Phoenix - Garage Talk
Phoenix, Az.
by Stan Creekmore

• It would appear Dale Jarrett is in the driver's seat when it comes to where he will drive in 2007. UPS has not renewed with car owner Robert Yates and will not until they are assured Jarrett's services have been secured. Jarrett, on the other hand, is being wooed by Toyota, with the full knowledge wherever Jarrett goes, UPS goes. (4-22-2006)

• There has been a lot of talk about one of the current manufacturers involved in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup competition making plans to exit the arena. John Fernandez, Director, Dodge Motorsports Operations, says he's heard the rumblings, but isn't the focus.

“I’ve heard the rumor, but obviously we’re not involved in it. I haven’t heard anything from General Motors or Ford that indicates they’re in any jeopardy. Obviously their total companies right now are having a tough time in the marketplace, but that’s happened before and it’ll happen again I’m sure. As far as I know, GM and Ford are still committed to NASCAR and committed to racing in the Cup Series. As far as I know right now it’s only a rumor.”

So how long is Dodge's current commitment to NASCAR?

“I don’t think there’s anything set out there right now as far as how long we’re committed for. I think we still believe it’s the right place to be to show off the image we’re trying to project for the Dodge brand performance, the capableness of our cars. Quite frankly we’re just getting in position now to win some races and show some strength with our program. They’re starting to mature to the point where hopefully we can take a run at it this year. We’ve built up our drivers to the point where we’ve got four or five capable drivers with some young guys coming along. That’s strong. It’s the second year for the Charger, and it’s starting to show some strength. You’ve heard me say this before. Inherently that’s a better car than we’ve ever had. It’s taken awhile to figure out and there were some complications last year, but I think we’ve shown and demonstrated this year that the car is capable of winning races. We’ve won three of the first seven and we probably should have won Daytona. We had a good enough car to win there, but it was a we just didn’t win kind of thing. I’m pretty comfortable with where we’re at. We’ve got a long way to go before we want to quit. (4-21-06)

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