Ford has not been at its absolute best in recent times, as one of the leading manufacturers in the NASCAR fraternity is struggling for consistency today on certain tracks. Those weaknesses are coming into the limelight even more with the changes to the car, and the fans put the manufacturer’s future at a tipping point.

Is Ford weak at certain tracks?

One fan straight-up posed a question: “Why does Ford struggle on non flat tracks?”

“It seems like they are only good on drafting tracks and flat tracks but struggle everywhere else… at least in Cup,” they added.

In the NASCAR Cup Series, Ford uses its Mustang Dark Horse car to compete with Chevrolet’s Camaro ZL1 and Toyota’s Camry XSE. However, the Mustang comes with a series of drawbacks that hinder its performance on non-flat tracks, such as short tracks or road courses.

The primary reason could be its aerodynamic characteristics and the mechanical grip compared to those of Toyota and Chevrolet. Even though the Mustang Next Gen is a “spec” car developed for parity, due to the manufacturing differences, there are slight variations in terms of performance.

First off, Ford makes its cars to suit straight-line speed, which is why they perform well in the flat tracks such as the Phoenix Raceway. No wonder they claimed seven wins at that track in the last five years and won three championship races.

Moreover, this straight-line speed gives them an impetus at the Superspeedways and intermediate tracks, and at the same time, it brings in downforce issues. The Ford cars cannot trigger enough downforce to navigate the tight and high-braking corners of short tracks or road courses, and lose out to Chevrolet or Toyota.

Then come the dirty air issues, which have caused significant problems for the Ford drivers, as they not only made passing difficult, but also made it tough for them to hold position. In a nutshell, the Ford cars come with ample issues at non-flat tracks, which Chevrolet and Toyota are taking advantage of dearly.

In 2025, Chevrolet won 15 races to lead in the Cup Series, followed by Toyota. Ford came last. Coming into 2026, Toyota picked up four wins out of five, while Ford won one race, which took place at Phoenix, considered a happy hunting ground for Ford.

Nevertheless, Ford does have overall performance issues in 2026 when pitted against Toyota and Chevrolet, and it could be a vast issue given how consistency is key under the Chase format, on which fans shared their reactions on social media.

Fans react to Ford’s disadvantage at non-flat tracks

The user who posed the initial question got a lot of fan responses. Reacting to it, a fan wrote, “Because they focused on it so they could win 3 of the last 4 championships.” With this, the fan sheds light on how Ford managed to win the 2022, 2023, and 2024 Cup Series Championships.

Another fan wrote, “They have less downforce in traffic than the Toyota and Chevy cars. Harvick mentions this like every broadcast.” The fan mentioned how Kevin Harvick explained why the Ford Next Gen cars are weak at such tracks in his Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast.

Another fan wrote, “They might struggle on non flat tracks to an extent but they also turn and corner better than every other car. Especially the 12 team. It’s like they’ve unlocked something in that car that no one else has.” With this, the fan focused on how Ford cars generally have better maneuvering ability even though they lack in the non flat tracks.

A fan wrote, “Ford has a multitude of problems. Outside of Penske they don’t have a serious contender organization wise. RFK isn’t there as far as being a serious contender. They haven’t had a serious 1-2 punch as far as organizations go since the late 2010’s with Penske and SHR.” The fan highlighted how apart from Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano, nobody is a contender for the titles.

“They really need to get their act straight on tracks (no pun intended) , just being one trick pony doesn’t help. Not sure why the 12 team doesn’t share the data with other Ford teams, and if they are then aren’t they able to execute? They can’t go too far in next gen with this car,” wrote another fan, pointing out how the manufacturer’s future looks volatile. They also pointed the lack of trust between the Ford teams, as the #12 didn’t seem to have shared the data.

With that said, it will be interesting to see if Ford manages to turn around this season and reach Toyota’s level.