NASCAR eyes more foreign manufacturers

UPDATE A reader asks, Dear AR1.com, How real are the chances that foreign manufacturers such as Mercedes or BMW would come into NASCAR? Peter Duffel

Dear Peter, Slim to none. In fact there isn't a chance in hell that a Mercedes would ever enter NASCAR and dumb its imagine down to that of a Chevy or Ford. They still run carburetors in NASCAR. That's 1920's technology and there are not too many companies willing to dumb themselves down that far in this high-tech age. NASCAR is on a downward spiral because it's the wrong product for today.

You have to build cars in the USA to get approved by NASCAR and that leaves foreign companies like Honda, Mercedes, Hyundai and BMW with the X6, though in Hyundai and BMW's case they just assemble them here. Honda is the only one that might consider the move, but we doubt it for all the reasons we state. In fact worldwide stock car racing is pooh-poohed as amateur racing. The Speedcar stock car series in the Middle East featuring ex-F1 drivers is about to die, its owners stating that without a major cash infusion there won't be a another season. NASCAR failed in Japan and the only reason they are still in Canada and Mexico is because they prop it up with major infusions of cash.

And last, it will be a cold day in hell before NASCAR's bubba crowd takes to foreign carmakers who put them and their families out of a job. Have you ever seen a #3 or #88 or any other popular NASCAR car number on a BMW, Mercedes or Audi?

Brian France is drinking Kool-Aid. NASCAR is between a rock and a hard place. Mark C.

06/15/09 NASCAR continues to have contact with foreign-based carmakers who are not yet involved in stock car racing but have manufacturing plants in the United States and may want to market through NASCAR, sanctioning body chairman Brian France said Sunday. "Clearly there are some companies that are going to look at opportunities that may not have been there in the past," France said. Of NASCAR's four current manufacturers, Chrysler and General Motors are in bankruptcy and Ford has reduced its expenditures on racing. Toyota, though its worldwide passenger car sales have been lagging, stands now as the strongest supporter of NASCAR among manufacturers. But other brands could help fill the void if the traditional American carmakers should weaken further and reduce if not eliminate their NASCAR participation. "We have companies that are interested in particular in developing the North American market as robustly as they can," France said. "And we're all aware that there are lots of foreign manufacturers producing cars here in America. That was part of the rationale that Toyota used" to get involved in NASCAR. Other such companies with U.S. plants include Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. But, "I'm not going to name names," France said. "We have been talking to people off and on for a long time. These are decisions, in terms of new manufacturers joining the sport, that will take a long time to evaluate and actually enter. So this isn't something that if we turn the light switch on tomorrow morning it would happen. But of course, we're the preeminent place in America for car manufacturers to build their businesses with an auto racing group. We remain that." ESPN.com