So Far, So Good For Mustang’s Cup Series Roll Out

Going into Sunday’s Daytona 500, Ford teams are hoping that they are First On Race Day.

So far in SpeedWeeks, the debut of the new Mustang in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series has been a success.

The Fords showed speed in Sunday’s Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona International Speedway, with the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford of Paul Menard leading 51 of the 59 laps completed in the event.

The Blue Oval drivers continued that by sweeping the top three spots in both of Thursday’s Duel qualifying races, topped by Kevin Harvick winning the first race in a Stewart-Haas Racing Ford and Joey Logano taking the win in his Team Penske Mustang.

On Friday, the Fords continued to show speed in practice, with Paul Menard leading the afternoon session. In fact, nine of the top 10 in that session were Mustangs.

All indications are that Sunday’s Daytona 500 should be a strong one for the FoMoCo drivers.

“It was encouraging (Thursday) night to see the performance across all of our teams, strong finish in the Duels,” said Mark Rushbrook, Global Director for Ford Performance Motorsports. “We’re pretty excited about what we have so far for a race car. Definitely looking forward to the Daytona 500 on Sunday, seeing how it performs in that race. Just excited to have Mustang on the track.”

Team owner Roger Penske said the collaboration on the Mustang began in 2018.

“With the thought of the new Mustang, all of us had the opportunity with our technical people to sit down and interface with Ford’s performance team,” he said. “Whether it was wind tunnel, scale tunnel, all the things that go together, they were key. Each of us had a piece of that. From our preparation, you have all these cars that are Fusions. We don’t have just four or five cars in the stable. You have multiple cars that have to be changed over. It puts a big pressure on us. The good news was Ford provided us the pieces that are specific by NASCAR. We had those in time in order to build these cars, which I thought was good.”

Roush Fenway Racing team owner Jack Rouse said that the Mustang is “a river that runs through for me.”

“Fifth-three years ago I loaded my first Mustang on the truck and took it to the Winter Nationals. I’ve watched the Mustangs be raced in a myriad of classes, road racing, drag racing. We’ve taken is to Bonneville, Pikes Peak, we’ve taken it to Europe. The Mustang has finally taken its rightful place at the top of the stockcar arena with NASCAR. It’s been something that I’ve watched come over a period of time that I’m very proud of being a staple with for all those years.”

Maybe the team with the deepest roots to the brand is the famed Wood Brothers, who have campaigned Fords – not to mention Mercury and Lincoln makes – since the team’s inception in 1953.

“We’ve raced Fords forever,” said team co-owner Len Wood. “We trust their judgment. They picked a really good one with the Mustang. Our dad had a ’65 red one, our uncle had a dark blue one. We have an alliance with Team Penske, they do a nice job of giving us the best cars every week. With Mark Rushbrook taking over the Ford program last year, I think he’s done a very nice job. Rolling out the Mustang, just like the GT you rolled out several years ago, top notch. Obviously (Thursday) night with top three both races, we’re off to a good start.”

For Front Row Motorsports owner Bob Jenkins, the connection with the Mustang goes back years as well.

“My youngest memory as a child was riding around in my grandfather’s 1966 Mustang, thinking I’m riding in the coolest car in town. I’m proud the Ford brand has a performance car that’s a flagship now in NASCAR. You think about the history of the Mustang, what better car to have representing the sport. Rollouts are rollouts. Every time a new body style comes in the sport, historically there’s been issues, usually takes the manufacturer six months to a year to figure it out. I’ve been impressed with the Ford team, the preparation they put into this car, from initial results at the test, here at Daytona.

“We’re pretty well going to hit the ground running.”

Stewart-Haas Racing is entering its second full year fielding Fords. Team owner Tony Stewart said it’s been impressive moving over from a “totally different culture with a different manufacturer.”

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While the rollout of the Mustang has been important, there’s one thing that’s even bigger for all the Ford teams – winning the Daytona 500.

Our dad and uncles won the first race for Ford, first Daytona 500 race for Ford, in ’63,” Wood said. “They were over the moon about winning that race. As it went on, we won with (David) Pearson, won with Cale (Yarborough), A.J. Foyt, David Pearson. When we won with Trevor Bayne, it was almost like it was more (indiscernible) and myself, it was more our team then versus dad and his brothers earlier on. My dad, his last time in victory circle, was here in 2011. He wasn’t with us at Pocono with Blaney.

“To see his smile, my mom’s smile, it’s pretty big.”

Toyota Supra Set For Xfinity Series Debut Saturday

While the debut of the Ford Mustang in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series had garnered a lot of attention, there’s another debut during Daytona’s SpeedWeeks this year, as Toyota rolls out the Supra in NASCAR Xfinity Series competition.

The Supra hit the track for the first time in practice on Friday, but it appears that the teams are still looking for speed out of the new mount. Fastest in the first practice round for Toyota was Christopher Bell, who was ninth fastest with a lap at 194.536 mph. His Joe Gibbs Racing Supra was the only one in the top ten.

His teammate, Atlanta, Georgia driver Brandon Jones, was 11th fast (194.246), with another JGR Toyota, piloted by Jeffery Earnhardt, in 12th (194.175). They were the only Supras in the top 20 in practice.

In contrast, the fastest in that round was the Ford of Chase Briscoe at 196.455 mph.

Only 22 cars took part in the final practice, where the Timmy Hill’s Toyota had the sixth fastest time (186.710) behind the fastest time of the session of 189.581 turned by Justin Haley’s Chevrolet.

Menard Fastest In Friday MENCS Practice

Paul Menard topped the speed charts overall in Friday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Daytona International Speedway, turning a lap at 200.758 mph in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford in the second of two sessions in preparation for Sunday’s Daytona 500.

Jamie McMurray was second quick overall at 200.696 in the second session, followed by Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (200.664, second session), Ryan Newman (200.638, second session) and Clint Bowyer (200.588, second session).

The rest of the top ten fastest speeds all came in the second session, with Aric Almirola, Daniel Suarez, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski rounding out the group.

The fastest driver in the first session was Kyle Busch, who turned a lap at 200.285 mph, which slotted in at 12th fastest overall.

Of the top ten speeds, nine were in Fords. Only one Chevrolet, McMurray, broke into the top ten.

The final MENCS practice session for the Daytona 500 is set for Saturday at 12:05 pm.