ARCA RE/MAX: Dodge Intrepid eligible for competition in ARCA Re/Max Series

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

April 10, 2001

TOLEDO, OH--ARCA officials have announced that the Dodge Intrepid body style is eligible for use in competition in the national championship ARCA RE/MAX Series, effective April 20, 2001.

“We at Dodge Motorsports recognize the ARCA RE/MAX Series’ long history in motorsports,” said Bob Wildberger, Senior Manager of NASCAR Operations for Dodge. “We look forward to seeing the Dodge Intrepid on the track in ARCA RE/MAX Series competition. We believe we can supply high-quality, championship caliber parts to ARCA RE/MAX Series competitors, and we look forward to seeing Dodge’s winning tradition in the series continue.”

“We welcome the Dodge Intrepid body style to on-track competition in the ARCA RE/MAX Series,” said ARCA president Ron Drager. “Dodge has been a winner in our series since Iggy Katona drove a Hemi-powered Dodge to victory in 1953, and as recently as 1999 when Robbie Pyle won in a Dodge Avenger. Given Dodge’s strong, long-standing presence in motorsports, and virtually uninterrupted winning ways in the RE/MAX Series, it certainly seems appropriate to have renewed Dodge representation in the form of the Intrepid.”

While the Intrepid is a new addition to the RE/MAX Series, the Chrysler Group’s winning ways are well documented. Katona’s victory in ’53 led the way for a total of 31 Dodge, Plymouth and Chrysler pilots to rack up over 250 wins over the years, nearly one-fourth of all series events run to date. Some of the most notable accomplishments: dominance by Dodge pilots Les Snow, Andy Hampton, Katona, Bobby Watson and Ramo Stott in winning some 75% of series races from 1966-1972, including championships for Katona in ’66-67 and Stott in ’70-71; the unforgettable presence of the winged Plymouth Superbird which produced superspeedway wins for Stott and Jim Vandiver; a Dodge Magnum win at Daytona in 1979 by rookie Kyle Petty; 1989 RE/MAX Series champion Bob Keselowski driving Chrysler Corp. products to a majority of his 24 career wins; car owner wins in the 1980s and 1990s for Chrysler loyalist Jerry Lawrence; and the 1-3 Dodge Avenger finish in 1999 by Pyle and longtime Dodge campaigner Roger Blackstock. Other notable Dodge, Plymouth and Chrysler ARCA RE/MAX Series winners over the years include Gober Sosebee, Charlie Glotzbach, Ernie Derr, Butch Hartman, Ralph Latham, Neil “Soapy” Castles, Earl Balmer, Butch Hartman, Jim Cushman and Jerry Churchill. One final point of fact is that of the top seven all-time winningest ARCA RE/MAX Series drivers, four of them (Katona, Snow, Stott and Keselowski) drove Chrysler Corp. products in the vast majority of their triumphs.

The first RE/MAX Series event in which the Dodge Intrepid is eligible to compete is at Winchester Speedway in Indiana Sunday April 22.

Text provided by Don Radebaugh

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