Fresh off crowning the 2023 and 2024 NASCAR champions (Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano), and leading the motorsports operations in all three NASCAR series, Ford should be celebrating an era of dominance. Instead, a silent crisis is brewing behind the victory lane champagne, threatening the manufacturer’s very position in American motorsports.

Ford Racing under risk of a complete exit from NASCAR

What could be such a big problem for Ford, you ask?

The number of teams fielding Ford cars is decreasing in the NASCAR series every year. In 2026, only four teams will run Ford cars. The biggest blow, perhaps, comes from the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.

Only one team will run the Ford car in the Tier 2 division of NASCAR. For a manufacturer this big, the steady loss to Chevrolet that Ford is facing is monumental.

They claim that they are going to be the leaders of American motorsports, yet the only significant teams they field in the Cup Series are Team Penske and RFK Racing. Similarly, they are down to eight unique entries in the Truck series.

Another major factor for Ford’s possible retreat and slow downfall in NASCAR is also related to the high tariffs.

“Prices are going to go up for us and for our competitors,” claimed David Christ, Toyota’s U.S. sales chief.

The U.S. auto industry underwent a major setback in the final months of 2025. The higher prices of vehicles were strongly opposed by the public. Even General Motors, the biggest automotive company in the U.S., was unable to escape it. In the final quarter of the year, their sales fell by nearly 7%.

So, it is highly unlikely that Ford was able to escape the same fate.

As a result, they would be unable to invest as much in their R&D for motorsports. Ford Racing is a part of the Ford Motor Company’s operations. It won’t get the entire company’s budget when they are trying to stay afloat in the market with rising tariffs.

Additionally, Ford also partnered with Red Bull Racing to build engines for the 2026 F1 season. The new regulations for this year mean that Ford’s motorsport-specific resources were stretched thin to match the demands of their partner. Creating a new engine altogether on a blank slate is more expensive and time-consuming than putting effort into the already working ones in NASCAR.

Now, Ford does not really like to share its internal data with the NASCAR teams. As a result, the teams can only rely on the few resources allocated by Ford Racing. Meanwhile, Ford can only rely on the loyalty of their current teams because the newer ones are inherently switching to Chevrolet.

This entire situation, on the other hand, reminds us of another manufacturer.

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Dodge–powerful on the streets, powerless in stock car racing

Dodge cars used to tear up the ovals. Eventually, the team was completely wiped out from the stock car racing scene altogether. When we analyze the situation, the entire story mirrors that of Ford right now.

Chrysler, which is the parent company of Dodge, was saved by the U.S. government when it filed for bankruptcy in 2009. They entered into a partnership with Fiat and stayed alive in the market. But it also left them in a financially fragile situation.

Chrysler had to focus more on reducing its debt and creating a car catalogue that brought it back on the streets. It lacked the resources necessary for full-blown racing operations.

So what did Chrysler and Dodge decide?

Simple, NASCAR and racing did not align with their goals. Their new goals were defined by the European influence of Fiat. So for them, motorsports was a no-go.

Additionally, they only had one competitive team–Team Penske, which eventually switched to Ford.

NASCAR was bringing forth losses, and these diminishing returns were not worth the magnanimous investments that went forward into their R&D and massive expenses.

The failure to secure top teams that could pay them a good return on their investment, paired with the shrinking relevance of motorsports, led to Dodge’s exit from NASCAR. They started focusing more on a deep catalogue of high-performance street cars and started rebuilding the brand from the ground up. As a result, Dodge has now completely disappeared from the tracks of stock car racing.

But it is still competing furiously on the streets with GM and Ford using its production car lineup.

Ford’s situation is not far from Dodge’s in 2012–low sales, less revenue, resources stretched thin. Not only do they face a financial crisis, but they also face the crisis of securing highly successful NASCAR OEMs. And Ford’s immediate action plan to focus on Formula 1 from 0, might signal the start of their exit from NASCAR.

To make things clear, G.M. is also looking forward to joining F1 as an engine supplier. Ford might have lost out to G.M. on home soil, but it does not plan on being left behind on a global scale.

What are your predictions about Ford’s future in NASCAR? Will the American auto giant make a comeback, or will it succumb to its fate?