NASCAR: A Fourth Manufacturer Coming Soon?

NASCAR currently boasts three manufacturers but that doesn’t mean that a fourth one couldn’t be in the mix somewhere down the road and according to Brian France, more than one might be interested.

The current NASCAR landscape consists of Chevy, Ford and Toyota. While three manufacturers make up the sport today, you only have to look back to 2012 to find a time when there were four manufacturers in NASCAR. 2012 was of course the last time that we saw Dodge in NASCAR and since their departure some fans have wondered if they would ever return or be replaced.

NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France joined SiriusXM Speedway host Dave Moody on Friday to talk about a variety of NASCAR topics. One of the things that came up was whether or not we would see a new manufacturer in NASCAR anytime in the near future. France seemed to be cautiously optimistic about the interest from outsiders in joining and the possibility of it happening in the “right” situation.

"There is some interest, and by a couple of different manufacturers and we would be open to that in the right conditions. I think a lot of the car companies are understandably looking at the terrific job that Toyota has done by partnering with NASCAR and the success and all the things that comes along with that. They’ve been an incredible success story for a car manufacturer looking to come into a sport that’s very difficult to come in, compete and win every weekend. But there’s an interest. And this is obviously the biggest opportunity in auto racing in North America."

France touched on a couple of key things when speaking about another manufacturer joining NASCAR. The first of which was Toyota and their recent and overall success in NASCAR. When Toyota first came into NASCAR there were plenty of people who did not believe they were going to make it much less have a champion (Kyle Busch) less than 10 years after entering the sport. The success of Toyota could be enticing for other manufacturers to make the jump into NASCAR.

The other key thing that France touched on was that in North America, NASCAR is where it’s at when it comes to auto racing. If one of these interested manufacturers is interested because of their desire to reach racing fans in North America, NASCAR is going to be their ticket to do that. In this sense NASCAR might actually be able to offer something that others cannot and that only benefits NASCAR.

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Of course the next question is which manufacturers would be interested in coming over and France was not willing to delve into the details of that. Dodge will be the first name that comes to mind given that they were a part of NASCAR just a handful of years ago. Outside of Dodge another possibility might be Buick. Buick has been in NASCAR before, winning three manufacturers titles in the process. Then again, maybe the interested parties are those who have never been in NASCAR before which would open up the possibilities even more.

A lot would have to happen for a fourth manufacturer to come into the mix but if it were to happen within the next 5-10 years it would certainly create some interesting storylines and drama in NASCAR. Which manufacturer would you like to see in NASCAR? Be sure to let us know my commenting below. You can also share your thoughts by reaching out to us via our various social media platforms.