Tag: Ford

Ford shuffles GTD PRO driver line-up for 2025 IMSA season

Ford Multimatic Motorsports will have a radically different driver line-up for the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, with only Mike Rockenfeller held over from the 2024 full-season group. Ford factory drivers Christopher Mies and …

Ford Multimatic Motorsports will have a radically different driver line-up for the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, with only Mike Rockenfeller held over from the 2024 full-season group. Ford factory drivers Christopher Mies and Frederic Vervisch will pilot the No. 64 Ford Mustang GT3, while Multimatic driver Seb Priaulx, who scored two victories with AO Racing in GTD PRO in 2024, will join Rockenfeller in the No. 65.

“Race drivers are the key differentiator in the battle for success on the track,” said Mark Rushbrook, global director, Ford Performance Motorsports, in a blog post. “At Ford, our drivers are more than competitors; they’re family. This sense of camaraderie makes decisions about our roster challenging and deeply personal. After closing out our debut IMSA season with the Mustang GT3 a month ago, the Ford Multimatic Motorsports team is focused on the 2025 season. This week we will be running at the traditional Daytona Test ahead of the first big race of 2025 and introducing our driver line-up — a blend of experience, youth, and exceptional talent.”

Mies and Vervisch were the endurance additions for Ford Multimatic Motorsports in 2024. They replace Joey Hand and Dirk Muller.

“It’s been a dream of mine to be in IMSA full-time,” said Mies. “I got a taste of the Mustang GT3 in this series during the endurance races, and we had some good results. The dream is now a reality. I’m looking forward to competing alongside Fred [Vervisch], who I’ve known for a long time. We know the team and car, so I’m excited to compete in this championship.”

Vervisch added: “It’s a big honor to be racing on the factory program in the No. 65 Ford Mustang GT3. Ford and Multimatic Motorsports have given so much trust in me, which means a lot. I will do everything I can, alongside Christopher and the entire team, to deliver results.”

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Priaulx, who did half the season with AO Racing before being called away to fulfill his duties with Multimatic, takes the place of Harry Tincknell alongside Rockenfeller.

“Multimatic Motorsports has been my home since Larry [Holt] gave me a chance in the Mustang during the 2019 season, so it’s nice to be back where I started in GT racing,” explained Priaulx. “I have experience competing in this championship, and I think we’ll bring a strong package into this upcoming year.”

For the endurance races, Ford Multimatic Motorsports called upon its WEC drivers. Dennis Olsen will join Mies and Vervisch, while Ben Barker will race with Rockenfeller and Priaulx.

Rushbrook offered appreciation for the drivers who helped develop the Mustang GT3 and raced it in its debut season.

“Race teams are always evolving in order to drive success forward and this infusion of fresh talent will accelerate the performance of Mustang GT3,” he said. “With these driver line-up changes, I wanted to talk about this year’s drivers: Joey Hand, Dirk Muller, and Harry Tincknell. I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Joey, Dirk, and Harry for their invaluable contribution to the Mustang GT3’s journey. Their unrivaled expertise has been essential to the development of the Mustang GT3 and the hours they put in, pounding around race tracks across the US laid the groundwork for this race program. Joey and Dirk will always be special to Ford as they won Le Mans for us in 2016, and while they may not be in our IMSA squad this season, you certainly haven’t seen the last of them. In fact, you’ll soon hear more about Dirk’s latest endeavors.”

The Mustang GT3 had some struggles in its first races as the team discovered some issues running with other cars that didn’t occur in testing. As the season progressed, the Mustang GT3 developed some pace and the No. 64 found the podium on a couple of occasions with Rockenfeller and Tincknell, possibly setting the tone for success in the car’s sophomore season.

“I’m in my second year now with Ford Multimatic Motorsports after a good first year of learning and developing the car,” said Rockenfeller. “A lot of work has been done by the team since, and we’re quickly into 2025. We’re excited and motivated going into the second season of this program with Mustang GT3, and we are hopeful that we can start on the right foot at Daytona.”

