DESPITE BOASTING DEFENDING CHAMPS, FORD BRINGS UP THE REAR IN NASCAR
Going into 2024, expectations soared for Ford’s NASCAR program.
For the second straight season in 2023, it won the NASCAR Cup Series championship with Team Penske. In fact, Ford swept championship weekend, with Truck Series champion Ben Rhodes and Xfinity Series champion Cole Custer driving blue ovals.
With the introduction of the Ford Mustang Dark Horse in the Cup Series, Ford was thought to be the top dog among manufacturers going into the new season.
So far, though, its season is a dumpster fire rivaled only by those in the Talladega infield on a Friday night.
Not only has Ford been shut out from victory lane in the first 11 Cup Series races — which don’t include the Dayton Duels or Busch Clash exhibition races — but it is winless in Xfinity and Trucks despite boasting the defending champion in all three national NASCAR series.
What's worse, while it has had some slow weekends, Ford has repeatedly come agonizingly close to victory.
Ryan Blaney finished three one-thousandths of a second short of a win at Atlanta, but Ryan Sieg outdid him, losing the Xfinity Race at Texas to Sam Mayer by just two one-thousandths of a second. In the Truck Series, Ty Majeski has been a runner-up twice — at Atlanta and Martinsville.
Ford’s dreadful performance should absolutely be scrutinized, but it’s just plain weird that in 28-point races across Cup, Xfinity and Trucks, it hasn't won. To make matters worse, Ford is technically 0-31, losing both Daytona Duels and the Busch Clash.
Blaney has been Ford's most consistent driver in the Cup Series, but two-time champion Joey Logano has struggled, sitting just three points above the playoff cutline. Despite a few solid days each between Noah Gragson and Chase Briscoe, no Stewart-Haas Racing cars reside inside the provisional playoff picture, and the RFK duo of Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher are both around the bubble.
In the Xfinity Series, defending champion Custer has performed consistently to start the season, but he has yet to win despite being +146 to the playoff cutline. His teammate, Riley Herbst, is +56, but he also hasn't won, although he finished a close second to Jesse Love at Talladega.
Ford’s most puzzling driver might be found in the Truck Series.
Rhodes and crew chief Rich Lushes won their second title in 2023 and were expected to be weekly contenders again in 2024. However, they've raced off the pace like the rest of their Ford teammates.
Rhodes is 12th in the Truck Series standings, six points below the cutline. While that would be a solid mark for everyone else in the field, everyone else is not Rhodes and the No. 99 team, who have become accustomed to running up front.
In seven races to start the season, Rhodes only has one top-10 finish, a seventh-place run at COTA, and has led just five laps.
With no more road courses on the Truck Series schedule this season, it’s time for the No. 99 team to begin work on their intermediate package before the possibility of missing the postseason becomes reality.
Ford’s struggles this season in the Cup Series are well-documented, but if you look deeper into the Xfinity and Truck Series, you’ll see a much bigger problem brewing, and it doesn’t appear that one of the most famous automotive brands in history is any closer to solving it.
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