Fast start for Ford
Manufacturer puts rough patch in past, looks poised for big things after Daytona 500 victory,
Ford Performance might need a larger trophy case.
A new one already was being installed in its Dearborn, Mich., headquarters. It has been that kind of recent run for the manufacturer.
One race into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, Ford Performance global director Dave Pericak might be looking for a spot for the Harley J. Earl replica trophy, should driver Kurt Busch or team co-owners Gene Haas and Tony Stewart be willing to loan theirs.
Busch’s victory for StewartHaas Racing last weekend in the Daytona 500 added to a bejeweled run for Ford. Since the beginning of last season, Ford has added the LMGTE Pro class title in the 24 Hours of Le Mans after a 50-year absence from competition and the GTLM Class in January’s Rolex 24, both with Ganassi Racing. Busch’s Daytona win was the second in three years for Ford. In 2015, Team Penske’s Joey Logano, like Busch, won it for the first time.
Busch led one lap Sunday, but he was no fluke winner, though Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson ran out of fuel in front of him.
It was an overall bullish day for Ford, despite numerous crashes nullifying several restrictor-plate achievers. Ryan Blaney of the Wood Brothers was second, Aric Almirola (Richard Petty Motorsports) fourth, Logano (Team Penske) sixth, Matt DiBenedetto (Go Fas Racing) ninth and 2011 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne (Roush Fenway Racing) 10th.
Pericak deemed the Ford contingent its best lineup ever in an interview with USA TODAY Sports a day before the 500 win.
“We’ve got the best cars we’ve ever had. We’ve got the best driv- ers we’ve ever had. I think we have the best system in place for racing that we’ve ever had,” he said.
So what’s next? A driver championship (Busch, in 2004, was the last Ford driver to win it) and a manufacturer title (last won in 2002). Pericak will get a chance to see how well his assessment holds this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a track with more commonalities to most of the venues on the 36-race schedule.
“We’ll see where we are on the mile-and-a-halfs,” Pericak said, “but equally as much work has gone into that, and we’ll expect to have a good run there, too. But we really won’t know until we get a couple more races under our belts to see where we really are this season. But I feel good about it.
“We’re just going to keep after it. We want more championships, not just in NASCAR but the other series as well. It’s exciting to win a big one like this.”
Pericak said he and Busch text- ed “throughout the night, on and off ” Sunday. He said having Busch, who won his 2004 series championship with Roush Fenway, back in the fold was poignant for the driver and company executives.
“The first interaction was when he first pulled into victory lane. He still had his helmet on. He had literally just shut the en- gine off,” Pericak said. “I stuck my head in the window and grabbed his helmet and said, ‘Welcome back home.’
“What a sweet way for him to come back home.”
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