Ford Multimatic Motorsports is one of the teams participating in the IMSA-sanctioned test at Daytona International Speedway this weekend.

Ekström joins Ford Dakar effort after Audi exit

Mattias Ekström will join Ford’s Dakar lineup following his split from Audi last week. The two-time DTM and 2016 World Rallycross champion joins Carlos Sainz’ in moving over from the Four Rings’ rally raid program to the new M-Sport-led effort. …

Mattias Ekström will join Ford’s Dakar lineup following his split from Audi last week.

The two-time DTM and 2016 World Rallycross champion joins Carlos Sainz’ in moving over from the Four Rings’ rally raid program to the new M-Sport-led effort.

“Joining the Ford Dakar program is really exciting for me,” said Ekström. “Ford and M-Sport have built a vehicle that looks, sounds, and drives awesome and we all have a common ambition to win the Dakar Rally.

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“I have had four tries at Dakar so far and now I can say that I have some experience to be able to aim for the top. There is also a lot of knowledge and experience in the team to back up the ambition – starting with the long motorsport heritage of Ford, proven track record of M-Sport, very impressive driver line-up, smart engineers, technicians, and the rest of the team. I look forward to the first competitive outing with the Ford Raptor T1+ at Rally du Maroc and later at the Dakar Rally.

“I am in it to win it and I hope we will have very successful and great years ahead of us. I will do everything in my power to make it happen.”

The last three of Ekström’s four Dakar attempts have been with Audi, with whom he’s taken four stage wins and led a day of this year’s event before broken suspension derailed his chances of a victory.

“We have followed Mattias’ career for a long time, from his DTM days to the FIA World Rallycross, and now the Dakar Rally,” said M-Sport boss Malcolm Wilson. “He has shown fantastic speed and ability in all forms of motorsport and his performances in off-road racing have been no different.

“We are really looking forward to working with him and his co-driver Emil (Berkvist), who both will bring with them a vast array of experience.”

As well as Ekström and Sainz, the Ford lineup will also comprise Mitch Guthrie and Nani Roma in a quartet of Ford Raptor T1+s in the Saudi Arabia-based event next year.

Aside from Ford and M-Sport’s lengthy World Rally Championship tenure, Ford’s off-road credentials also includes victories in the Baja 1000 and Tass-Finke desert race.

“Bringing Mattias Ekström into the Ford Performance family is a big step forward for our Dakar program,” said Ford Performance’s global director Mark Rushbrook. “Mattias brings a wealth of experience in rally and off-road racing, and his skills add to a formidable team in the Ford Raptor T1+.

“The Dakar Rally is a test like no other, but we’re confident in our lineup.”

Ford’s progress beginning to click with the Mustang GT3

There’s little arguing that the inaugural season of the new Ford Mustang GT3 hasn’t, to this point, met expectations. Ford engaged longtime partner Multimatic to build its first real GT3 car, as well as run the team in GTD PRO. There have been …

There’s little arguing that the inaugural season of the new Ford Mustang GT3 hasn’t, to this point, met expectations. Ford engaged longtime partner Multimatic to build its first real GT3 car, as well as run the team in GTD PRO. There have been flashes of speed and some results where Ford Multimatic Motorsports overcame a lack of pace to give the car a decent result, but overall there hasn’t been any real bright spots.

But this weekend at VIRginia International Raceway, the program certainly looks like it has turned a corner. Not only did the Mustangs have pace, they executed and produced the results. In qualifying for the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR, round nine of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and also the lone GT-only race of the season, not only did the two GTD PRO cars qualify third and fourth, but Giammarco Levorato captured the pole for GTD in the Proton Competition Mustang GT3 he shares with Corey Lewis. Although that pole position didn’t produce a victory, the PRO cars finished second and fourth, with Harry Tincknell and Mike Rockenfeller scoring their first podium in the No. 64 Mustang.

“It’s another advancement for the Mustang,” said Tincknell. “It’s been super strong. It earned the GTD pole yesterday with customer team Proton Competition and the first podium for us today in GTD PRO. I think every race we’re learning. It’s a brand new car this year. We’re taking giant leaps.

