Today, Chevrolet announced that the Chevy Impala, the long-time base car for Chevy based teams in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, will be replaced in 2013 by the Camaro.
Today I feel excitement, pure and simple. Excitement, the same that I felt way back in 2007 when our friends over at Chevrolet let the world have a peek at the new Camaro, a car that was to be released in 2009. And now today I feel that same excitement, as NASCAR is only one car away from putting the four door family sedans (converted to look like two doors for the races) out to pasture. As of 2013 the NASCAR Nationwide Series will finally have the Camaro!
It just comes off the tongue so wonderfully – Camaro vs. Mustang vs. Challenger. Next year the Nationwide Series will see the return of the Big 3 duking it out in the corners with cars that have the look and passion of the same muscle cars you can actually buy at your local dealer and drive home. (Minus the roll cages, harness, safety equipment, racing tires, etc etc. of course). But the look of the sleek muscle car is back.
Many years ago there was a saying in Stock Car racing, “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday.” Well I’m not sure if that saying will come back but it just feels right today.
Today, we took one step closer to actually being able to feel like we can passionately cherish and own the same cars we cheer for on the weekends. I don’t know many guys that can say they feel that passion when they test drive a Chevy Impala with factory spoiler and tinted windows. Instead NASCAR and its manufacturers are finally making the right moves and bringing us back to the days of seeing real, honest to goodness muscle cars on the tracks. Bringing us back to the feelings fans shared for the cars way back in 1987 when we had Bill Elliot in the #9 Ford Thunderbird, Dale Earnhardt in the #3 Monte Carlo SS and Cale Yarborough taking to the track in the #29 Oldsmobile Cutlass.
Such great news has me hoping that NASCAR does the right thing and has the Mustang, Challenger & Camaro fighting it out in the Sprint Cup Series for 2014.
Oh and Toyota, wake up, its time to keep up with the Jones’ and put the same kind of sleek looking vehicle into the field. Perhaps we can replace the Camry next.
… and that is the Last Word.
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