Keep Mustang Out of the Cup Series

by Steve Wronkowicz

I am co-host of the syndicated radio show: ON PIT ROW. Over ten years on the air and three on the net; see what can happen when I don't let the facts get in the way of my opinions.

January 31, 2011 7:47 am UTC 2 Comments

NASCAR can make Jekyll and Hyde look well balanced.

Their new points system doesn’t change the way it rewards winning like they were professing. NASCAR continually talks about listening to the fans and making changes to appease them. Somehow many of their intentions fall short.

2010 saw the elimination of the dreaded wing; something fans really seemed to hate, even though most of their street cars sported a cosmetic rear wing on their front-wheel drive cars. NASCAR got this one right. Not only did fans loathe the wing but most of the teams weren’t too crazy about it either.

2011 sees the re-desingn of the front fascia and elimination of the splitter; making the Sprint Cup cars look more like the models they are trying to represent.

Re-working the front and back of the Cup cars is a precursor to wholesale change expected for the 2013 Cup season. 2011 sees the first full season of new models in the Nationwide Series with the integration of the Mustang and Challenger. The Ford and Dodge representatives as that series Car of Tomorrow, is intended to give that series another unique quality.

Now Ford executives are sending up a trial balloon to check fan and NASCAR reaction to using the Mustang as their model in the Sprint Cup Series in 2013. According to Jamie Allison, Ford’s director of motorsports; “Mustang is the most identifiable brand we have in terms of racing and motorsports. So we’ve made it known that we’d like to see Mustang in NASCAR.”

Allison is correct and all the more reason NOT to allow that model to represent Ford in the Cup Series. Here is where NASCAR needs to step up and stop their need to continually change the sport. If you look back at Cup racing throughout history it revolves around auto makers large to mid-size sedans and that is where it should remain. Before the Fusion; Ford has campaigned the Taurus, Thunderbird, Torino and Galaxie dating back to the sixties.

Maybe the problem isn’t so much that Ford wants to take its MOST recognizable brand to the Cup Series; as it wants to take its ONLY recognizable brand to the Cup Series. The problem isn’t just with Ford. NASCAR fans have complained since the inception of the CoT that the cars are all the same except for the front and rear decals that give the cars their brand identity.

Has anyone driven down the street lately? It’s pretty difficult to differentiate between the consumer versions of the Camry, Fusion, Impala and Charger. Instead of bringing the Mustang, Challenger and Camaro into Cup, NASCAR should continue to keep a separate, unique and identifiable brand in their premier series. NASCAR has said throughout this off-season they want The Nationwide Series to have an identity of their own. Making its top two series into “pony car” series will undermine that goal.

2013 should see a return to identifiable sheet metal in the Cup Series. Make the cars use stock factory parts for the roof, trunk and hood; and keep a close tolerance to stock appearing front and rear fascia. That would get the fans off NASCAR’s back. No one is under the delusion that the cars are stock; but please let’s maintain a unique identity in the Sprint Cup Series, while returning to a more stock-like series.

Photo credit: JAB/On Pit Row.com

Filed under: Car of Tomorrow, Chase for the Cup, Dale Earnhardt Jr., How to fix NASCAR, NASCAR, NASCAR Bidness, NASCAR History, Sprint Cup Series

Tagged with: Chevy racing, Dodge, Ford Racing, Toyota Motorsports

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Comments

2 Responses to “Keep Mustang Out of the Cup Series”

Matt Mercer on February 1st, 2011 2:44 pm

I think bringing the Mustang to Sprint Cup makes sense if NASCAR is serious about continuing to make adjustments to the cars and more importantly, the races and the schedules. I think the Mustang’s entry would have to be accompanied by Chevy/Dodge bringing their top cars in and an emergence of a 5th manufacturer (BMW?). But alas, I see more window dressing than real changes so I’m inclined to agree with Steve.
Steve Wronkowicz on February 1st, 2011 7:34 pm

I think window dressing may be a good way to put it Matt. It seems that we keep hoping and hoping that NASCAR will see the sport the way the fans see it and make adjustments accordingly. But alas it is always the same old–same old.

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