“I’ve just gradually got better, and this has been coming for a while. We led the race for a long while at Watkins Glen [International], but it didn’t quite work out. We were second in Mosport [Canadian Tire Motorsport Park], but didn’t quite get the podium there. The last time we were at Road America, we had some strong pace as well. It’s a huge credit to the boys and girls who are working on the car every day. We’re still finding so much in the electronics and modes. We’re racing against cars that have been out there – some seven or eight years. Of course, our learning curve is huge, but it feels great to be here. It’ll be even better when we’re one step higher. A second-place finish is fantastic, but having the No. 65 finish fourth to back it up was even better.”

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“It started this morning when [Ford Multimatic Motorsports team principal] Larry [Holt] had a meeting with all us drivers,” explained Joey Hand, driver of the No. 65 with Dirk Mueller. “He said, ‘Today’s the day that we’re going to execute.’ That’s what we did. In the background, we’ve been getting all the details right – like great pit stops, which we had again today. There is going to come a time when it all comes together. This time, we tested here and rolled off the trailer well. We kept improving on the car and qualified well. We tend to race better every race, and that’s what we did.”

Rockenfeller qualified the No. 64 fifth at Road America, but contact on the first lap and a subsequent penalty put paid to any chances of a good result. Sunday at VIR likely went a long way to erasing that memory. Granted, Tincknell and Rockenfeller had some help from a penalty for the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin, but even without that they were headed for a podium finish.

“Firstly, thanks to Multimatic Motorsports and Ford Performance,” said Rockenfeller. “It’s my first podium with the team. I’m really happy. Thanks to Harry. He’s done a great job all year long. Obviously, [Road America] was on me and I thought we had a really good chance there, but we moved on and it feels good. For the restart, I was checking more in the mirror because the Aston [Martin] boys were really fast. We could see that. My goal was really to stay in second. If there would have been a chance [at the lead], I would have loved to take the opportunity. It looked like the [Paul Miller Racing] BMW had it under control all race long. We’re quite happy to take this second place right now. A big credit to the team, because for us drivers, it’s frustrating for us not to be successful, but definitely for Ford, the mechanics and the team, I can only imagine what a relief it is for everybody.”

Whether the Mustang GT3 was just really good at VIR, or if the improvements are real and substantial, will be revealed in three weeks. The team is feeling confident that this is the start of more good things to come as the series heads to its final two races, a six-hour race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

“I think we were discussing before that we thought Indy would be a good one,” Tincknell said. “The fact that we’ve got tests before both, I think that’s only going to help us. But I can say, I think every race we’ve just improved improved, improved a little bit, so we’d love to get that first win this year and go into [the] offseason buoyant. I think all the boys and girls on the car really deserve it for the amount of hours they put in [on] weekends, and obviously the backing from Ford as well has been unbelievable. It’s a family company, and it’s amazing to have Bill and Edsel [Ford] and Jim Fry, the CEO, really supporting us and being behind us all the way, and they’re encouraging us all the time. That first win is just around the corner, and it’s going to be special for them too.”

Waters to make NASCAR Cup debut with RFK at Sonoma

Australian Supercars driver Cam Waters will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut with RFK Racing next month at Sonoma Raceway. Waters will be in the team’s third entry, which is called ‘Stage 60’. The effort debuted with David Ragan behind the wheel in …

Australian Supercars driver Cam Waters will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut with RFK Racing next month at Sonoma Raceway.

Waters will be in the team’s third entry, which is called ‘Stage 60′. The effort debuted with David Ragan behind the wheel in the season-opening Daytona 500 and Sonoma will be the entry’s second event.

RFK Racing first teased the announcement with a video on social media on Monday. The full video was released on Tuesday, and it’s revealed to be Waters making his way through the race shop. Waters and team co-owner Brad Keselowski shake hands and say it’ll be Sonoma where Waters joins the team.

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Waters competes for Tickford Racing in Supercars and is an 11-time winner and two-time runner-up. His resume also includes being the youngest driver to have competed in the Bathurst 1000, where he has three consecutive podium finishes.

