NASCAR: Truck Series preparing for Bristol on short week

By Aug 19, 2014, 5:30 PM EDT
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Wednesday’s UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway will mark 10 races to go in the 2014 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season.

Bristol’s high-banked half-mile always provides a challenge, but with Wednesday’s event coming just four days after the series raced at the two-mile Michigan International Speedway, drivers may find themselves under a little bit more stress.

As the Trucks roll into Thunder Valley, there’s a new man atop the series standings. Saturday’s winner, Johnny Sauter, now holds a nine-point lead over ThorSport Racing teammate and defending series champion Matt Crafton, while the previous points leader, Ryan Blaney, fell to 16 points back after a dismal 21st-place run in the Irish Hills.

From Sauter’s perspective, Bristol is a welcome sight as he aims to win his first Truck Series title.

“Historically, it’s been a good track for me, especially in the trucks, and the new configuration is all about racing – at least I think so because it gives you options to move around,” he said this week. “You have to stay focused because it’s really fast and things happen in a hurry.

“I feel like I’ve always been better the second-half of the season and coming off a win at one of my worst race tracks gives me confidence. [Crew chief Jeff] Hensley has only been with the team for a short time, but he has already made some strides that I feel will keep us moving in the right direction. I’m looking forward to what the second-half of the season has in store.”

But his teammate Crafton has been strong on short tracks this year, earning a win at Martinsville and a third at Iowa. He too is looking forward to Wednesday’s race and the chance to take the points lead for himself.

“We’ve been close to winning there a few times, and with as many second-place finishes as we’ve had this season [three], we’re ready to get back to Victory Lane,” he said. “We’ve been good on short tracks this year, especially winning at Martinsville, so we’re ready to unload a fast Menards Toyota Tundra and stay up front all night, because track position will be key.”

Then there’s Blaney, whose Michigan weekend started wonderfully with the announcement that he’d be driving in Sprint Cup next season for the Wood Brothers but ended poorly with Saturday’s result.

The 21st-place finish ended a streak of seven consecutive Top-10 efforts, which is the longest such streak of the year so far in the Truck Series.

Now he must try to get back on track at Bristol, where he finished third in last year’s Truck race. Blaney is a good shoe on short tracks overall, having earned nine Top-10s in 12 career short track starts.

Ford unveils a new Mustang for 2024 Le Mans in motorsports ‘lifestyle brand’ retooling

Associated PressJun 9, 2023, 7:00 PM EDT
Ford Mustang Le Mans
Ford Performance
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LE MANS, France — Ford has planned a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its iconic Mustang muscle car next year under a massive rebranding of Ford Performance aimed at bringing the automotive manufacturer “into the racing business.”

The Friday unveil of the new Mustang Dark Horse-based race car follows Ford’s announcement in February (and a ballyhooed test at Sebring in March) that it will return to Formula One in 2026 in partnership with reigning world champion Red Bull.

The Mustang will enter the GT3 category next year with at least two cars in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, and is hopeful to earn an invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The IMSA entries will be a factory Ford Performance program run by Multimatic, and a customer program in WEC with Proton Competition.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, also an amateur sports car racer, told The Associated Press the Mustang will be available to compete in various GT3 series across the globe to customer teams. But more important, Farley said, is the overall rebranding of Ford Performance – done by renowned motorsports designer Troy Lee – that is aimed at making Ford a lifestyle brand with a sporting mindset.

“It’s kind of like the company finding its own, and rediscovering its icons, and doubling down on them,” Farley told the AP. “And then this motorsports activity is getting serious about connecting enthusiast customers with those rediscovered icons. It’s a big switch for the company – this is really about building strong, iconic vehicles with enthusiasts at the center of our marketing.”

Ford last competed in sports car racing in 2019 as part of a three-year program with Chip Ganassi Racing. The team scored the class win at Le Mans in 2016 in a targeted performance aimed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford snapping Ferrari’s six-year winning streak.

Ford on Friday displayed a Mustang with a Lee-designed livery that showcased the cleaner, simplified look that will soon be featured on all its racing vehicles. The traditional blue oval with Ford Performance in white lettering underneath will now be branded simply FP.

The new mark will be used across car liveries, merchandise and apparel, display assets, parts and accessories and in advertising.

Farley cited Porsche as an automaker that has successfully figured out how to sell cars to consumers and race cars in various series around the world while creating a culture of brand enthusiasts. He believes Ford’s new direction will help the company sell street cars, race cars, boost interest in driving schools, and create a merchandise line that convinces consumers that a stalwart of American automakers is a hip, cool brand.

“We’re going to build a global motorsports business off road and on road,” Farley told the AP, adding that the design of the Mustang is “unapologetically American.”

He lauded the work of Lee, who is considered the top helmet designer among race car drivers.

“We’re in the first inning of a nine inning game, and going to Le Mans is really important,” Farley said. “But for customer cars, getting the graphics right, designing race cars that win at all different levels, and then designing a racing brand for Ford Performance that gets rebranded and elevated is super important.”

He said he’s kept a close eye on how Porsche and Aston Martin have built their motorsports businesses and said Ford will be better.

“We’re going in the exact same direction. We just want to be better than them, that’s all,” Farley said. “Second is the first loser.”

Farley, an avid amateur racer himself, did not travel to Le Mans for the announcement. The race that begins Saturday features an entry from NASCAR, and Ford is the reigning Cup Series champion with Joey Logano and Team Penske.

The NASCAR “Garage 56” entry is a collaboration between Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, and is being widely celebrated throughout the industry. Farley did feel left out of the party in France – a sentiment NASCAR tried to avoid by inviting many of its partners to attend the race so that it wouldn’t seem like a Chevrolet-only celebration.

“They’re going right and I’m going left – that NASCAR thing is a one-year deal, right? It’s Garage 56 and they can have their NASCAR party, but that’s a one-year party,” Farley said. “We won Le Mans outright four times, we won in the GT class, and we’re coming back with Mustang and it’s not a one-year deal.

“So they can get all excited about Garage 56. I almost see that as a marketing exercise for NASCAR, but for me, that’s a science project,” Farley continued. “I don’t live in a world of science projects. I live in the world of building a vital company that everyone is excited about. To do that, we’re not going to do a Garage 56 – I’ve got to beat Porsche and Aston Martin and Ferrari year after year after year.”

Ford’s announcement comes on the heels of General Motors changing its GT3 strategy next season and ending its factory Corvette program. GM, which unlike Ford competes in the IMSA Grand Touring Prototype division (with its Cadillac brand), will shift fully to a customer model for Corvettes in 2024 (with some factory support in the IMSA GTD Pro category).