’69 Dodge Charger RT/SE in the 

fall of 2000. “The guy e-mailed 

me a picture,” says Marc Rozman, 

a UAW Local 412 member and 

a dynamometer operator at the 

DaimlerChrysler Technology Center 

in Auburn Hills, Mich. “As I saw it 

roll across my screen, I had that ‘this 

is it’ gut feeling.” 

Marc Rozman’s favorite pastime: 

restoring his 1969 Dodge Charger. 

A professed lifelong car lover, 

Rozman has been with Daimler- 

Chrysler for 28 years, and his dad 

worked for the company before him. 

In fact, the family had a brand-new 

Charger when Rozman was a teenager. 

“For an 18-year-old, that was 

pretty cool,” he says. 

“As I saw it 

roll across my 

screen, I had 

that ‘this is it’ 

gut feeling.” 

So when he spotted the classic muscle 

car, it was indeed “it,” and he has 

been gradually restoring it ever since. 

The car had nearly 100,000 miles on 

the odometer and was “pretty clean,” 

but Rozman has done some body 

work and replaced a few interior 

parts. “Only one part is not original,” 

says the 50-year-old avowed stickler 

for details, referring to an electric fuel 

pump tucked under the gas tank. 

In November, the 440 Magnum 

engine was out to bore the cylinders 

and restore the heads, but Rozman 

vows to have his Charger back on 

the road this year. “I want to drive it 

and enjoy it,” he says. About that, 

he’s not toying around. 

■ 

— Bob Woods 


Nothing gets in the way of Patricia 

Johnson and her NASCAR Sundays. 

Our Fans 

LEFT: ROY RITCHIE; THIS PAGE: TOD MARTENS 

Do Not Disturb 

On Sundays, Patricia Johnson is off to the races 

You can call Patricia Johnson 

an extreme fan. You can call 

her a Kasey Kahne fanatic. 

Just don’t call her on a Sunday afternoon. 

On Sundays from February 

to November, when men across 

America are strategically 

slouched in 

front of TVs — hoping 

for nothing but 

engines that growl — 

they’re not alone. 

Johnson is right 

there with the rest of 

NASCAR’s fan base. 

“On Sundays, I am 

a couch potato,” says 

Johnson, a nurse at 

DaimlerChrysler’s 

“When I 

heard the 

engines 

roaring … 

I was just 

thrilled.” 

Indianapolis Foundry for the past 10 

years, and office and clerical unit chair 

for UAW Local 361. “On Sundays, I 

don’t shop, I don’t go to the movies, I 

don’t even cook — I make Sunday dinner 

on Saturday night so I don’t have 

to be disturbed the 

next day. Everyone, 

including my 13-yearold 

son, knows not to 

bother me.” 

Johnson says she 

caught the NASCAR 

bug naturally. “I grew 

up watching and enjoying 

a lot of different 

sports,” she says. 

“I never thought I’d 

be into NASCAR, but 

that was only because I hadn’t given 

it a try.” 

Her introduction to the races came 

in 2002. “My boyfriend asked me to 

go to Charlotte. I didn’t think much 

about it, but when I got there and 

heard the engines roaring and saw the 

speed on the track, I was just thrilled.” 

As for the claims that NASCAR 

plays to a traditionally white male 

fan base, Johnson says, “Sure, I’ve 

seen the Confederate flags. That’s 

really not an issue for me with 

NASCAR. The only flag I care about 

is the American flag.” 

Over the past three years, Johnson 

has returned to Charlotte twice and 

put Bristol and Las Vegas on her list 

of NASCAR venues visited. Her wish 

list includes Talladega and Daytona. 

But Johnson’s primary race venue 

is the den in her Indianapolis home, 

featuring her very own NASCAR 

Wall. “I have everything from an 

Evernham Racing T-shirt — signed 

by Ray Evernham, Kasey Kahne and 

Jeremy Mayfield — to a Tomorrow 

magazine signed by Bill Elliott, to a 

USA Today front page story on Kasey 

Kahne, signed by Kasey himself,” 

says Johnson. By the way, she has 

officially transferred her “favorite 

driver” designation from semi-retired 

Elliott to 2004 Raybestos Rookie of 

the Year Kahne. 

“I have a great time being a fan,” 

muses Johnson. “I get all my work 

done; then on Sunday it’s off to the 

races — with Kasey Kahne’s sweet 

blue eyes smiling over my shoulder.” ■ 

— S.C. Biemesderfer 


Our Fans 

Look Out for Women Drivers 

Kathy Petty sets the pace on a different kind of track 

During NASCAR season, a 

DaimlerChrysler test driver 

named “Petty” gets a lot of 

attention. With the most famous 

name in racing, you’re bound to get 

a few comments. 

“Since I drive cars for a living, 

sometimes people tease me about my 

name,” says test track veteran Kathy 

Petty (no relation to the NASCAR 

clan). “I tell them, ‘I’m a Petty, but I 

don’t drive like one.’” 

Maybe … maybe not. Kathy Petty, 

mother of seven, likes to tear up a 

six-lane highway at over 140 miles 

per hour and take a vehicle to the 

limit with the throttle wide open, 

weaving through roads riddled with 

hazards. It’s her job. 

On any given day at Chelsea 

Proving Grounds, outside Detroit, 

you’ll find Petty somewhere on the 

3,800-acre facility’s 47 miles of 

asphalt, 36 miles of concrete or 

12 miles of gravel road, putting 

another Chrysler Group vehicle to 

the test. She rates vehicles on speed, 

endurance, power and a full range 

of quality “musts,” with trials that 

run the gamut from chassis qualifying 

exams to high-speed performance 

checks. 

“Before I applied, I never thought 

about having a job like this — but 

it turned out to be a great fit,” says 

Petty, a UAW Local 1284 member 

who joined DaimlerChrysler 12 

years ago. At the time, she was a 

single mother with five daughters 

and two sons ranging in age from 

12 to 23. 

Chelsea Proving Grounds paved 

the road for women drivers from the 

time it opened in 1954. That year, 

driver Betty Skelton set the Women’s 

Closed Track World Record at the 

proving grounds, clocking 143.44 

miles per hour in a Dodge. And the 

Proving Grounds stayed ahead of its 

time, hiring the facility’s first woman 

engineer in 1965. 