“This opportunity for me is a dream come true and one that I do not take lightly given the global audience of NASCAR and the Cup Series,” Waters said per NASCAR.com. “I’ve been fortunate to dip my toes into the NASCAR waters a bit this year and am excited to put my road-racing experience to the test this summer. It takes a village to make something like this come to fruition.”

Waters made his NASCAR debut last month at Martinsville Speedway in the Craftsman Truck Series with ThorSport Racing. He finished 30th after being involved in a late-race incident. Waters also ran at Kansas Speedway with the team and finished 19th.

“Cam has certainly logged his share of miles the last couple of months flying back and forth from Australia, but he’s done a great job familiarizing himself with NASCAR and working with David Ragan in our simulator,” said Mark Rushbrook, Ford Performance Motorsports’ global director. “It’s always exciting when we can have someone from another part of our global motorsports family compete in a different series, and we feel this is a great opportunity for him to showcase his talent. We’re grateful to RFK for initiating this Stage 60 program, and we’re looking forward to Sonoma.”

Ford drivers banking on a Talladega breakthrough

Winless through the first nine races, Ford drivers enter Talladega Superspeedway knowing Sunday is one of their best chances to breakthrough. And yet, none of them will go as far as to admit it’s a must-win weekend. “Isn’t every race a must-win?” …

Winless through the first nine races, Ford drivers enter Talladega Superspeedway knowing Sunday is one of their best chances to breakthrough. And yet, none of them will go as far as to admit it’s a must-win weekend.

“Isn’t every race a must-win?” Logano said Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway. “I feel like it is, but maybe that’s just my attitude though.”

Logano is highly competitive, so his answer wasn’t a surprise. However, the question about the importance of Sunday’s GEICO 500 wasn’t centered on Logano and the No. 22 team looking to win, but all Ford drivers. The manufacturer is winless through nine races but enters Talladega Superspeedway as race favorites, given the speed and drafting strength the Ford drivers have at the superspeedways.

“Unfortunately, this is probably our best chance at the moment of races coming up,” Logano admitted. “I look at short tracks and superspeedways, those are our strengths right now as a team. Talladega fits into that area, so we need to maximize it. Not saying we can’t win at any other racetrack, but when I look at the raw speed and how we qualify and run, it’s going to be speedways and short tracks.”

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Ford is the only manufacturer without a victory. Ryan Blaney, the reigning series champion, has consistently been the best Ford driver and is the only one sitting inside the top 10 in the championship standings. Blaney has four top-10 finishes in nine races.

“I don’t really think it’s a must-win,” Blaney said. “I haven’t really sat around this week thinking of it that way. Yeah, it’s a good opportunity for us to win because we’ve been strong at these speedways, and we usually all work really well together on these things to try and get a blue oval in victory lane, but I don’t think it’s a must-win.

“It would be nice, obviously, and it would give a good shot of life for sure since a Ford hasn’t won this year, but I just think you’ve got to stick to your normal plan. ‘Hey, we’re pretty good at these things. Let’s just try to do our job again and see if we can get one in victory lane.’ But it’s not a must-win, I don’t think.”

Blaney won the most recent race at Talladega Superspeedway in the fall. In the last three races in Alabama, Blaney has finished no worse than second.

Kevin Harvick, a former Ford driver turned analyst with Fox Sports, said on his podcast earlier this week that Talladega is “really important” for Ford. He further said it would be an “absolute failure” if a Ford driver didn’t win.

“They need to win the race this week,” Harvick said. “A Ford has to win the race this weekend to stop the bleeding from everything that they have going on. … This is where we think they should win. This might be the only place they can win because of the position that they’re in with all the other racetracks.”

Ford debuted a new body design this season, the Mustang Dark Horse. It has been an adjustment for teams to translate what was shown in the data during the offseason to what works at the racetrack.

Chase Briscoe is the second-highest Ford driver in the championship standings at 12th. Briscoe has four top-10 finishes but nine laps led.

