2012 Chrysler 300 SRT8. Photo by Alex Bellus

2012 Chrysler 300 SRT8. Photo by Alex Bellus

Chrysler’s 300 sedan
could be lining up alongside the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon in Australia’s V8 Supercars race series from 2013 onwards.

New regulations dubbed “Car of the Future” make it easier for other manufacturers to potentially enter the series, and this could be just the ticket Chrysler needs to compete in the popular series.

SRT boss Ralph Gilles has already told Drive that he is interested, and now one of the bosses of an existing V8 Supercars team, Garry Rogers, has revealed to Australian media that he is in talks with Chrysler.

Rogers currently runs two Holden Commodores in the championship under the Fujitsu Racing team. The outcome of the talks between him and Chrysler are crucial as manufacturers aren’t allowed to own the licenses required to compete in the series. Instead, they need to enter via a partnership with an existing team.

2011 Holden Commodore V8 Supercars race car

2011 Holden Commodore V8 Supercars race car

Racing the 300 in the series would be a great way to promote not only the new sedan, which goes on sale in Australia this June, but also to promote the SRT and Mopar brands. There will even be some benefit to American promotional efforts as a leg of the series will be run at the Circuit of the Americas Formula 1 track in Austin, Texas, next year.

If you're not familiar with Australia's version of road course stock car racing, you should be. While the race cars resemble Australia’s local sedan heroes on the outside, they are powered by 5.0-liter V-8 racing engines shipped from the U.S. and tuned to deliver between 620 and 650 horsepower.

Stay tuned for an update.