A rumor has been milling around
the boards for awhile (since December) that the allure of NASCAR may soon be heightened by the introduction of the Ford Mustang as one of its official cars. Rumors can be vicious, but so far, they look promising.
I thought I’d compile as many leaks regarding this development and continue to update as we receive more information.
Enthusiasts have ached for Big 3 sports car (not Taurus or Grand Prix) platforms in popular racing ever since the original Grand Am Series, which left the scene in 1985. According to a source last December from within Ford Motor Company, the motorsports division does expect the Fusion to be replaced by the Ford Mustang in the NASCAR Nationwide (formerly Busch) Series next year.
“We’re expecting to run the Mustang in 2009,” the source told an
Orlando Sentinel blog.
The potential difference between future Nationwide series and Nextel Cup series platforms seems stark, but enthusiasts speculate that, whatever platform they run with, the Busch cars will be modeled after the Nextel Cup’s “Car of Tomorrow,” the series’ standardized car that will be announced in February.
This possible shift to pony car coupes has the potential to cause immediate disruptions for companies like Toyota. Their 2-door Solara has been tanking in comparison to their Camry, with sales this year of 30,000 to 400,000, respectively. If the pony car trend keeps up, Toyota is rumored to introduce a new coupe model—possibly a sporty Celica—to allow their soon-to-be discontinued Solara to enter the series.
That’s all the developments we have now. We’ll keep you updated as more information becomes available. Who knows, maybe we’ll be covering NASCAR in 2009! Hmmm…