FORD PERFORMANCE NASCAR: TEXAS NOTES
No manufacturer is hotter in NASCAR’s top two series than Ford as the Cup and XFINITY Series make their way to Texas Motor Speedway for action this weekend. Just how hot is Ford? The answers and proof are below:
HOW HOT IS FORD?
This is how hot Ford is in the NASCAR Cup and NASCAR XFINITY Series:
· Ford has won 8 of last 9 NXS and Cup races combined, including back-to-back weekend sweeps at Kentucky and Indianapolis.
· Four straight NASCAR XFINITY Series wins (2 each by Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric).
· Consecutive NASCAR Cup Series wins and 4 of the last 5 overall.
· Point leaders in both series: Kevin Harvick (Cup) and Chase Briscoe (NXS).
· Manufacturer point leader in both series.
· 17 combined wins in 2020 (10 Cup and 7 NXS).
· 14 combined wins in 24 starts since NASCAR returned to action on May 17: 8 Cup (13 starts) and 6 NXS (11 starts).
FORD’S FASTEST TO 10 CUP WINS SINCE…
Cole Custer’s win on Sunday in Kentucky was the first of his NASCAR Cup Series career and 10th of the season for Ford. That not only matches Mustang’s win total from its debut campaign last year but marks the fastest Ford has reached double digits since 1997. Custer’s victory on July 12 bettered the time Jeff Burton won Ford’s 10th race that season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway by one day. Here’s a list of double-digit win seasons and the date No. 10 took place.
FASTEST SEASONS TO 10TH FORD WIN (Modern Era: 1972-Present)
YEAR DATE TOTAL
1992 June 14 16
1994 July 10 20
2020 July 12 ?
1997 July 13 19
1999 Aug. 7 13
1985 Aug. 11 14
2018 Aug. 12 18
1996 Aug. 18 13
2000 Aug. 20 14
2005 Aug. 27 16
BRISCOE AND CINDRIC LOOK TO EXTEND WIN STREAK TO FIVE
Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric have both won twice in the last month to stretch Ford’s NASCAR XFINITY Series win streak to four, marking the first time the manufacturer has done that since 2014. Briscoe, who leads the point standings, has five wins this season while Cindric is coming off a two-night sweep at Kentucky Speedway last week. The last time Ford won five straight NXS races was 2002 when Scott Riggs, Jason Keller and Bobby Hamilton Jr. combined to achieve that feat, which eventually reached six before coming to an end.
HARVICK LOOKS TO CONTINUE TEXAS HOT STREAK
The last time the NASCAR Cup Series came to Texas Motor Speedway was November and for the third straight year Kevin Harvick came away with a playoff victory that automatically sent him into the Championship 4. Harvick, who hadn’t won at the 1.5-mile track in his first 29 starts, has now won three of the last five races at the speedway. In addition, he has a second-place finish in this latest stretch, and 11 consecutive top 10 Cup finishes at TMS. That streak also includes eight top-five efforts.
FORD IN THE NASCAR CUP SERIES AT TMS
· Ford has the most all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins at TMS with 15.
· Kevin Harvick won the Playoff race at TMS in November.
· Jack Roush is tied for the most wins among car owners at TMS with nine.
FORD IN THE NASCAR XFINITY SERIES AT TMS
· Ford leads all manufacturers with 13 NASCAR XFINITY Series wins at TMS.
· Ryan Blaney and Cole Custer posted wins last year, giving Ford a series season sweep.
· Mark Martin won the first NXS race at Texas and leads Ford with three series victories overall.
FORD IN THE NASCAR GANDER OUTDOORS TRUCK SERIES SERIES AT TMS
· Ford has 3 series wins at TMS.
· Kenny Irwin Jr. won the first series event held at TMS in 1997.
· Ford’s last series victory at TMS came by Greg Biffle in 2000.
LAST LAP PASS LEADS LOGANO TO VICTORY
Joey Logano’s first Cup win at TMS came in 2014 in a race that was delayed until Monday because of rain. Logano dominated much of the second half, but a caution with two laps to go forced a green-white-checker finish. He started third on the restart after the leaders stopped on pit road and was able to get past Jeff Gordon on the final lap to claim victory. Logano led 108 of the final 116 laps to claim the first of five wins that season.
A TEXAS TWO-FIRST
A couple of firsts happened on April 6, 1997 as Texas Motor Speedway hosted its inaugural NASCAR Cup Series event and Jeff Burton took his first checkered flag. Burton, led by crew chief Buddy Parrott, passed Todd Bodine with 58 laps remaining and beat fellow Ford driver Dale Jarrett to the finish line by four seconds. The race was slowed by 10 cautions, which included a multi-car accident in first turn of the first lap. Burton went on to win 21 career series races with 17 of those coming in a Thunderbird or Taurus.
SADLER WINS FIRST RACE WITH RYR
Elliott Sadler passed Jeff Gordon with 27 laps remaining and then held off Kasey Kahne in the closing laps to win the Samsung/Radio Shack 500 on April 4, 2004. Sadler, in his second season with Robert Yates Racing, hugged the inside lane over the final three laps as Kahne worked the outside. When the two cars came off turn four for the final time, Sadler had a lapped car in front of him and that allowed Kahne to make one last charge. Despite gaining crucial ground through the tri-oval, Kahne came up half-a-car length short as Sadler crossed the line first to gain his second of three career series wins.
FORD NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS AT TEXAS
1997 – Jeff Burton
1998 – Mark Martin
2001 – Dale Jarrett
2002 – Matt Kenseth
2004 – Elliott Sadler
2005 – Greg Biffle (1) and Carl Edwards (2)
2008 – Carl Edwards (Sweep)
2011 – Matt Kenseth (1)
2012 – Greg Biffle (1)
2014 – Joey Logano (1)
2017 – Kevin Harvick (2)
2018 – Kevin Harvick (2)
2019 – Kevin Harvick (2)
FORD NASCAR XFINITY SERIES WINNERS AT TEXAS
1997 – Mark Martin
1999 – Mark Martin
2000 – Mark Martin
2004 – Matt Kenseth
2007 – Matt Kenseth
2010 – Carl Edwards (2)
2011 – Carl Edwards (1) and Trevor Bayne (2)
2012 – Ricky Stenhouse (1)
2013 – Brad Keselowski (2)
2015 – Brad Keselowski (2)
2018 – Ryan Blaney and Cole Custer
FORD NASCAR GANDER OUTDOORS TRUCK SERIES WINS AT TEXAS
1997 – Kenny Irwin Jr.
1998 – Tony Raines
2000 – Greg Biffle (1)
