FOX broadcasters are sounding alarms over Ford's NASCAR future as elite champions struggle to stay competitive. Ford doesn’t have any full-time cars currently running in the NOAPS, and their cars aren’t looking great in the Cup Series either. 

Ryan Blaney is the only Ford driver to win a race this season, and three-time champion Joey Logano is currently struggling to find a consistent pace in his car. These have raised serious questions about Ford’s Cup future and how competitive they can be going forward. 

FOX Broadcaster, Mike Joy, and Clint Bowyer sat down with Kevin Harvick on his "Happy Hour" podcast, discussing the issues Ford is nursing. Harvick summarised the situation with the Penske cars, saying: 

"For the most part, it had been Ryan Blaney when you talk about speed. And then you look at Joey Logano. I would have never dreamed of a day that we would go to Darlington and Joey Logano runs as hard as he can and gets lapped three times."

Mike Joy spoke about how it could have to do with the Next Gen car, saying, "What is it about this car that some of our best historically and most experienced winners, guys like Joey Logano, like Kyle Busch, are having difficulty getting to the front of the field?"

Harvick, who drove the Next Gen car before retirement in 2023, said, "The Ford is basically what I drove when I was in the Gen 7 car with Fords. And it just doesn’t turn, it doesn’t do well in traffic. They’re gonna get a new body next year, and they have an opportunity to correct this."

While the Penske Fords are struggling and looking for performance and pace, another Ford team seems to be outperforming the car. 

RFK Finding Time Where Others Aren’t 

While Team Penske is struggling by their usual standards, RFK Racing is currently overachieving. Their highest-ranked driver is Chris Buescher, who is currently fifth in the championship. Owner-driver Brad Keselowski is ninth, and Ryan Preece in the #60 Ford is 13th after a 25-point penalty. 

Mike Joy remarked, "It’s Brad Keselowski. Since he has come in there as a part owner, it has really, really turned that ship around. Chris Buescher is probably the most overlooked talent in the garage…He’s a top ten driver. Ryan Preece is a grinder. He’s the only driver besides Reddick to finish on the lead lap of every race this year."

While the consistency of the drivers has RFK constantly performing well, their revamped pit crews are also a big part of that. The amount of time lost on pit road is directly related to the coordination between the crew and the drivers. This helps reduce the number of mistakes. 

RFK has consistently avoided mistakes on pit road throughout the season. Clint Bowyer provided an interesting insight into why RFK’s pit crew seems to be working so much better than the rest. Bowyer recalled flying to a race with Brad Keselowski, who was engrossed in studying.

Bowyer asked Keselowski, "What the h*** are you doing, Brad?” The reply to which was "‘I’m looking for pit crews. My pit crews s***. I gotta overhaul my pit crews."

Bowyer added, "He was diligently taking notes on the guys, the hitters all across the board down pit road, and he knew his wishlist, and he was going after them. And it looks to me like from the results that we see on pit road."

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Debrup Chaudhuri

Edited by

Koushik Biswas