“Around here, we know those 

Test driver Kathy Petty tears up the 

track at Chelsea Proving Grounds. 

‘women drivers’ remarks aren’t true,” 

jokes Petty, whose fastest speed on the 

Proving Grounds happens to be 143 

miles per hour — the same world 

record pace recorded by pioneer 

Skelton. “In fact,” she adds, “I’ve 

never had an accident or injury. In 

more than 10 years, driving hundreds 

of miles a week, I think that says 

something about the cars we make.” ■ 

— S.C. Biemesderfer 


LEFT: ROY RITCHIE; THIS PAGE: JOHN SOBCZAK 

No one had ever seen a drag 

racer quite like the beast that 

rolled onto the track at the 

1959 Nationals of the National Hot 

Rod Association (NHRA). Before the 

day was done, though, the High & 

Mighty stood proud in the record 

books, setting a new speed mark. 

Now, more than four decades later, the 

dragster is being re-created by a group 

of Chrysler Employee Motorsport 

Association (CEMA) members. 

Fabricated from a 1949 Plymouth 

Business Coupe by a team of Chrysler 

workers called the Ram Chargers, the 

High & Mighty was a vision of muscle, 

speed and innovation. “It was 

a rolling laboratory,” says CEMA 

spokesman Roy Baker, an industrial 

designer at the DaimlerChrysler Technology 

Center in Auburn Hills, Mich., 

and volunteer on the High & Mighty 

II project. “The technology born out 

of that vehicle is still current today.” 

The rear wheels were moved forward 

to increase weight transfer to 

the rear tires when the car is launched 

from the starting line. The top was 

chopped down to reduce wind resistance, 

and a hole cut in the hood 

made room for two four-barrel 

carburetors and the 

first high-rise tunnel 

intake manifold. The 

354 Hemi engine 

breathed fire out of 

eight exhaust pipes. 

It came together to 

claim the the 1960 

NHRA Class Title. 

In the fall of 2003, 

George Stayniak 

pitches in. 

The record-setting 1959 

High & Mighty dragster 

Re-creating a Legend 

The incomparable ’59 High & Mighty dragster 

inspires a cloning project 

“This is being done for the 

preservation of the DaimlerChrysler 

motorsports heritage.” – Roy Baker 

Bob Lees, a retired homologation 

engineer at DaimlerChrysler’s Technology 

Center created a stir at a 

CEMA meeting by proposing the 

cloning project. 

Ready for the challenge, 26 CEMA 

volunteers formed committees of 

designers, engineers, technicians and 

fabricators, just as the 

original Ram Chargers 

had. Many of the 

1950s pioneers have 

lent their support, providing 

journals, renderings 

and formulas 

from the first project. 

Progress on the 

replica has been slow 

Our Fans 

High & Mighty II team members Bob Lees 

(left) and Roy Baker measure a window. 

but steady, with parts coming from all 

over. A body came from Nebraska, an 

engine from Kansas. The original 

dragster intake manifold and tachometer 

have even been unearthed. A list 

of needed parts is on the CEMA Web 

site (www.cemaclub.org/highmighty). 

The finished High & Mighty II 

won’t be run out on the track, but 

it will be exhibited at NHRA races 

before being housed in a museum 

yet to be determined. “This is being 

done for the preservation of the 

DaimlerChrysler motorsports heritage,” 

Baker says. “And we all feel 

very strongly about that.” A high 

and mighty ideal. ■ 

— Bob Woods 


COMEBACK KID: 

JEREMY MAYFIELD 

JEREMY MAYFIELD’S FANS TRY NOT 

to blink. With Mayfield behind the 

wheel, things can change fast. Even 

during the dips of the roller-coaster 

2004 season, Mayfield kept his edge — 

and his flair for the dramatic. Take the 

September 11 race in Richmond, the 

one that would decide who gets in the 

Top 10 Chase. Mayfield and his team 

were in 14th place, 55 points down. Put 

a fork in the season? Um, not exactly. 

Mayfield and his team gave 

Richmond their grittiest, gutsiest 

best and ended up in Victory Lane — 

a win that leapfrogged them into the 

Chase for the championship. 

In the end, it was typical of his year 

— facing adversity and overcoming 

it with nothing but sheer determination. 

“We had our 

ups and downs 

all season,” says 

Mayfield. “But our 

team always knew 

how to turn a negative 

into a positive. 

That’s how I knew 

we could handle this 

kind of season.” 

One key: Sticking 

with — and believing 

in — a winning 

plan. Even if the 

plan wasn’t winning 

much at the time. 

“A lot of other 

teams don’t run that 

way,” Mayfield says. “They run into 

trouble and they want to change a 

bunch of things — shift people over 

here and there. We stuck together. 

That’s how we ended up like we did.” 

It helped that Mayfield kept the 

same Dew Crew. “We got more comfortable, 

knowing how we all thought 

about running a car,” he says. “That 

made a difference.” 

Ultimately, it was in Richmond 

where the No. 19 team made its 

breakthrough. “Our position going 

in was, ‘Fine, let everybody talk 

about us being out of Top 10 contention,’” 

Mayfield says. “Then, we 

were going to just show what we 

could do. But I have to admit, after 

we won at Richmond, there wasn’t 

any feeling in the world like it.” 

notice. “It proved to everybody what 

we already knew about Jeremy and 

his team,” says No. 19 owner Ray 

Evernham, president and CEO of 

Evernham Motorsports. “It proved 

they could go out there with all the 

pressure in the world. And believe 

me, there wasn’t anybody on that 

track who had more pressure on him 

than Jeremy.” 

Richmond was the peak moment 

in a lifetime devoted to racing. 

Mayfield, who turns 36 this season, 

actually wore out a ground oval track 

with his toy motorcycle in his grandmother’s 

backyard when he was only 

4. The Owensboro, Ky., native graduated 

to go-karts and then the Street 

Stock division at the Kentucky Motor 

Speedway. By age 19, he had moved 

The racing community took to Nashville to work for Sadler 

“WE STUCK 

TOGETHER. 

THAT’S HOW WE ENDED UP 

LIKE WE DID.” 

LEFT: In the pit with 

Jeremy Mayfield’s crew. 