“I feel like we’ve been good enough,” Briscoe said. “Like Texas last week, I felt we were good enough to win, and I shot myself in the foot on that (late) restart. So, I don’t know. I definitely think this is the best opportunity for a lot of the Fords to win because it seems like there’s only been two or three Fords on the mile-and-a-half’s and even the short tracks that have been in the mix. So, from a numbers standpoint, this is probably our best opportunity.

“But it’s hard to say coming here this is a must-win and you’re going to pull it off. There are too many variables. I don’t feel like it for our team, but it would be nice to see a Ford get to victory lane, for sure. It’s crazy to think we’re this long into the season and haven’t had a win yet in any of the three seasons. So hopefully, this week will be the difference.”

Blaney, Briscoe, Chris Buescher and Logano are the only Ford drivers inside the top 15 in the championship standings. Logano has led the most laps for Ford — 177 — with the bulk of those led at Daytona, Atlanta and Martinsville. Todd Gilliland, who has led 91 laps, is second to Logano. Blaney is third with 74 laps led.

Combined, Ford drivers have led 507 laps. One stage win each by Blaney, Austin Cindric, and Michael McDowell are all that Ford drivers have earned.

“We know we’re going to be fast down here,” Buescher said. “We were fast in Daytona. When it comes to this race, we’re going to try and work together and try to execute it and try to find our way up to the front, but certainly not a do-or-die situation for this weekend.”

Speaking specifically to his RFK Racing team, Buescher believes they are better now than they were a year ago. It’s three positions that Buescher is looking at that the team needs to take forward.

The co-owner of Buescher’s car, Brad Keselowski, understands the talk about Ford being winless and that it’s a big deal. Outside of the Daytona and Atlanta races, Keselowski isn’t sure there has been a track where Ford had the fastest driver.

“And that’s really a key indicator,” Keselowski said. “We need to have more races where we’re the fastest car.”

Keselowski, like many of his peers, looks at Talladega Superspeedway as an opportunity race.

“It’s definitely a better opportunity for us,” he said. “We have more speed as a manufacturer at these types of tracks; we need to capitalize on that. I think it’s a great opportunity not just for Ford to win but our team to win at RFK and we need to come out of here with great finishes. Daytona and Atlanta, I thought both of those tracks, RFK had great speed, and Ford had great speed, and just the circumstances of the races, we obviously didn’t leave with the win but didn’t leave with a lot of points scored.

“It kind of dug a hole in our standings, which is kind of a shame because the opposite of that is the last few weeks, we earned finishes we probably didn’t deserve. So that’s the ebbs and flows of how a season goes. But when you have cars that are capable of winning, in general, you need to make that count.”

McDowell (left) and Logano both see Talladega as one of the strongest opportunities to crack the win column for Ford. Matt Thacker/Motorsport Images

Ford had six drivers qualify in the top 11 at Talladega Superspeedway. McDowell and Cindric locked down the front row, and it’s the third consecutive superspeedway-style race that McDowell has started on the front row.

“That’s so hard to answer because I feel like every race is a must-win, but, at the same time, I’m not panicked,” McDowell said. “If it doesn’t happen tomorrow, I don’t feel like, ‘Oh, we missed an opportunity, and there’s not another one right around the corner.’

“Does that answer it? Yes, tomorrow is a must-win, but if it doesn’t happen, I’m not panicked. I think we have speed still.”

Ford, Toyota encouraged by new bodies after Duels at Daytona

Thursday night’s qualifying races at Daytona International Speedway were particularly important to the Ford and Toyota camps as both kept close watch of their redesigned bodies. It was unknown how the Ford Mustang Dark Horse and Toyota Camry XSE …

Thursday night’s qualifying races at Daytona International Speedway were particularly important to the Ford and Toyota camps as both kept close watch of their redesigned bodies.

It was unknown how the Ford Mustang Dark Horse and Toyota Camry XSE would react in the draft and how they would push teammates. The expectation was that it would be better, even more stable to push draft, but the first chance to find out came with the high stakes of competing for a spot in the Daytona 500.

Friday morning, both sides were breathing a little easier.

