The blockbuster revelation that Penske Racing is moving from Dodge to Ford in NASCAR in 2013 raises one central question: What will Dodge do?

The manufacturer has depended on Penske's two-car operation as its core, with owner-driver Robby Gordon adding a third car as a customer team without full Dodge backing. Gordon was complaining about his Arrington-built Dodge engine being down on power at Daytona and wished aloud before the race that Dodge might help facilitate an engine loan from Penske. It didn't happen.

Last November, 1990 Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope announced the formation of Creation Cope Racing, which featured a photo of a Dodge Sprint Cup car on the team Web site, but the team brought a Chevrolet to Daytona for the Nationwide Series race.

Similarly, Penske driver Sam Hornish Jr., Sprint Cup driver Brad Keselowski and ARCA series graduate Parker Kligerman race Dodges in the Nationwide Series for Penske, with Hornish and Kligerman splitting the ride. The MacDonald Motorsports team, with driver Jason Bowles, is expected to run a Dodge in the Nationwide Series, too, full time this year.

Likely confounding for Dodge is that Penske was key in the development of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Charger which, like the already debuted 2013 Ford Fusion and Toyota Camry, has been entirely restyled to look more like its road-going counterpart. Based on photos of a bright red 2013 Charger on the shop floor taken by a NASCAR fan during a Penske Racing shop tour--photos that were posted online and were not authorized by Dodge--the new Charger Cup car is a knockout.

So who might be interested in replacing Penske as the lead Dodge team? Discounting contractual obligations for the sake of argument, it seems unlikely that Chevrolet's Hendrick Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing would be interested in Dodge, nor would Roush Fenway be interested in leaving Ford. Joe Gibbs Racing and Waltrip Racing are tied to Toyota, and it seems likely that if Gibbs was willing to switch, it could be a likely candidate. Chevrolet's Earnhardt Ganassi? It seems to be having all it can handle in just trying to get its house in order. Ford's Richard Petty Motorsports? Maybe.

If Dodge can't land one of those teams, the alternative would be smaller teams, which may not have the capacity to handle development work. It could also select a team currently competing successfully in Nationwide or the Camping World Truck Series and help the team move up to Sprint Cup.

The other alternative: Dodge could back away entirely from NASCAR, but that seems unlikely given the level of motorsports interest within the company and the need for the sanctioning body to maintain the positive momentum NASCAR earned last season--losing one of the four manufacturers early in the 2012 season would be a public relations blow. Expect NASCAR to work behind the scenes to help Dodge find a replacement for Penske Racing.

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