The off-season may have been somewhat fraught for Dodge as several of its top teams toyed with the idea of ditching the Charger model for the older Intrepid but now, seven races into the new season, the Charger has emerged as one of the most impressive cars of the year.
With three victories so far, coupled with generally disappointing form from those teams who did choose to use the Intrepid, 2006 is so far a bit of a renaissance for the oft criticised Charger.
First, Kasey Kahne claimed his second career win on at the Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March, vindicating Ray Evernham's decision to stick with the Charger from the outset.
A week later, Kurt Busch, whose Penske Racing team were one of those to switch back to the Intrepid at the start of the year, bumped his way to his 15th career victory at Bristol Motor Speedway's Food City 500 in a Charger as his teammate Ryan Newman continued to struggle with the Intrepid.
Then, last weekend at the Texas Motor Speedway, Kahne proved to be too overpowering for the rest of the field down the stretch, as he cruised to his second win in less than a month by capturing the Samsung/RadioShack 500.
Kahne's victory led a trio of Dodge drivers who finished in the top 10, as Scott Riggs was seventh and Bobby Labonte was 10th.
“The Charger, we believe still has a lot more potential in it than the Intrepid,” says Ray Evernham, owner of the #9, 10 and 19 Dodge teams.
“We thought the Charger was a good option and a good car,” says Kenny Francis, team director for Kahne's #9 car. “We've proven it's a really good car this year and we're pretty happy to be racing the Charger.”
Kahne says it has been a matter of making the right adjustments at the right times with the Charger.
“The biggest thing with our Dodge Charger has been getting the car balanced; getting it more stable,” says Kahne. “This year's it's not moving around on the racetrack and getting into the corners the way it did last year. Our Dodge Chargers are definitely better than they were last year.”