—JEREMY MAYFIELD 


LEFT CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: GETTY (2), BOB MAHONEY; THIS PAGE: BOB MAHONEY 

Racing as a fabricator, and he pretty 

much worked every job he could find 

around the race shop, waiting to 

prove his skills behind the wheel. He 

got his chance. By 1987, he was 

tearing up the ARCA Series, earning 

Rookie of the Year from the 

Kentucky speedway. He made his 

debut in the Winston Cup Series in 

1993 at Charlotte Motor Speedway; 

went full-time in 1995; and, in 2001, 

joined Ray Evernham to drive his 

No. 19 Dodge co-sponsored by 

the UAW-DaimlerChrysler National 

Training Center. 

As for this season? “We’re coming 

in with a ton of confidence,” 

Mayfield says. “We know what 

we’re capable of doing, and we’re 

going to do it that much better.” 

And this season, the No. 19 has 

a new crew chief in Richard 

“Slugger” Labbe, who took over 

from Kenny Francis. 

That the No. 19 team is pursuing 

the Cup in a Charger just makes 

it all the sweeter. “This is really a 

great car,” Mayfield says. “What I 

really appreciate about being with 

Dodge is that they spend so much 

time and resources making sure that 

the job is done right. They support 

our team in every way possible. 

They’re going to be with us, every 

step of the way, to make sure we all 

share in the success.” 

And he’ll be pulling some moonlight 

duty as well this season, as 

Mayfield drives the classic No. 64 

Miller High Life Dodge for team 

owner Rusty Wallace in the Busch 

Series. “It’s just going to be so much 

fun driving it,” Mayfield says. “The 

Miller Lite car is a classic, and Rusty 

Kasey Kahne’s pit crew in action. 

Wallace is a legend.” ■ TOMORROW SPECIAL RACING 2005 15

“I’M DOING THE SAME 

THING I’VE ALWAYS DONE — 

RACING TO WIN.” 

—KASEY KAHNE 

FAN-TASTIC: 

KASEY KAHNE 

WHEN IT COMES TO RACING, 

No. 9 Dodge driver Kasey 

Kahne has the speed thing 

down. But the “act like a star” 

thing? Kasey has a long way to go. 

When he goes out before a race to 

get introduced to the crowd, fans 

scream for autographs. Most Nextel 

Cup drivers know what to do here — 

give a friendly wave and keep walking. 

Not Kasey, 2004 Raybestos Rookie of 

the Year. He stops and signs. And after 

the race, he’ll do it again, for as long 

as it takes. Kahne’s good nature pays 

dividends: Last season his collectibles 

were the most popular of any rookie 

since Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2000. 

“I have to admit I wasn’t prepared 

for all this attention,” says Kahne, 

whose car is co-sponsored by the 

UAW-DaimlerChrysler National Training 

Center. “I want to treat the fans as 

they want to be treated. Give them 

time — and treat them right.” 

Kahne’s star appeal took off in 

his rookie year as he just missed the 

Top 10 in the Chase for the Nextel 

Cup Championship, winding up at 

No. 13. He had 13 Top 5 finishes, 

including five as runner-up. At the 

start of last season, Kahne could 

walk around out of his firesuit unrecognized. 

But soon, he couldn’t even 

show up in street clothes outside the 

track without a commotion. With 

piercing blue eyes and a youthful face, 

Kahne elicits both squeals from 

teenage girls and 

maternal “aws” 

from 40-something 

moms. True to his 

“fans are first” 

credo, he gives 

them all what he 

feels is proper, 

respectful attention 

from a guy 

who didn’t let his 

selection as one of 

People magazine’s 

Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 9 

Evernham Motorsports Dodge, during 

practice at Homestead Miami Speedway. 

“50 Hottest Bachelors” go to his head. 

This season, Kahne has every reason 

to believe that he’ll not only 

crack the Top 10, but contend for 

the championship. “It’s good that I 

had the season I had, at the age [24] 

that I had it,” Kahne says, when 

reminded that most drivers wait far 

longer for similar results, if they 

enjoy them at all. “It helped our 

team build confidence. It’s going to 

pay dividends for our future.” 

Kahne started out racing at dirt 

tracks in his native Washington 

state at age 14, after begging his 

parents to let him try. His brother 

Kale and cousin Cole were his 

crew. Today, Kale drives Kasey’s 

Kasey Kahne’s pit crew gets pumped 

at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. 


LEFT CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM LEFT: GETTY (2), BOB MAHONEY; THIS PAGE: GETTY 

motorcoach and Cole is his spotter. 

Kasey won four events in his first 

year on the micro-midget tour. After 

more success, winning the Hannigan 

Speedway Championship in Washington 

and the Northwest Mini- 

Sprint Car Championship, Kahne’s 

performance caught the eye of Steve 

Lewis, owner of U.S. Auto Club’s 

Lewis Racing. Kahne became the first 

driver since Jeff Gordon to win the 

“Night Before the 500” race at 

Indianapolis back-to-back. After successful 

Busch Series runs in 2002 and 

2003, Kahne was more than ready 

for the Nextel Cup. 

Deep down, observers say, the kid 

has an uncanny intuition about 

driving that usually takes years to 

develop. “He can be as good as anyone,” 

says No. 9 owner Ray Evernham. 

“He’s come to us with incredible 

natural ability. But unlike a few racers 

who’ve come up to this level, he’s 

determined to work as hard as he can 

with this natural ability. That’s what 

sets him apart.” 

Ask Kahne about any Star Wars– 

like “force” within, and you’ll get a 

polite denial. “I’m doing the same 

thing I’ve always done,” he says, 

“racing to win, gunning to get to the 

front. I’ve been doing that with 

midget cars, sprint cars, Nextel Cup 

cars — it doesn’t matter.” 

Well, he concedes that maybe a little 

Jedi-style karma does enter in. 

“Yeah, maybe there’s a point where a 

special sort of instinct kicks in.” But 

let’s not make too much of it, OK? 

Kahne is young, but levelheaded. “It 

really just comes down to racing,” he 

says. Case closed. 

Seasoned veterans are taking 

notice. “He races like there’s no 

tomorrow,” says teammate Jeremy 

Mayfield, a Top 10 championship 

contender last season. “That’s what 

makes him and his team so strong. 

The No. 9 team has a strong, winning 

tradition, and he’s doing a great 

job of keeping it going.” 