“We were really curious to see how things were going to play out in the Duels because that’s our first opportunity with the new car in traffic,” Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance, said. “We didn’t have the numbers in the first race with only four or five Mustangs in there. Certainly, had the numbers in the second race, and we got a lot of feedback and comments from the drivers and some things that could be worked on with the setup to optimize that. But, at this point, we’re still very happy with the new car and looking forward to seeing how things play out.”

Ford didn’t win either one of the Bluegreen Vacations Duel races. In the first race, the highest-finishing Ford was Joey Logano, finishing seventh — one of just four Ford drivers in the first race.

In the second, Austin Cindric was the highest-finishing Ford as the runner-up. The manufacturer had 12 drivers in the second race.

Although shut out in race competition, Ford is riding high from single-car qualifying, where they swept the front row for the Daytona 500. Logano will start from the pole with Michael McDowell alongside him.

“We normally don’t place a lot of emphasis on qualifying here because what matters at the end of the day is how the cars race,” Rushbrook said. “But it still was nice to get that front row, especially for Roger Penske to get a pole here. That was on his list of accomplishments that he wanted to add to, and really happy to see Front Row up there next to Penske.”

A Toyota driver won both of Thursday’s races. Tyler Reddick led the one key lap in the first Bluegreen Vacations Duel. There were five Toyota drivers in the first race, and they combined for 20 laps led. Reddick was the first of three Toyota drivers who finished inside the top 10.

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In the second race, Christopher Bell made a last-lap pass. He, too, led just the one lap. Again, three Toyota drivers were inside the top 10 of the four drivers in the race. They combined for 27 laps led.

“Obviously it’s tough…when you develop a body and you’re just looking at CFD and some wind tunnel data, and you have no idea what’s really going to happen when you get in traffic on the track,” Paul Doleshal, general manager of motorsports for Toyota Motor North America. “But I think we were a little bit disturbed – probably a strong word — but surprised at the lack of qualifying speed, but then felt that the car would race well, and that proved out, so we’re encouraged with that. I think it’s just figuring out where the car wants to sit and kind of working on some of the things from a setup perspective, which the teams and TRD will be actively pursuing and already have been.

“I don’t think we have a lot of worries; we know there’s a learning curve any time you change a body or major component like that, especially from an aerodynamic standpoint. We’ll just keep digging on it, but we should be fine as we work through it. The drivers seem to have good feedback on the car, how it was in traffic and performed on the superspeedway. We’re encouraged.”

Of the three manufacturers in NASCAR, Chevrolet goes into the season without a change to its body. Chevrolet’s Camaro might be coming out of production for street vehicles, but the model will still compete in NASCAR for the foreseeable future.

Chevrolet teams can jump out to an early advantage while their rivals work through fielding new cars, but Jim Campbell, the vice president of performance and motorsports for Chevrolet, isn’t looking at it that way or anticipating much.

“Well, we will see here this weekend. Hopefully this weekend, [and] if not this weekend, soon,” Campbell said of any gap between the three manufacturers. “The one thing that NASCAR has done in the ruleset is they keep us in a pretty tight box and keep the competition tight. Basically, in downforce and drag, they have parameters that you are required to stay within. Our car is within that box, as are the other two OEMs. It’s going to be tight.

“You can see out there in the Duels how tight that is going to be. The one thing that we do have, because our body is the same as last year, is just continuity and momentum in development in preparation and simulation versus the time that we have had to switch to a new body — we spent a lot of time on that switchover. That is a positive, but you can see how tight it is out there, and that is mainly because of the rule settings that NASCAR has on downforce and drag requirements.”

LPGA lands Ford as new title sponsor for 2024 Arizona stop

Last year’s Drive On Championship at Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club didn’t have a title sponsor.

The LPGA has a new blue-chip title sponsor in Ford Motor Company, the tour announced on Tuesday. The upcoming Ford Championship will take place at Seville Golf and Country Club, March 28-31, in Gilbert, Arizona.

Last year, the LPGA stop at Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club, called the Drive On Championship, did not have a title sponsor.

