Ford unveils new look for Mustang in NASCAR Cup Series
A new Ford Mustang body is coming to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2024, the manufacturer announced and formally unveiled Wednesday.
Ford’s 14 NASCAR Cup Series teams will race under the new Dark Horse nameplate. According to Ford, they unveiled the Dark Horse just over a year ago as the newest Mustang nameplate since 2001.
“Our Ford Performance staff, together with our NASCAR race teams, have worked tirelessly in the wind tunnel developing this car, and I can’t wait to finally see it race on the track next season,” said Mark Rushbrook, global director, Ford Performance Motorsports.
In 2018 and 2020, Ford earned their first NASCAR Cup Series manufacturer’s championships since 2000 and 2002.
In 2020, the 13 Ford teams bagged 18 wins and led 4,816 of the 9,914 laps run. Half of the playoff field and the Championship Four also belonged to Ford. They also averaged a 15.5 owner-points finish.
Then, before 2021, the final season of the Gen 6 car, NASCAR instituted a parts freeze.
In 2021, their win count dropped to seven. The 12 Ford teams led 1,712 of the 9,200 laps run. Just five teams also placed in the owner playoffs but none of them made the Championship Four. The manufacturer also averaged an 18.2 owner points finish.
The Gen 7 car brought Ford up to nine wins in 2022. The Ford teams also led 2545 of 9483 laps run.
However, their average owner points finish slumped to 22.3 and just four teams made the playoffs, including Joey Logano’s championship-winning No. 22 team.
Their performance has generally met in the middle in 2023:
- Six teams made the owner playoffs
- 8 wins
- 20.2 average owner points finish
- 2,261 of 8,988 laps led
Now, in 2024, the manufacturer will get a boost with the new body. This is the first time any manufacturer will receive a refresh to their original Gen 7 body.
