07-20-09:
The news has been out there for a while now that Mustang would enter NASCAR. Brian Wolfe, director of Ford North America Motorsports, made the official announcement today that the 2010 Mustang will debut in NASCAR this fall.
Ford Racing has gone through the official NASCAR submission and approval process for the new car, and, once templates are finalized, production of Mustang parts will start so teams can build the first cars for testing later this fall. This rendering above was released today with the news.
“We’re excited about Mustang coming to NASCAR,” said 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.
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The thought is of course that Mustang fans will embrace the series more than the core Ford Racing fans that exist today. “I think race fans—and Mustang loyalists—will be very pleased when we publicly roll out the first car later this fall.”
The 2010 Ford Mustang will join the 2010 Fusion (Sprint Cup) and the 2009 Ford F-Series (Camping World Truck Series) as Ford’s competitive entries in NASCAR’s three major professional series.
“We’re excited about being able to race Mustang in front of our loyal NASCAR fan base and know it’s going to win races and championships just like it has in every other series it has competed,” said Wolfe. “The Mustang created the pony car movement when it debuted in 1964. Now, the NASCAR Mustang has the opportunity to create a whole new look to stock car racing at its highest levels.”
What might be interesting to watch is how the Roush-Fenway race team embraces this new car. Being that Roush produces their own version of the 2010 Ford Mustang, it would make sense for them to dress their cars graphically to depict one of their 427R Mustangs. Time will tell.