Mina Harigae is a member at Superstition and said that fellow member Tim Hovik, owner of San Tan Ford in Gilbert, had such a blast at last year’s Drive On that he called Ford’s corporate headquarters to try to get them involved.

“I can’t believe it did it,” said Harigae, “but that’s how much passion he has for this.”

While Superstition wanted to host again, she continued, the proposed dates didn’t work for the club.

“Ford’s collaboration with the LPGA Tour represents our commitment to supporting women in sports and showcasing their incredible talent on a global stage,” Lisa Materazzo, global chief marketing officer, Ford Motor Company, said in a release. “Through the Ford Championship presented by KCC, we aim to elevate the visibility of female athletes in the golfing world and inspire a new generation of fans.”

The LPGA has held an event in Arizona more than 70 times over the course of the tour’s nearly 75-year history. Celine Boutier won last year’s Drive On Championship at Superstition Mountain, the first of four titles for the Frenchwoman in 2023.

Seville Golf and Country Club, which counts tour player Alena Sharp as a member, was designed by Gary Panks and opened in 2000. Sharp said the last four holes are the best on the course, noting that the par-4 16th is drivable, the par-3 17th is an island green and the par-5 18th will be reachable in two.

“Our greens are the best greens around,” said Sharp, “they’re fast. I think the girls are really going to like it. There’s risk/reward and the course is in great shape. That’s what we like.”

A field of 144 players will compete in Gilbert for a $2 million purse. LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said the current deal with Ford is for one year, but they’re already in talks about the future.

Marcoux Samaan also praised the fan support LPGA events receive in Arizona, noting that ticket sales is a key area of growth the tour is focused on in 2024.

“The fandom is so tremendous,” she said. “Last year, we just decided to do that event relatively late in the year and we had one of the best crowds of the year.”

Tom Mackin contributed to this story.

Haley eager for first Ford drive at Daytona

Justin Haley is chomping at the bit to officially start the season with Rick Ware Racing at Daytona International Speedway in three weeks. Haley has a multiyear deal with Ware, driving the No. 51 Ford Mustang. It will be the first time Haley has …

Justin Haley is chomping at the bit to officially start the season with Rick Ware Racing at Daytona International Speedway in three weeks.

Haley has a multiyear deal with Ware, driving the No. 51 Ford Mustang. It will be the first time Haley has driven something other than a Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series. Of the 266 national series starts Haley has made in NASCAR, 265 of them have been with Chevrolet.

His praise of Ford comes from the manufacturer’s dominance on the superspeedways. Ford drivers draft well together, buying into the ‘One Ford’ mantra the group adopted a few years ago when manufacturer alliances became the most successful strategy.

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“I’ve told everyone all week that I’ve raced against the Fords for so long,” Haley said during the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) convention. “They have the best fuel mileage, the best strategy and the best teamwork, and it has pissed me off for so long racing them that I’m so excited to sit in a Ford.

“They didn’t even pay me extra to say that. It’s so true.”

Doug Yates also takes pride in the horsepower Roush Yates Engines takes to the superspeedways. Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski combined for 187 of 260 laps led en route to finishing 1-2 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the spring of 2023. Chris Buescher won the summer Daytona race after Chase Briscoe sat on the pole and led the most laps. While teammate Logano led the most laps, Ryan Blaney won the fall Talladega Superspeedway race.

“They qualify so fast,” Haley said of the Ford’s speed. “I just went through Roush Yates the other day, and what an impressive operation they have built. I’ve never seen an engine shop that looks like that before. It looked like rocket science. There were lab coats and face masks and big rubber gloves and microscopes and all sorts of stuff just to build horsepower.

“They have crushed us on fuel mileage and now we’ve got an awesome brand-new looking Dark Horse Mustang. So, I’m super excited to go down to Daytona and see what we’ve got.”

Haley is not to be overlooked on superspeedways, either. All four of his NASCAR Xfinity Series victories came on superspeedways: two at Daytona and two at Talladega. In the summer of 2019, Haley and Spire Motorsports had positioned themselves in the right place at the right time to be declared the winners of the weather-shortened Cup Series race at Daytona.

