AMANDA’S ARTICLES
By: Amanda Vincent
Mustang may very well be the most successful nameplate in professional racing, but Ford’s pony car has never had a presence in NASCAR. That will all change in 2010.
When NASCAR’s Nationwide Series rolls out a Car of Tomorrow for limited competition next year, the Ford model will be the 2010 Mustang.
“We’re excited about Mustang coming to NASCAR,” said Director of Ford North America Motorsports Brian Wolfe. “It’s the most successful product nameplate in racing history, and it seems only right that it should be coming to the most popular form of racing in North America.”
Ford has already gone through the routine of submitting a car to NASCAR for approval. Upon receiving word from NASCAR that the car has been approved, manufacturing of parts will begin, so that teams can get cars built and begin testing them later this year.
The manufacturer will stick with the Fusion nameplate for its Sprint Cup Series entries.
Like Ford teams, the Dodge camp is also expected to switch nameplates. Dodge is expected to make the switch from Charger to its Challenger nameplate with the new Nationwide car.
Chevrolet and Toyota are expected to stick with the nameplates they are already running in the Nationwide Series – the Impala SS and Camry. Nothing is definite though, as Ford is the only manufacturer that has already submitted a new car for approval.
The Nationwide Series’ Car of Tomorrow is supposedly going to vary greatly from the Sprint Cup Series COT. One visible difference will be the use of a spoiler similar to the current Nationwide car, as opposed to the wing the Sprint Cup Series went to during the switchover.
Teams are supposed to receive templates for the new car within the next couple of weeks.
“We’re excited about the new car in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, and particularly the new body styles such as the Ford Mustang,” NASCAR President Mike Helton said. “It’s going to be one good-looking race car.”
NASCAR held a meeting Tuesday morning with Nationwide Series team owners to discuss a rollout schedule for the new car.
“In the days ahead, we will digest what was discussed today and make a final decision on the rollout for next season with full anticipation of integrating the new car for the entire 2011 schedule,” NASCAR Vice President of Competition said following Tuesday’s meeting.
A definite schedule with dates that the new car will run has not been finalized. It’s not expected to begin official competition until well into the 2010 season, though. NASCAR was considering having he car debut at the 2010 season-opener at Daytona in February, but many team owners seem to have convinced NASCAR officials that a later date would be better. Now, it looks as if the debut may come sometime during the second half of the season. Also, NASCAR is undecided which type or types of tracks the new car will run on during its partial season debut.
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