MUSTANG TAKES ON NASCAR IN 2019

Mustang will take on the Monster Cup Series in 2019 – Photo: Supplied.

Ford Performance announced overnight that it will bring the company’s iconic Mustang to America’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2019.

The announcement came just 12 hours after Ford Australia revealed it was bringing the Mustang to the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship next year – as predicted by Auto Action on Monday – coinciding with the launch of the Ford Performance brand down-under.

“We’re combining America’s favorite sports car with America’s top stock car racing series,” Mark Rushbrook, global director, Ford Performance Motorsports, said.

“Mustang always has been about affordable performance, which can be traced to innovations we’ve made competing in racing, like NASCAR. Mustang is a perfect fit for our racing heritage today and tomorrow.”

Ford has used the Mustang in the second tier NASCAR Xfinity Series since 2011, winning four owner’s championships and two driver’s titles – Ricky Stenhouse Jr earning back-to-back crowns in 2011/2012.

Ford Performance says the 2019 Mustang NASCAR is undergoing initial testing before it is submitted to NASCAR for approval in the coming months, with a public unveiling to follow shortly after.

“This announcement makes me very happy. Mustang is a car that is woven into the fabric of our country, and it’s only right that we put it on the track in NASCAR’s most visible series. I can’t wait,” Edsel B. Ford II, a member of Ford’s board of directors, said.

Ford has six organizations and 13 teams in its NASCAR lineup, including Supercars team co-owner Roger Penske’s Team Penske, Wood Brothers Racing, Roush Fenway Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing, Front Row Motorsports and Go Fas Racing.

In Supercars, Ford will back DJR Team Penske and Tickford Racing with the Mustang program.

Ford’s privateer Supercars teams, Matt Stone Racing and 23 Red Racing, which currently run FGX Falcons for reigning Dunlop2 champion Todd Hazelwood and two-time Bathurst winner Will Davison respectively, are reported to be switching to the Mustang to take full advantage of the sports coupe’s sleek aerodynamics and other benefits.

According to Ford, Mustang will be its fourth different model to be used since what is considered to be the modern era of NASCAR began in 1972 – following the Thunderbird, Taurus and Fusion, the current model.

The 2019 Daytona 500 takes place on February 17, 2019.

Keep your eye on the Auto Action website and social media – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – for daily updates, and make sure you pick up issue #1734, on your newsstands nationally tomorrow, Thursday, April 19, 2018.