The fact that Kahne is gunning for 

MY 

TRACK 

FAVORITE 

Jeremy Mayfield, driver of 

No. 19 Dodge: “My favorite track is 

Richmond. That’s where we won the 

big race that got us into the Chase. 

It’s a day I’ll never forget.” 

Casey Mears, driver of No. 41 

Dodge: “I like the mile-and-a-half 

tracks — Texas, Atlanta and Lowe’s. 

I came up with an Indy background, 

going 240 mph. These NASCAR 

tracks come closest to that adrenaline 

rush.” 

Kasey Kahne at the 

Darlington Raceway. 

“I LOVE DARLINGTON. 

YOU’RE RUNNING RIGHT 

UP THERE NEXT TO THE 

FENCE. AT ANY POINT, YOU 

CAN RUN INTO THE WALL.” 

Kasey Kahne 

Driver of No. 9 Dodge 

a championship in a Dodge Charger 

this year only makes it more exciting. 

“We’re really going to do well in this 

car — it’s a great move by Dodge. 

The car looks and runs great. Every 

year, Dodge is focused on making the 

cars better and better, and that’s 

what the Charger is all about.” ■ 

Kasey Kahne, driver of No. 9 

Dodge: “I love Darlington. You’re running 

right up there next to the fence. 

At any point, you can run into the 

wall. On every lap, you have old tires 

racing against new tires. It’s even 

tricky getting on and off the pit road. 

Drivers love that kind of challenge.” 

Ken Schrader, driver of No. 

49 Dodge: “Daytona and Darlington 

are neat because of the history. But 

from a competitor’s standpoint, I’d 

say Richmond. It’s a short track, but 

multi-grooved. You can pass high or 

low, and new tires can make a huge 

difference, which allows for different 

pit strategies.” 

Ryan Newman, driver of No. 12 

Dodge: “Darlington is hands-down my 

favorite to drive. I don’t say race, 

because at Darlington you race the 

track, not the competition. To win at 

Darlington, you have to be on top of 

your game.” 

Jamie McMurray, driver of 

the No. 42 Dodge: “At Darlington, 

you can make the most difference as 

a driver. In fact, if you pointed a 

camera at our feet all race long, 

you’d see how hard we’re driving.” 


A DRIVER’S RACE 

WEEKEND 

THURSDAY 

3 p.m.: Board a plane for the track. 

Jeremy Mayfield will fly in his own; 

Kasey Kahne in Ray Evernham’s. 

6 p.m.: Get settled in private 

motorhome — they come with everything. 

Mayfield’s wife, Shana, cooks. 

Kahne and his brother Kale aren’t bad 

in the kitchen either. 

FRIDAY 

9 a.m.: Before practices and qualifying, 

drivers work out at the Motor 

Racing Outreach mobile fitness center. 

10:30 a.m: Teams go over details about 

the car and track, from weather conditions 

to shock absorbers. 

Noon: Two-hour practice time. 

After 2 p.m.: Drivers may use this 

time to qualify for the Busch Series. 

At night, there may be sponsor meetand-greets, 

or more kicking back. 

SATURDAY 

10 a.m.: Qualifying for starting position 

in the Nextel Cup race. 

Noon to 3 p.m.: You’re likely to find 

Dodge drivers signing for fans, 

unless they’re in the Busch Series. 

Rest of the day: More working out 

and, for many drivers, functions 

with sponsors. 

SUNDAY 

9:30 a.m.: Up for breakfast functions. 

11:30 a.m.: Mandatory meeting for 

drivers and crew chiefs. Every detail 

about the day’s rules is discussed. 

1:30 p.m.: Race time. (Finally!) 

5 p.m.: If a Dodge team makes the Top 

5, they stick around for inspection. 

Otherwise, drivers head to the airport, 

by car on special access routes, for the 

trip back to North Carolina. They’re 

usually home by 8 p.m. 

VISIONARY OWNER: 

RAY EVERNHAM 

AS YOU’D EXPECT from perhaps 

NASCAR’s most legendary former 

crew chief now turned highprofile 

car owner, Ray Evernham 

has been more than eager to get inside 

the “head” of the 

new Dodge Charger 

racecars for his 

Nextel Cup teams. 

The cars, replacing 

the Intrepid models, 

are among the most 

significant changes 

in NASCAR this 

year. Count Evernham 

among those 

who are giving a big 

“thumbs up” on the 

new development. 

“Dodge has 

done a great job 

on this,” says Evernham, president 

and CEO of Evernham Motorsports. 

“There’s been a high level of interest 

in this car. It looks great.” 

It’s not all about looks, either. 

Evernham appreciates the engineering 

power and manufacturing quality 

behind the new Charger racecars. 

“Having strong support from 

Dodge at the factory level is the 

most important part of the whole 

equation,” he says. “They’re the 

ones that bring in the resources. 

When you see a winning team, you 

see that it’s a team that has the 

“THERE’S 

BEEN A HIGH 

LEVEL OF 

INTEREST 

IN THIS CAR. 

IT LOOKS 

GREAT.” 

—RAY EVERNHAM 

manufacturer behind it every step 

of the way, and that’s what we have 

with Dodge.” 

As a businessman who happens to 

sell high-end, customized Dodge Ram 

pickups on the side, Evernham appreciates 

the attention to detail that 

Dodge manufacturing teams invest in 

their products. “Dodge has always 

been about a quality product with 

great engineering,” Evernham says. 

“That’s a great tradition that goes all 

the way back to the 1970s. That’s why 

I’ve been so excited to be a part of 

not only associating 

with Dodge on 

the track, but in the 

after-market business. 

When people 

see a vehicle that 

combines the power 

of a Hemi with the 

style and look of a 

Dodge Ram, they 

are impressed.” 

As for this year, 

expectations are 

big. Especially after 

the highly successful 

2004 seasons of 

veteran Jeremy Mayfield and rookie 

Kasey Kahne. Evernham, as always, 

is prepared for more of that success. 

After all, that’s what he and his teams 

position themselves for, year in and 

year out. “We’re in our fifth year 

now with the Dodge program, and 

we’re building a foundation to get 

results,” Evernham says. “We had 

more Top 5 finishes than before. 

