FORD PERFORMANCE NASCAR: A SEASON TO REMEMBER
The 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season will be remembered for many years to come after Ford led the series in victories and won the drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships. Here’s a look at some of the memorable moments and highlights from the season.
FIRST DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP SINCE 2004
Joey Logano became the eighth driver to win a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship with Ford when he won the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The title was the first for Logano and the first for Ford since Kurt Busch won the inaugural 10-race Playoff in 2004. Logano won three races during the season, qualifying for the Playoffs with a win at Talladega during the regular season and then clinching a spot in the Championship 4 with a thrilling victory at Martinsville.
FORD’S MENCS CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVERS
1965 – Ned Jarrett
1968 – David Pearson
1969 – David Pearson
1988 – Bill Elliott
1992 – Alan Kulwicki
1999 – Dale Jarrett
2003 – Matt Kenseth
2004 – Kurt Busch
2018 – Joey Logano
FIRST MANUFACTURERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP SINCE 2002
Ford won 10 of the last 14 races to win the manufacturers’ championship going away. Seven different drivers won races during season and nine drivers score points toward the championship, which has helped produce a xx-point victory. The manufacturers’ championship is the 16th overall for Ford and the first since 2002, and marked the first time Ford captured the drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles in the same season since 1999.
FORD MANUFACTURER CHAMPIONSHIP SEASONS: 1956, 1957, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2018
MOST SERIES WINS SINCE 1997
Ford led the way in 2018 with 19 victories by seven drivers, marking the most wins for Ford in a single-season since NASCAR expanded the schedule to 36 races in 2001. It was also the first time Ford won at least half of the events since 1997 when it captured 19-of-32 events. In addition, the last time Ford led the series in wins outright was 2002 when it won 14 times.
FORD WINS – SEASON
20 – 1994 (31 races)
19 – 2018 (36 races)
19 – 1997 (32 races)
16 – 1992 (29 races)
16 – 2005 (36 races)
15 – 1998 (33 races)
FORD DOMINATES 2018 PLAYOFFS
Ford dominated the Playoffs from start to finish as a manufacturer-best seven drivers qualified for the 16-driver field, which included the entire rosters from Team Penske and Stewart-Haas Racing. The Blue Oval maintained a majority of participants through the elimination rounds as all seven drivers advanced to the Round of 12. Ford had five participants in the Round of 8 before Logano and Harvick advanced to the Championship 4. In addition, Ford won 6-of-10 Playoff races, which is the most for the manufacturer in a single season.
2018 FORD WINNERS
8 – Kevin Harvick
3 – Brad Keselowski
3 – Joey Logano
2 – Clint Bowyer
1 – Ryan Blaney
1 – Aric Almirola
1 – Kurt Busch
HARVICK AND KESELOWSKI MAKE FORD HISTORY
Kevin Harvick tied for the most wins during the 2018 season with eight and ignited the best year of his career by winning at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and then Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and then ISM Raceway. The three-race winning streak marked the first time he did that in his career and the first time a Ford driver had achieved the feat since Joey Logano swept the three races in the Round of 12 in the 2015 Playoffs. Brad Keselowski hit his stride as the regular-season came to a close, winning races at Darlington Raceway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway and then taking the Playoff opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That marked the first time in Ford’s NASCAR history that two drivers registered three-race winning streaks in the same season.
FUSION GOES OUT A CHAMPION
The 2018 season marked the final year for Fusion in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, but it went out on a high note with Joey Logano winning the championship and Ford claiming the manufacturers’ title. Fusion became Ford’s flagship model for the series in 2006 and went on to win 108 races during its 13-year run. During its tenure, Fusion won the Daytona 500 five times and the All-Star Race on three occasions. Ford announced earlier this year that Mustang will come to the series in 2019.
