02/16/2019
Roush Confident Mustang Will Fuel Ford in 2019
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 16, 2019) – The 2019 NASCAR season will bring plenty of changes. For Roush Fenway Racing and the Ford Performance team, it brings a new body. And that’s something that team owner and NASCAR Hall of Famer Jack Roush is excited about.
“The Mustang is a river that runs through me,” Roush said during a press conference at Daytona International Speedway. “I’ve watched the Mustangs be raced in a myriad of classes, road racing and drag racing. Now the Mustang has finally taken its rightful place at the top of the stock car arena with NASCAR.”
Ford has raced the iconic Mustang as its body style in the NASCAR Xfinity Series since 2011. After other manufacturers changed bodies in previous seasons, the jump to the Cup series seemed eminent. Roush is confident the new body will bring a new era of racing to fans, amping up excitement levels and keeping the sport thriving.
“The most important thing for everyone in the room is making the racing as exciting as it can possibly be for the fans,” Roush explained. “The opportunity you have to have the fans excited about the fact that an underdog, something that they didn’t see coming, is going to happen.”
The new body is already off to a strong at Daytona. Five Ford Mustangs finished inside the top-10 during last week’s non-points Clash race. When the green flag waves on the 61st Annual Daytona 500, six Ford Mustangs will start inside the top-10.
“The fact that we’ve been able to at least for the first couple of races here indicate that we’re competitive with the Mustang right out of the box that the work that has been done with CFD, simulation, simulator, all the tools in the toolbox has been effectively applied,” Roush said. “I think it bodes well for the results we’re going to have at the different racetracks with a different aero package and different engine package this year.”
Roush Fenway’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Newman will roll off the grid fifth and 19th, respectively.
To see how the Ford Performance team start the season, tune in to the Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 17th at 2:30 p.m. EST on FOX.