We had more Top 10 finishes than 

before. With the kind of teamwork 

approach we have going here, we can 

just expect more of the same kind 

of winning results for this season.” 

THIS PAGE: BOB MAHONEY; RIGHT TOP: COURTESY OF DAIMLERCHRYSLER; BOTTOM: GETTY 


By now, the Evernham story is 

the stuff of NASCAR legend: After 

a career racing modifieds, he moved 

to North Carolina to pursue a 

career building racecars. Eventually, 

he formed a partnership as a 

crew chief with a young racer 

named Jeff Gordon, a pairing that 

resulted in an astonishing 47 

Winston Cup wins. 

In 1999, Dodge sought to return 

to Cup racing after two decades out, 

and turned to Evernham to lead the 

way. He has. With more than 230 

employees and four buildings totaling 

more than 175,000 square feet, 

he enjoys the backing of nearly 

60,000 Dodge Dealers and another 

60,000 UAW members. 

His leadership transcends the 

sport, as Evernham is often asked 

to speak to Fortune 500 executives 

as well as notable organizations 

such as NASA. But the sport 

is where his heart is. Especially 

during this inaugural season for 

the Chargers, which for Evernham 

are cars that embody the legacy 

of Dodge power and precision engineering. 

“You can go right up 

to it and say, ‘This is a classic 

Dodge car,’” he explains. “That’s 

Kasey Kahne’s pit crew is 

critical to his success. 

DODGE DESIGN 

UPDATES A LEGEND 

ON AND OFF THE TRACK, NEW 

DODGE CHARGERS ARE MUSCLING IN 

The fastback Dodge Charger of the late 1960s 

was a car like no other. It remains a pop 

culture icon with a following convinced it 

was the greatest muscle car of all time. 

Now Chrysler is relaunching the legend in 

a decidedly different package. The 2006 

Charger will be a four-door family car with 

attitude and the option of a powerful 

Hemi V-8 engine. 

But the new generation of Chargers won’t 

all be on the street. This season the Charger has replaced the Intrepid as 

Dodge Motorsport’s NASCAR Nextel Cup series entry, reviving a rich heritage. 

The first Dodge NASCAR win came in a Charger during the 1966 season, with 

the last in 1977. A Dodge Charger Daytona made history at Talladega in 1970, 

when Buddy Baker became the first driver to be clocked at more than 200 mph 

for a lap on a closed course. 

Of course, the car that set all those records was rare off the track. On the 

track, Dodge introduced the Charger 500 in 1969 with improved aerodynamics. 

Then, midway through 1969, Mopar created perhaps the most outrageous 

stock car ever. Using research conducted at the George C. Marshall Space 

Flight Center, engineers added a giant wing hovering over the rear deck. They 

christened it the Dodge Charger Daytona. With a 426 Hemi under the hood, 

it became the dominant car of the 1969 and 1970 NASCAR seasons. 

The Design Difference 

But for Mark Hall, senior design manager for the 2006 Dodge Charger, that 

distinctive history didn’t come into play — his team wanted to create a car 

that could build its own legacy. 

Over more than a year, designers tinkered with their original concept of a 

muscle car–inspired sedan. “We altered the design of the front end so if it 

caught up behind you, you’d want to get out of the way,” Hall says. 

With the new Charger, the team wanted the flavor of a coupe with a four-door 

package. “When you look at the vehicle, 

it’s all about performance,” Hall 

says, noting that it has plenty of room. 

“A person can feel pretty responsible 

buying a vehicle like this,” he 

adds. “You can drive to work owning 

a car that has the flavor of a muscle 

car of yesteryear, but you can carry 

your family on weekends.” 

— Jim Morrison 

To learn more about the 2006 Charger, 

check out www.dodge.com. 

what Charger is.” ■ TOMORROW SPECIAL RACING 2005 19

MIDGETS 

SPRINTS 

AND 

TRUCKS 

DODGE RACING GIVES FANS PLENTY TO CHEER ABOUT 

By Jim Morrison 

] 

Dodge’s commitment to reaching Victory Lane extends from the high banking 

and high profile of Daytona to the slippery dirt tracks and lightning-quick drag 

strips off Middle America’s beaten path. 

Competing in diverse racing series, Dodge made a mark in 2004 with its 

MACHO MACHINES and TALENT BEHIND THE WHEEL, 

including little-known but promising drivers who may join the next generation 

of Nextel Cup Series superstars. 

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series 

Florida Dodge Dealers 250 race action 

at Daytona International Speedway 


LEFT: CORBIS; THIS PAGE: COURTESY OF DAIMLERCHRYSLER 

And in 2005, sprint-car standout 

Erin Crocker joins the team. Racing’s 

hottest woman driver last season, 

Crocker is competing in the NASCAR 

Busch Series and ARCA races for 

Evernham Motorsports and in the 

USAC Silver Crown Series for Kasey 

Kahne Motorsports. 

Succeeding should not be difficult 

for Crocker, who turns 24 this year, 

even if it means driving three different 

types of vehicles. The first woman to 

win a World of Outlaws race, Crocker 

won her first event — a quarter midget 

race — at age 7, and has been raising 

dust ever since. 

Last year, her victory in a 410 

winged sprint car in Tulare, Calif., 

added the “410 Wild Card” to her 

impressive collection of awards. It also 

got the attention of Ray Evernham 

and Nextel Cup Raybestos Rookie of 

the Year Kasey Kahne, who drives 

Evernham’s No. 9 Dodge Charger 

co-sponsored by the UAW-Daimler- 

Chrysler National Training Center. 

For Crocker, a Massachusetts 

native who has an engineering degree 

from Renssalear Polytechnic Institute, 

driving for Ray Evernham is a perfect 

fit. “I get to drive for a leader who 

puts teamwork, engineering and technology 

first,” she says. “This is a 

chance for me to learn from the best 

in the business.” 

ALL ABOUT SPEED 

Those cars can lead to bigger things. 

By the end of last season, Dodges 

dominated the NASCAR Craftsman 

Truck Series, and much of the credit 

goes to drivers who moved over from 

Nextel Cup. Bobby Hamilton, for one, 

won his first Craftsman Series championship 

in 2004, giving Dodge its first 

drivers’ title in a NASCAR national 

series in nearly 30 years. 

