Ford bringing Mustang to NASCAR Cup Series for 2019 season
By Nick Tylwalk
The Mustang is headed to the big time for the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Ford hasn’t officially announced that it is ending the Fusion, but the rumors of its impending demise have been out there for a while. That causes a bit of a problem for the NASCAR Cup Series, where Ford drivers are currently still driving Fusions, much to the dismay of Brad Keselowski. The Mustang has been the Ford model of choice in the XFINITY Series for a few years now, but it wasn’t clear whether it would step up to Cup at some point too.
That question was answered on Tuesday, when Ford announced that the Mustang will be its NASCAR Cup Series model beginning with the 2019 season. Fans will see it in action first at the Daytona 500 next February.
It’s a logical move to a certain extent, because Mustang is a name that resonates with car enthusiasts and goes back decades. It’s also distinctive in an era when some car companies have more or less given up on cool model names, using simple letter and number combinations instead.
However, it’s also a bit of an eyebrow-raiser because NASCAR manufacturers have tended to go with mass market models to show off in the Cup Series. In other words, while you can get souped up versions of the Toyota Camry or Ford Fusion, they don’t scream muscle car or even sporty, really.
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The Chevrolet Camaro, which made its Cup Series debut this year, was a sign that things were changing on that front, and the Mustang will be an even bigger step in that direction. Now if we could just get a Dodge Charger or Challenger back in the fold, all would be right with the racing world.
Just kidding, Dodge. Unless you’re going to do it …