The fact that there are no Dodge drivers competing in this year's Chase for the Sprint Cup shouldn't be interpreted as a sign that the manufacturer is at a mechanical disadvantage with the Car of Tomorrow, which is supposed to make the playing field more equal for all teams and manufacturers. At least that's the opinion of Roger Penske, who owns the Dodges driven by Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman.

PENSKE "Right now there are tweaks that we are working on," Penske said. "We ran the [new] R6 engine at the last race and it worked out well. We've just had a tough time getting the COT where we want it."

He said one reason is that NASCAR's rules on testing tend to benefit teams like Hendrick Motorsports, which has four Cup entries, and Roush Fenway Racing, which has five. The larger teams can gather more information on race weekends.

But he's not blaming his lack of success on testing rules.

"We have no excuses," he said. "I wouldn't change [manufacturers] if I could change tomorrow. [Dodge] has a good program."

He also said his team is in NASCAR for the long haul and points to the recent hiring of driver Justin Allgaier as evidence.

Allgaier, who won the ARCA race at Talladega on Friday with engines and support from Penske, is set to run a limited Nationwide Series schedule in coming months.

— Rick Minter, Cox News Service