Hamilton’s victory came in just 

his second year as a full-time truck 

driver. The win also gave Dodge its 

first-time hold on both the drivers’ 

and manufacturers’ titles in a single 

year. For his part, Kahne won two of 

two starts in the 2004 Truck Series. 

When Ted Musgrave left the highprofile 

Winston Cup series in 2001 to 

race the No. 1 Mopar Dodge Ram 

truck in the Craftsman Truck Series, 

he saw it as a rare opportunity. Since 

“ 

I get to drive 

for a leader 

who puts 

teamwork, 

engineering 

and 

technology 

first. 

” 

— Erin Crocker 

USAC Sprint Car 

getting into the truck with the barbed 

wire paint job, Musgrave had more 

victories — 13 — in the 2001 through 

2004 seasons than any other driver. 

For the 2005 season, Musgrave is driving 

the No. 2 Team ASE Doge Ram for 

Ultra Motorsports. Dodge scored its 

first Craftsman victory in 1995, just 

two years after the series began, and 

didn’t look back. Last year’s manufacturers’ 

title was its third in four years 

— Dodges have won 52 percent of the 

races during that period. 

In the NASCAR Busch Series, 

Crocker is joined this season by 

Evernham Motorsports’ teammates 

Kahne and Jeremy Mayfield, driver 

of the No. 19 Nextel Cup Dodge 

co-sponsored by the UAW-Daimler- 

Chrysler National Training Center. 

After finishing 11th in the drivers’ 

standings in 2004, Kahne shares 

time behind the wheel of the No. 38 

Dodge with USAC Silver Crown star 

Tyler Walker. Mayfield is co-pilot 

of the No. 64 Dodge owned by 

fellow Nextel Cup veteran Rusty 

Wallace, sharing duties with Cup 

driver Jamie McMurray. 

SERIES SCORCHERS 

In the World of Outlaws series, 

Mopar drivers challenged for championships, 

but came up just short 

in 2004. Steve Francis finished second 

in the Late Model Series season 

in the No. 15 Mopar Dodge. “The 

Kentucky Colonel” also won the 

first World of Outlaws Late Model 

Series event at Volusia Speedway in 

Barberville, Fla., and the highestpaying 

series event of the season at 

the Red River Valley Speedway in 

West Fargo, N.D. 

For Danny “the Dude” Lasoski, 

last year was the debut of the new 

Mopar 410 Aluminum Sprint Car 

engine block. He led all 25 laps at the 

Dirt Track in Las Vegas the first time 

out. Lasoski’s No. 20 team, owned by 

Nextel Cup driver Tony Stewart, 

earned the runner-up position in the 

2004 Series Championship. 


The challenge to win 

is one sentiment that’s shared by 

Dodge drivers in every series. 

In the United States Auto Club 

National Sprint Car Series, the Tony 

Stewart Racing Enterprises Mopar 

team placed three drivers in the Top 

10 in 2004. Jay Drake won his first 

USAC sprint car title. 

The up-and-coming Sport Compact 

class saw Scott Mohler race his Mopar 

Dodge SRT-4 Neon dragster to second 

place in the points standings. He 

bought his Neon off the lot in 1998 

Dragster 

and is still running the original Neongeneration 

body. 

In the Busch Grand National Series, 

Kahne finished 11th in the points 

standings last year. Watch for him this 

season, joined occasionally by 

Crocker. Mayfield ran only one Busch 

race last year, but he’s racing this season 

in a Dodge owned by fellow 

Nextel Cup driver Rusty Wallace. 

DRIVEN TO WIN 

Mopar expanded its menu 

of racing excitement in 2004 

by making its impressive first foray 

into the sport of drifting, where drivers 

are judged on their ability to 

“drift” the rear end on turns. Samuel 

Hubinette had Mopar sponsorship as 

the driver of a Dodge Viper Competition 

Coupe (see page 27) in the 

Formula Drift Championship Series. 

For the Mopar Dodge SRT-4 Sports 

Car Club of America ProRally teams, 

a successful 2004 season concluded at 

the Lake Superior race at Houghton, 

Mich. Doug Shepherd, chassis engineering 

director for Chrysler Group 

Ted Musgrave drives the No. 1 Mopar Dodge 

at the 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series 

Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway 

in Martinsville, Va. 


RIGHT: COURTESY OF DAIMLERCHRYSLER; THIS PAGE TOP: COURTESY OF DAIMLERCHRYSLER; BOTTOM COURTESY OF EVERNHAM MOTORSPORTS 

Family Vehicles, and co-driver Pete 

Gladysz, a powertrain manager at 

DaimlerChrylser Performance Vehicle 

Operations, captured another Top 5 

finish overall (their third) and a Group 

5 win (Shepherd’s sixth, Gladysz’s 

fifth). Dodge had a perfect season, 

winning nine of nine races, giving 

Mopar and Dodge the overall SCCA 

ProRally manufacturers’ title. 

Shepherd and Gladysz took the 

championship, dominating the division, 

winning six of nine races. 

Shepherd has been rallying since 

1972 and Gladysz since 1977. 

They’ll keep doing it, a two-wheel 

drive David against the four-wheel 

drive Goliaths. “It’s the challenge of 

winning,” Gladysz says. That’s one 

sentiment that’s shared by Dodge 

TOP: Driver Shaun Carlson’s NHRA 

Sport Compact raises dust. 

RIGHT: Erin Crocker, the first woman to 

win a World of Outlaws race, brings 

diversity to the Evernham team. She’ll 

be competing in the NASCAR Busch 

Series and ARCA for Evernham Motorsports 

and the USAC Silver Crown for 

Kasey Kahne Motorsports. 

Oh, Yeah, It’s a HEMI 

CHRYSLER INTRODUCED THE HEMI V-8 ENGINE in 1951 with 

what was then an astonishing 180 horsepower. Thirteen 

years later at the Daytona International Speedway, the legend 

of Hemi power was chiseled in granite. 

On that day in 1964, the first three finishers of the 

Daytona 500, led by Richard Petty, were driving 426 

Hemi-powered Plymouths. It was the engine’s first race, 

a remarkable testimony to the Chrysler engineers who 

built the engines in record time. They worked around the 

clock in late January 1964 to correct a problem with thin 

cylinder-wall castings. It was only on the night before the 

race that improved engine blocks were installed. 

