The NASCAR Cup Series is back in action and it looks like the new Mustang Darkhorse has the upper hand on the Toyota Camry XSE and the old reliable Chevy Camaro ZL1 before entering the Great American Race. After all, Joey Logano took pole for Team Penske in a Mustang Darkhorse and broke Chevrolet’s streak of 11 consecutive pole positions at the Daytona 500, showing that Ford’s new challenger is here to put up a fight. This is why all eyes are now on Ryan Blaney to see if the reigning champion can recreate last year’s magic with Ford once again.

However, the 2024 pre-season hasn’t been the kindest to Blaney up to this point. The Mustang Darkhorse may have saved the Penske star from injuries after suffering two major crashes at the Clash and the Duel. But can Ford’s new concoction help Blaney conquer the title once again?

Can the Ford Mustang Darkhorse carry Ryan Blaney to glory?

Ryan Blaney was hoping to kick off the 2024 Daytona Speedweek with a solid finish at the Bluegreen Vacations Duel 2. However, it all ended in heartbreak for Blaney after William Byron got clipped by Kyle Busch, who had in turn been tapped by Brad Keselowski. Up to that point, the Ford Mustang Darkhorse seemed to be doing wonders for Penske. After all, Joey Logano had taken the Darkhorse to pole position at Daytona.

With that said, the Darkhorse’s competition relied on grouping up to gain an advantage. The Camry XSE during qualifying was dismal, leading many drivers and stakeholders to fear the new body Toyota had introduced. But the XSE stole the show in both the duels by securing wins for Reddick and Bell, and the Mustang Darkhorse seems to be a more well-rounded package. And for Ryan Blaney, that is all that is required to have a chance at the title.

It was Blaney’s consistency toward the second half of the season last year which led the Penske driver on a journey to the championship 4 and the title. On the other hand, the Camry XSE is showing signs of inconsistency in qualifying pace and Chevy revealed to JAYSKI that they have no plans of announcing a new challenger any time soon. This leaves the Mustang Darkhorse as perhaps the most stable weapon that Blaney could ask for heading into the 2024 season.

And that’s exactly what Ryan Blaney needs – Stability and consistency. After all, the 2022 Cup Series champion and Blaney’s teammate, Joey Logano won the title in 2022 but failed to make it past the second half in 2023 after a crash at the Bristol Motor Speedway ended things.

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With that in mind, Blaney would want to deliver solid results every weekend to avoid a wreck leading to an unfortunate exit. And for that, the Ford Mustang Darkhorse could very well be the correct choice. And to add to that, Mark Rushbrook, the global director of Ford Performance Motorsports, also shows great optimism for 2024.

The Darkhorse shows promising signs ahead of the Daytona 500

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Apart from Joey Logano giving Ford a reason to celebrate with the Daytona 500 pole, Michael McDowell from Front Row Motorsports also cemented the Mustang Darkhorse’s capabilities by locking out the front row at the Great American Race. Ending Chevrolet’s 11-year-long pole-position streak at Daytona was just icing on the cake.

“We normally don’t place a lot of emphasis on qualifying here, because what matters at the end of the day is how the cars race,” said Mark Rushbrook, global director, of Ford Performance Motorsports. He was quoted by JAYSKI, “But it still was nice to get that front row, especially for Roger Penske. The pole here was on the list of accomplishments he wanted to add to. And really happy to see Front Row up there next to Penske.”

Reflecting on the Mustang Darkhorse, the executive felt the Duels played an essential role in understanding how the new challenger would perform in traffic. He added, “We didn’t have the numbers in the first race, with only four or five Mustangs in there, but we certainly had the numbers in the second race, and we got a lot of feedback and comments from the drivers on the things that can be worked on with the setup to optimize that.”

Whilst the Camry XSE may have outclassed the field on race pace in the Bluegreen Vacations duels, the Mustangs were certainly not far behind. Now that the 500 is right around the corner, Rushbrook felt it would be the ultimate test to know the Darkhorse’s capabilities. He concluded, “At this point, we’re still very happy with the new car and looking forward to see how things play out through the weekend.”

With all that said, the season is still about to begin. Despite the recent heartbreak, has Ford given Ryan Blaney the perfect challenger to fight for a second consecutive title?

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