Dean Wilson’s Cinderella story at Anaheim ends in fourth

By Jan 8, 2019, 9:00 PM EST
@deanwilson15 Twitter
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It will pay to remember that Cinderella’s slipper was made of glass.

In last week’s Monster Energy Supercross season opener at Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Dean Wilson grabbed the hole shot in his heat before eventually falling 2.78 seconds behind to Ken Roczen. His second-place finish gave him a great gate position that allowed him to get the hole shot again in the Main. On a heavy track that was rapidly rutting, he led the first 14 laps.

It appeared Wilson was on his way to winning.

Wilson never wanted to be Cinderella. By the fifth round of the 2017 season, he was offered a factory ride with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna. He immediately began scoring top 10s with the team.

He lost factory support at the end of last year and immediately switched gears toward once more becoming a privateer.

“It was non-stop all through December,” Wilson said on this week’s PulpMX Podcast. “Honestly, the hardest thing about being a privateer is the running about you’ve got to do. I’d be done riding and then I’d have to get wheels. I’d be ordering clutches and then writing emails. There’s a lot that goes into it. A lot more work. Stress. The one thing about factory teams is you ride, train, rest. That’s it.”

Then came January and Wilson’s replacement at Rockstar/Husqvarna Zach Osborne sustained a collarbone injury in a practice crash.

Speculation surrounded Wilson and whether he would become a fill-in driver. The offseason investment in his own team was too considerable to make that an appealing choice, but he and Rockstar/Husky settled on an agreement in which they provide assistance.

At Anaheim those two forces combined to almost give Wilson the victory.

“I think it was a great day,” Wilson said. “Qualified second, hole shotted my heat, led the heat for a bit and then hole shot in the Main.”

Remember that Cinderella’s slipper is made of glass. It didn’t shatter, but it developed some cracks with about five minutes remaining on the clock.

The muddy track obscured his goggles, which slowed him before he eventually discarded them partway through the event. The bigger obstacle was lapped riders he was forced to get around.

“I wish I had a remote where I could rewind and change a couple of things,” Wilson said. “It kind of hurts. I feel like I could have and should have won it. I was in the prefect position for it. I ran into some lappers and when I met that double, double in the middle I was committed to double – but the rut was getting really choppy. I made a mistake.”

When Just Barcia caught him on Lap 14, Wilson chose the wrong side of the lappers handing the lead to the eventual winner. Roczen and Eli Tomac also got around the No. 15 Husqvarna.

“We’ve got 16 more tries.” Wilson said as he searched for and found the silver lining.

Inside every silver lining is a black cloud, however.

“I almost feel like it’s a last shot kind of thing,” Wilson said about his privateer season. “Like this is my last shot, or I find something else. I’ve worked my butt off training a riding – and being a privateer for the rest of my career; it’s not really ideal.. Sure it’s run right now, but I want to be back on a factory team and I want to get results.”

Next race: January 12, State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Ariz.

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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).