TRG to Dodge?

TRG talking to Dodge: Ralph Gilles, just promoted from the designer ranks to head up Dodge and Dodge motorsports, faces a 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup racing season with only three Dodge teams, all owned by Roger Penske Dodge spent much of 2009 developing a new engine, and the company needs at least one or two more teams for 2010 to give the brand some additional presence and help amortize that powertrain investment . Kevin Buckler, who happens to own a NASCAR team, is the head of TRG, or The Racers Group. Buckler made his name fielding sports cars, including three Porsches in the Grand-Am Rolex Series' season-ending Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway last weekend.

But while he sat on the pit box in Homestead, he was on the phone constantly to California, where his #71 Chevy was getting ready to race in the Pepsi 500 at California Speedway. A team that didn't really exist until a few weeks before the 2009 Daytona 500, Buckler and TRG have qualified for 29 of 30 NASCAR races this year, using a list of best-available drivers including David Gilliland, Mike Bliss and–for seven races, including the final four of this season–Bobby Labonte. Labonte has run several races for TRG and likes what he sees, especially being teamed with veteran crew chief Slugger Labbe.

Buckler acquired most of his cars and equipment from Richard Childress, and consequently is a Chevrolet team by default. "But Chevrolet just gives us sheet metal and some technical help and gives Childress some consideration for our engine program, but it isn't what we need. Especially if we are going to take this to the next level." Enter Dodge? "I'm very much interested in talking to them," Buckler said. In fact, he has had a few conversations with Penske–they see each other a lot at both Grand-Am and NASCAR races–about Dodge. "I think it would be a great fit," said Buckler, who would like to expand to a two-car team as soon as he can. "You look at how much we've done this season with so little, and I think it shows we have a lot to offer."

So, Dodge, interested in Buckler? "Absolutely," said a Dodge spokesman, a veteran of the NASCAR wars. "I think we'd be crazy not to consider what he could bring to the party, especially if he could bring Bobby Labonte for the full season." And that, Buckler said, is a strong possibility. Buckler has been running the team on a shoestring, assembling a sponsor here, a sponsor there, and "starting-and-parking" to pocket money when none could be found. Bringing Labonte on full-time for 2010, as a semi-factory Dodge team, could go a long way toward signing some of the sponsors Buckler has been courting. The team sits 37th in owners' points, just two spots behind 35th, which would guarantee it a starting spot at the 2010 Daytona 500 and the four following races. Plus, Labonte's "past champion" provisional starting spots–he was the 2000 champ–would appeal to a sponsor, too. Autoweek