Rick Ware Racing will field two full-time entries with Haley the organization’s flagship driver. The No. 15 entry will have multiple drivers.

Ware has signed a driver to build around for years to come, while Haley gets a fresh start with a new team and manufacturer. Both sides are optimistic about what’s to come but are taking the journey one week at a time.

“It’s an ultra-competitive racing series, and it’s going to take some time,” Haley said. “Obviously, with everything we have going, I feel like all of our alliances with Ford and Roush Yates and RFK have grown a lot over the offseason, and I continue to see those grow. The first five to 10 races, we’ll kind of be what we are and then Chris [Lawson] and everyone at RWR will start to elevate and start to hit our stride. We’ll just have to see.

“It’s not going to be like we go and rip the first 10 wins off of the season. I feel like we’re realistic, but I also feel like we really want to be competitive, and there are all the right tools now to be competitive at Rick Ware. We have every single tool. We just have to take them out of the toolbox and figure out how to use them and apply that.”

Ford sweeps the 2023 NASCAR season with three championships

Ford has swept the 2023 NASCAR season with Ryan Blaney winning in Cup, Cole Custer winning in Xfinity, and Ben Rhodes winning in Truck.

[autotag]Ford[/autotag] didn’t have a great regular season in NASCAR’s top-3 levels; however, the manufacturer’s drivers peaked at the right time. Ben Rhodes won the NASCAR Truck Series championship for ThorSport Racing while Cole Custer won the NASCAR Xfinity Series title for Stewart-Haas Racing. Rhodes is the only driver to be a repeat champion.

As for Chevrolet and Toyota, they each performed well throughout the 2023 NASCAR season but were unable to cross the line first for a title. In fact, Ford only had three drivers across all three NASCAR levels in the Championship 4. All of them ended up winning a title and will carry momentum into the 2024 season.

This is the second straight season that Ford has seen this much success. Team Penske driver Joey Logano won the 2022 Cup Series title while now former Front Row Motorsports driver Zane Smith clinched the 2022 Truck Series championship. If this is any indication of what is to come moving forward, Ford should be optimistic about its chances in 2024.

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Ford reveals Dark Horse Mustang for Cup Series

The next iteration of the Ford Mustang that will compete in the NASCAR Cup Series beginning next season was revealed Wednesday and is based on the Mustang Dark Horse. “What a crazy year it has been revealing our new global Mustangs for racing,” Mark …

The next iteration of the Ford Mustang that will compete in the NASCAR Cup Series beginning next season was revealed Wednesday and is based on the Mustang Dark Horse.

“What a crazy year it has been revealing our new global Mustangs for racing,” Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance Motorsports, said. “The positive response from our fans around the world has been amazing, and we’re confident that this Mustang Dark Horse Cup car will be no different and that NASCAR fans will be excited to cheer us on next year. Our Ford Performance staff, together with our NASCAR race teams, have worked tirelessly in the wind tunnel developing this car, and I can’t wait to finally see it race on the track next season.”

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Ford has raced the Mustang in the Cup Series since 2019. The company introduced the Mustang Dark Horse production vehicle last year.

In 2024, the Mustang Dark Horse nameplate will compete on six continents.

“If she gallops as fast as she looks, it’s going to be a good year,” Brad Keselowski said. “Mustang is an iconic American car made famous around the world. I think of how Mustang has evolved over the years and how NASCAR has evolved along with it and they’re just two brands that go together. I’m proud to get to drive it and proud to be able to compete for the win in this car.”

The Ford Mustang brand debuted in NASCAR in 2011 in the Xfinity Series. It has won the drivers’ or owners’ championship nine times. In the Cup Series, the Ford Mustang has won the four crown jewel events: the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, Brickyard 400 and Southern 500. Joey Logano drove it to a drivers’ championship in 2022.

“What I’ve learned over the years is every car looks good in victory lane,” Logano said, “but if it looks this mean just sitting here, it’ll look even better in victory lane.”