For the Hemi’s competition, Daytona was a season 

preview. Plymouths and Dodges won 26 times, largely 

thanks to Hemi power. 

In 1965, NASCAR decided the Hemi was just too 

powerful and issued rule changes basically outlawing the 

engine because it was not available in stock production 

models. A year later, Dodge offered the 426 Hemi as a 

production option, and the engine was back in NASCAR. 

When Chrysler began offering a slightly tuned-down version 

of the 426 Hemi in Plymouth Belvederes and Dodge 

Coronets and Chargers, the era of the muscle car arrived. 

The street Hemi came with dual, four-barrel carburetors 

mounted on an aluminum dual-plane intake manifold. 

The engine’s advertised horsepower and torque 

were 425 horsepower and 490 pounds per foot of 

torque, but drivers often claimed the output was closer 

to 500 horsepower. 

What made it a Hemi? The cylinder head configuration 

has a nearly centrally located spark plug in a hemispherical 

combustion chamber. This unique architecture has an 

inherent airflow that translates into big power. 

Anyone with a Hemi under the hood knew the car 

would be the first off the line at a stoplight. What Hemi 

couldn’t beat was the oil crisis. 

The first-generation street Hemi passed into history 

in 1971. Today, a state-of-the-art version of the Hemi is 

available on the Dodge Magnum, Dodge Durango and 

Dodge Ram pickup, as well as other Chrysler Group 

vehicles. Find out more about the Dodge Domination 

Powered by Hemi vehicles at www.dodge.com. — J.M. 

drivers in every series. ■ TOMORROW SPECIAL RACING 2005 23

STORY BY Molly Rose Teuke 

PHOTOGRAPHY BY Bob Mahoney 

FOR RACING FUN AND 

DEALS ON WHEELS, 

THIS EXHIBIT IS A 

CLEAR WINNER 

MAGNET 

In racing, a split-second decision can make all the 

difference. For John Vanek, a longtime race fan 

from Albertville, Ala., a decision to visit the 

UAW-DaimlerChrysler National Training Center 

NASCAR Exhibit at the Talladega Superspeedway made the difference 

in a winning deal on a brand-new, butane-blue Chrysler 

Town & Country minivan. 

“Being a NASCAR fan really paid off 

for me this time,” says Vanek. “I 

wanted a Town & Country, but I 

couldn’t fit it into my budget.” Until, 

that is, he visited the exhibit and 

walked away with a discount number 

good at his local dealership. 

FAST TRACK TO FUN 

The exhibit is all about helping fans, 

whether it’s getting a great deal on a 

new ride or making the most of their 

race experience at Talladega, the 

Daytona 500, UAW-DaimlerChrysler 

400 and up to 10 other events during 

the 2005 Nextel Cup season. A sureto-be 

popular feature is the photo 

opportunity, where fans can have 

their picture snapped with one of the 

NTC co-sponsored vehicles — the 

No. 9 and No. 19 Dodge Chargers. 

Photos are taken against a specially 

designed racing backdrop, complete 

with a stack of tires and pit toolkit. 

Four big-screen monitors offer 

race-related programming, from 

video footage of the previous day’s 

qualifiers to highlights of memorable 

NASCAR moments. Fans also 

can view a retrospective on Dodge 

racing and video loops about the 

National Training Center and the 

close working relationship between 

the UAW and DaimlerChrysler. 

Updated versions of the exhibit’s 

popular video racing modules invite 

fans to figuratively climb behind 

the wheel of No. 9 or No. 19 and 

test their skills against top 

NASCAR drivers. Now in its fourth 

year of touring duty, this season’s 

simulation games are the best yet, 

ILLUSTRATION: KEN HANSEN 


with improved visual clarity and 

greater interactivity. 

DESIGN IT — DRIVE IT 

Thanks to the program Vanek took 

advantage of, fans are invited to do 

more than get behind the wheel in a 

video game — they can literally put 

themselves behind the wheel of a new 

Chrysler Group vehicle at significant 

savings not available to the general 

public. In October 2004, Vanek 

worked with members of the P3 

Team, a group of UAW-represented 

DaimlerChrysler workers who educate 

potential customers about the 

quality vehicles they produce, to 

“build” the car he wanted and price 

it accurately. This season, visitors 

also can price their dream car at a 

pair of Vehicle Information Center 

computer kiosks. 

PEOPLE, PRIDE, PRODUCT 

As the P3 Team sees it, there’s no one 

better qualified to spread the word 

about the innovation and value in 

every Chrysler Group vehicle. 

“Once they found out that we 

weren’t from a dealership, they 

opened up to us,” explains Vernita 

Monk, a UAW Local 7 member who 

works in the paint shop at Detroit’s 

Jefferson North Assembly plant. 

“This isn’t a stressful environment 

because we’re not ‘selling’ anything 

but knowledge and pride in the product 

we make,” adds Susan Ambers, a 

UAW Local 140 member who works 

on the trim line at the Warren Truck 

Assembly plant in suburban Detroit. 

“We’re just not intimidating, so fans 

always seem to walk away with a 

smile on their face.” 

For fan Vanek, it’s a smile with 

staying power. “I’m still amazed by 

the Stow ’n Go seats I got in my 

new Town & Country,” he says. “But 

what really sold me is the pricing. That 

Top: Connie Sanders (left) talks to P3 Team Specialist 

Lee Murry at Centennial Park in Atlanta. 

Bottom: DaimlerChrysler vehicles on display at 

Centennial Park in Atlanta. 

ON THE ROAD WITH THE P3 TEAM 

People, Pride and Product: Bringing them together are members of the P3 team, 

a group of 30 UAW members drawn from nine Detroit-area Chrysler Group facilities. 

Team members are on special assignment to bring a plant-floor perspective to 

their mission: spreading the message about the quality vehicles they build. 

“People are impressed by how far Chrysler has come, impressed with the new 

designs in all the vehicles,” says Lee Murry, a member of UAW Local 51 who works 

in the production control department at Mack Avenue Engine in Detroit. 

It’s a message the P3 Team takes on the road, traveling to worker events at 

DaimlerChrysler locations and to public events like auto, sports and fishing shows. 

During the 2005 Nextel Cup season, P3 Team members are promoting awareness 

of Chrysler Group products at all races where the UAW-DaimlerChrysler National 

Training Center has its NASCAR Exhibit. 

