Ford has enjoyed considerable success in the drivers’ championship with Team Penske in recent years, but the manufacturer title remains a different challenge. With its new 2027 challenger now unveiled, Ford is looking to change that. Although the new package looks promising, three-time Cup Series Champion Joey Logano has shed light on its limitations and the sacrifices that go into the design process. For Joey Logano, the perfect challenger is the one that strikes the right balance between design and performance. With his involvement in the project, he believes Ford may have found the secret sauce despite trading off a few elements.

The three-time Team Penske drivers’ champion, who knows what it feels like to win behind the wheel of a Ford Mustang, held back from revealing a lot about the exciting new package. Not because he had to, but because his involvement in the project’s development has limitations as a driver.

In conversation with Bob Pockrass at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in Daytona Beach, Logano revealed how the package prioritizes certain features over others.

“I mean, I think what my involvement was to say, Hey, what do we need on the racetrack? What are the things that are most important from a downforce perspective, from a center of pressure perspective, and track? Like, what are we willing to give? Because you can’t just have it all. Right?

“So those type of things are where the drivers and the crew chiefs are going to put their input in. And then it’s up to the aero designers and engineers to be able to come up with making it look right, to where it looks like the street vehicle, but also has that performance where we’re looking for.”

The new car draws from the look and design of the latest Ford Mustang Dark Horse SC. It’s most prominent feature? An aggressive-looking nose designed to improve aerodynamic performance and generate more downforce.

The design also features revamped headlight surrounds, lower grille openings with smoother contours, lower bumper corners, and front fenders with pronounced creases that have been smoothed out.

While Ford has offered a first look at the revised aerodynamic features, its impact on track performance remains to be seen. However, Ford Racing’s Global Director, Mark Rushbrook, remains optimistic about the package.

“Our team of race engineers worked hand-in-hand with Ford designers to create a car that not only holds true to Mustang’s unique appearance but lives up to its heritage as a car that was born to race,” said Rushbrook. “We believe this car will put us in a position to win a lot of races and championships in the years ahead.” 

While Ford caters its fleet to three NASCAR Cup Series teams, namely Team Penske, RFK Racing, and Front Row Motorsports, its most successful driver in recent years has been Joey Logano. Team Penske has won three of the last six drivers’ championship titles with the dominant Ford fleet and was very close in contention in this year’s Chase format.

Ford has also secured the most race wins with the RFK Racing camp historically, with 144 Cup Series wins with the Roush-led team. However, Team Penske takes the lead in Ford’s new era with 109 wins and multiple titles on its esteemed roster. The last time Ford won the manufacturers’ title was in 2020, with Team Penske and Stewart-Haas Racing leading the charge. The two organisations accounted for all 18 of Ford’s race victories that season.

For the upcoming season, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney have shared their thoughts on racing with the new Ford Mustang Dark Horse SC Cup Series car.

Logano said, ““I’ve said this ever since Ford brought Mustang into the Cup Series and nothing since then has changed my mind. We have the best-looking car on the track, hands down, and Ford Racing has worked to make it one of the fastest too. He added, “Mustang is an American icon and no one is more proud to drive it each and every week than me. I can’t wait to get behind the wheel of this new Mustang at Daytona.”

Ryan Blaney, who came very close to clinching the title this year, reflected on his Ford-only Cup Series career to express his admiration for the manufacturer’s Cup Series legacy.

“All of us want to be the first one to win a race in this new Mustang, and I’m no different. I’ve been pretty fortunate that throughout my Cup career the only car I’ve ever driven is a Ford, and I’m proud of that. Ford does a great job of designing race cars that give us the best chance to win, and I can’t think of a better way to get started than by winning the Daytona 500.”

While the 2027 package builds on the same new-gen regulations chalked by NASCAR with no new improvisations, it will try to take a significant step forward from its 2026 package that failed to extract competitive speed at intermediate tracks, mile and a halfs, and more performance issues that held the manufacturer back from fighting with Chevrolet and Toyota this year.

Earlier this year, Ryan Blaney’s crew chief, Jonathan Hassler, revealed the car’s struggles with raw speed. Hassler said, “The intermediate package, the mile-and-a-halfs, the bigger tracks, that’s definitely been a struggle of ours.”

Partner camps RFK Racing and Front Row Motorsports also expressed concerns over speed at intermediate tracks and overall lack of speed in the regular season.

The new Ford Mustang Dark Horse SC will try to combat these issues with an improved aerodynamic package and downforce for all its fleets in 2027. This is exactly why Joey Logano’s statement about drivers giving their input in shaping the improved package comes into the picture.

While RFK Racing and Front Row Motorsports are yet to comment on the newly unveiled 2027 challenger, Team Penske drivers are already looking forward to the package’s first running at the Daytona Speedweeks leading to the Daytona 500.

Logano mainly reflected on the package from a driver’s perspective, stating that the project will always have something missing, while backing the revamped Mustang and has agreed it has some sharper indentations and areas.