In a good sign for those looking for some kind of distinction between the four auto manufacters' rides on the NASCAR circuit, NASCAR officials will be meeting with the four manufacturers in Detroit on Tuesday.
The idea is to help the manufacturers prepare for 2013, when the manufacturers will be able to debut new body forms on the Sprint Cup circuit to distinguish the cars from one another and come somewhere close to resembling cars on the street. In addition, the meeting will include talk of marketing and competition, and presumably some form of steam-table buffet lunch with rubber chicken.
The revision to auto-body standards will hopefully infuse a little more enthusiasm into what's become a rather by-the-book pursuit: trying to distinguish the cars from one another by body type, not insignias. Ford, for instance, will be switching to the Mustang as its vehicle of choice in the Sprint series.
At the moment, Chevrolet boasts 13 of the top 30 drivers in Sprint Cup, followed by Toyota with eight, Ford with seven and Dodge with two.
"The idea was for us to be better communicators with the stakeholders: the broadcast partners, the tracks, the teams, the drivers," NASCAR President Mike Helton said in Richmond. "Obviously, the manufacturers are stakeholders and now we're kind of catching up to tell them the same information we're telling all the other stakeholders."
It's a positive development; openness and discussion always is. We won't see its ultimate effects until 2012 or so, when the new models are released, but for now anything that both moves forward and gives a nod back to the manufacturer-rivalry days of yesteryear has to be viewed with cautious optimism.
Brand identity a key topic ... [Scene Daily]
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