Each team member is well-versed in the Chrysler Group vehicle lineup, a 

breadth of knowledge that comes in handy, according to Susan Ambers, a UAW 

Local 140 member at Warren Truck Assembly. “People like being able to talk to 

people who actually make the cars and can talk about the highlights in safety, utility, 

performance, styling and value.” 

The P3 Team does more than talk about the features of the vehicles they build. 

They work with other programs to heighten the message of “buy what you build.” 

— M.T. 

really made a winner out of me.” ■ TOMORROW SPECIAL RACING 2005 25

THE SCIENCE AND SKILL OF DRAFTING 

Gone with the 

Aerodynamics plays a huge part in motorsports. Regardless of the type of race 

machine, airflow will influence its top speed, acceleration, deceleration, handling 

and cooling. So it’s no surprise that racers try to manipulate it to their 

advantage. They design bodies and aerodynamic devices to manage air. And 

when they’ve done all they can with design, they try to influence the air during 

the race. There’s no better example of this than drafting. 

Slip Sliding Away 

Drafting, or slipstreaming as it is also 

known, plays a role primarily in auto 

and motorcycle racing. As a race 

vehicle rushes through the air, its 

body design creates an air pressure 

bubble in front and a minor vacuum 

behind it. Together, the effects produce 

drag. Aerodynamic detailing 

can reduce drag, depending upon 

how much freedom designers are 

allowed. But by drafting, a driver can 

reduce drag on his own. 

Drafting occurs when a car tucks in 

closely behind another. The leading 

vehicle loses some of the drag at its 

rear. The following vehicle still has a 

vacuum at its rear but now has less air 

resistance in front. The result is that 

both machines go faster. In fact, the 

closer they are, the faster they go. 

As former NASCAR Winston 

Cup champion and NBC broadcaster 

Benny Parsons explains, “A 

boat goes through the water and 

the water spreads. You have a wake 

behind it. I think air does the same 

thing. You go through that air and 

it splits and leaves that wake 

behind it. Before the air can reform, 

there isn’t as much resistance, 

so when you ride back in that 

wake, it makes running easier.” 

Power to Pass 

Of course, the point of drafting is to 

make two or more racecars go faster 

and, at some point, to allow one of 

the machines to pass — to “slingshot.” 

Slingshotting occurs when one 

vehicle gains speed in the first vehicle’s 

wake and pops out to pass using 

Air pressure creates 

a drag on lead car. 

The wake of lead car 

creates an area of 

decreased pressure. 


the extra momentum. As it moves 

ahead, the vacuum reappears behind 

the first machine, increasing its drag 

and slowing it down. 

While you can see drafting and 

slingshotting in MotoGP, Formula I, 

the Indy Racing League and Champ 

Car, the effect is most easily spotted 

on NASCAR superspeedways like 

Daytona and Talladega. There, drivers 

work in drafting lines, cooperating 

and competing with drafting 

partners until the final laps, when 

they try to time a slingshot pass. If 

they time it wrong, they lose several 

positions. If they get it right, they’re 

gone with the draft, and they cross 

the finish line first. ■ — Eric Tegler 

Bad as It Wants to Be: 

Dodge’s Viper Competition Coupe 

When Tommy Archer stalled on the 

standing start of the final 2004 

Speed GT series race in October, he 

fell to the tail of the 34-car field. But 

he got going and stormed his way to 

a third-place finish, passing the Audi 

RS6 of championship leader Michael 

Galati on the way. With that, Archer 

took the drivers’ championship. He 

did it in a Viper Competition Coupe. 

Building on the tradition and outstanding 

racing success of the 

Dodge Viper GTS-R (1996–2000), 

the company introduced the new, 

track-ready Viper Competition Coupe 

in 2003. Based on the street-going 

Viper SRT-10, the Competition 

Coupe is wrapped in a carbon/Kevlar 

body, strengthened by a full roll 

cage and stout front-end bracing. 

Power comes from a race-tuned version 

of the SRT-10’s aluminum 8.3 

liter V10, which produces 520 

horsepower and 540 pounds per 

foot of torque. 

Other racing enhancements include 

a differential cooler, ducted brakes, 

six-point restraints and fire suppression 

system, all adapted by company 

engineers at Dodge Motorsports. Such 

racing technology transfers to the 

Chrysler Group vehicles you can drive. 

Check them out at www.dodge.com 

and www.chrysler.com. 

BOB MAHONEY 

Second car drives in 

lead car’s wake to gain 

momentum from 

decreased air pressure. 


2005 

NASCAR 

Nextel Cup Series Highlights 

02/12/05 Daytona International Speedway 


02/20/05 Daytona 500/Daytona International Speedway 

02/27/05 California Speedway 

03/13/05 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 

Las Vegas Motor Speedway 

03/20/05 Atlanta Motor Speedway 

04/03/05 Bristol Motor Speedway 

04/10/05 Martinsville Speedway 

04/17/05 Texas Motor Speedway 

04/23/05 Phoenix International Raceway 

05/01/05 Talladega Superspeedway 

05/07/05 Carolina Dodge Dealers 500/Darlington Raceway 

05/14/05 Richmond International Raceway 

05/21/05 Lowe’s Motor Speedway 


06/05/05 Dover International Speedway 

06/12/05 Pocono Raceway 

06/19/05 Michigan International Speedway 

06/26/05 Infineon Raceway 


07/10/05 Chicagoland Speedway 

07/17/05 New Hampshire International Speedway 

07/24/05 Pocono Raceway 

08/07/05 Indianapolis Motor Speedway 

08/14/05 Watkins Glen International 

08/21/05 Michigan International Speedway 

08/27/05 Bristol Motor Speedway 

09/04/05 California Speedway 

09/10/05 Richmond International Raceway 

09/18/05 New Hampshire International Speedway 

09/25/05 Dover International Speedway 

10/02/05 Talladega Superspeedway 

10/09/05 Kansas Speedway 


10/23/05 Martinsville Speedway 

10/30/05 Atlanta Motor Speedway 

11/06/05 Texas Motor Speedway 

11/13/05 Phoenix International Raceway 

11/20/05 Homestead-Miami Speedway

2005 Racing Issue - UAW-Chrysler.com

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