Actually, the percentages weren’t in Ford’s favor.
In every of the three season finales – in Vans, Xfinity and Cup – Ford had only one driver eligible to win the championship in every collection.
And but, when Sunday’s Cup finale had ended, Ford had accomplished an unlikely sweep of all three titles – the primary time a producer had achieved the feat since Chevrolet within the 2001 season.
Ben Rhodes received his second Truck title Friday night time in a race that dragged by way of 4 overtimes, Cole Custer received Saturday’s Xfinity race and with it his first collection title and Ryan Blaney completed second in Sunday’s Cup finale, however ok to assert his first collection championship.
It was a mixture of Ford’s rising NASCAR driving expertise, with the oldest of the three drivers being Blaney at 29 years.
“All three nationwide collection are so aggressive, you’ve obtained to be in your sport for each component of this system, whether or not it’s the engine, the chassis, the set-up, the aero, the motive force, the pit crew, all the pieces has obtained to be proper,” mentioned Mark Rushbrook, world director of motorsports for Ford Efficiency.
“Yeah, we did battle for certain, particularly in Cup early on sure model tracks. All of our racing groups working collectively, no person gave up, they stored digging, definitely got here on robust, particularly with Workforce Penske and the No. 12 automotive by way of the playoffs.
“We have had seasons the place we received quite a lot of races and never received a championship. That’s been a disappointment. We didn’t win as many races as we’d have appreciated to this 12 months, however to win three championships simply makes a press release I take into consideration the staff we now have in Ford Efficiency – the partnership and the household that we now have racing our automobiles and vehicles on monitor.”
In all three collection, both Toyota or Chevrolet appeared to dominate the headlines with drivers who received essentially the most races.
However within the playoffs – the place efficiency issues most – it was Ford drivers that delivered when the largest prize was on the road.
“You wish to all the time have no less than one driver within the Championship 4 for each collection. You’d wish to have extra. We had one driver in,” Rushbrook mentioned.
“I knew we had a very good shot with all of these drivers and groups. However a lot occurs throughout the races. Particularly Friday night time, issues may have gone any course. You simply by no means know.”
The championships capped off an enormous week for Ford. Final week, the producer introduced it was shifting to an up to date model of its Mustang – the Mustang ‘Darkish Horse’ – within the Cup collection within the 2024 season.
A pair of veteran Ford Cup drivers additionally doubtless noticed their closing profession begins at Phoenix – Aric Almirola and Kevin Harvick, who’s headed to the Fox Sports activities TV sales space subsequent season and can be a lock for the NASCAR Corridor of Fame.
“As a lot as we’re a automotive firm and we make and promote automobiles and vehicles, we’re out right here racing them, we’re additionally a household firm, a individuals firm,” Rushbrook mentioned. “It’s all in regards to the individuals which can be racing these automobiles contained in the store, in the end the drivers that get it accomplished on monitor.
“These three drivers that we had win this weekend to win a championship, to have Ben Rhodes, Cole Custer and Ryan Blaney as champions for the game, representing our model, we’re actually pleased with what they’ve accomplished.”
