Ford’s Abysmal Start to the Season Gets More Concerning With Every Race as Chevy and Toyota Pull Ahead

Published 04/17/2024, 2:57 PM EDT

Nine races have already unfolded in 2024, and a Ford trophy is nowhere in sight. Even after releasing their sleek Mustang Dark Horse late last year, the team appears to be in a slump. Meanwhile, Chevy’s Camaro and Toyota’s XSE model have collected enough wins to uphold their names.

Yet Ford drivers have shown promise. Most recently, Brad Keselowski maneuvered his No. 6 Ford through a sea of crashes in Texas to snag a runner-up finish. Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 has swerved into four top-five positions. However, NASCAR experts remain genuinely concerned about Ford’s fate this year.

Ford may need to buckle up on a war footing

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The Ford camp’s winless streak this year is a thing of wonder for many. Especially because it has been a long 14 years since Ford did not win the first nine races of the season. The last time such a slump occurred was in 2010 when Chevrolet, Toyota, and Dodge won the first 20 races. Greg Biffle won the first of four Ford victories that season in August.

Hence, NASCAR experts are scratching their heads in 2024. The guys on ‘Door Bumper Clear’ recently dissected the situation. After T.J. Majors talked about how Keselowski fetched second place in Texas, Freddie Kraft presented his concerns.

“I’m not so concerned about the winless streak than about the fact that they’re not in contention to win. It’s not like they’re just getting it. You were obviously in contention being in second. But you were not a second-place car yesterday.”

Kyle Larson has led the most laps, or 531, in Chevrolet, while Joey Logano has the most in Ford (177). But it was the Ford driver with the second-most laps that baffled Brett Griffin. “Which driver in the Ford camp do you think has led the second most laps?… It’s f***ing Todd Gilliland…Holy cow. Larson has led three times more laps than the best four drivers. Then Todd Gilliland is second. He ain’t a flagship guy, nothing against Todd.”

Freddie Kraft further cemented his worries. “There’s four guys right now in the playoffs in Fords, like if it ended today…My concern would be not only have they not won, not easy to win, but they really haven’t been in a position to win other than maybe the first two.”

The DBC guys are right to observe Ford’s drooping performance. Yet as some drivers pointed out, the OEM picked up momentum toward the latter part of 2023. So following last year’s trend, a roaring comeback may be on the way for Ford drivers.

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Glory might be late but sure

Quite like this season, Ford drivers went through a slump in the first 21 races. They picked up just two victories in that period. Yet their glorious fate was scripted for later, as Ryan Blaney’s three wins came in the end. The DBC hosts observed as much.

Majors quipped, “The end of the year completely fits Ryan Blaney. All his best tracks are the last three tracks of the year. I could easily see one of them guys getting hot again. You never know, maybe Brad wins 2-3 or whatever.”

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No. 14 Ford driver Chase Briscoe also echoed the same, saying, “If you would have looked at us last year, you would have never thought a Ford was going to win a championship and then it did.” Despite Briscoe’s own winless streak since 2022, he optimistically added, “Hopefully when it matters, Ford is going to be strong.”

Hence although tensions are on the rise, being patient and waiting for Ford’s comeback may also be a feasible option.

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Written by:

Sumedha Mukherjee is a NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports who is known for her in-depth track analysis as well as her lifestyle coverage of Cup drivers like Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick. Inspired by the Kiwi's journey so far, Sumedha has also written pieces on Shane Van Gisbergen, predicting how the Supercars Champion would do in the new and unfamiliar American setting. Pairing her research skills with her vast experience as a writer, Sumedha creates stories her readers can easily get lost in.

Edited by:

Shreya Singh

Ford’s Abysmal Start to the Season Gets More Concerning With Every Race as Chevy and Toyota Pull Ahead

Ford may need to buckle up on a war footing

Glory might be late but sure

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