Friday, February 15, 2013

FORD RACING NEWS: Ready For A New Look In 2013


There’s speed but not much downforce. The bumpers don’t match. The draft has a new and maybe more dangerous look.

Welcome to Daytona 2013.

It’s a new year for the NASCAR traveling circus, and the first stop, as always, is Daytona International Speedway. The first two weekends of each season are always tense as drivers and teams break through the cobwebs of a long off-season and return to speed, but this year the time at Daytona will be even more convoluted -- and perhaps a bit uncomfortable -- because of the arrival of the Gen-6 race car.

Designed to be much more similar to street models than the previous Sprint Cup car, the Gen-6 has sleek lines and a cool silhouette – one that instantly identifies its manufacturer. But, simply because it’s new, it carries a boatload of mysteries, some of which can be explored only when dozens of cars are on track together in the dynamics of the famous Daytona draft.

How will the car respond in groups of three, four and five, and with 43 on track at once? Is bump-drafting a thing of the past? Will the last few laps of the Daytona 500 be chaotic (as is usually the case)?

“It was definitely different behind the wheel (in testing) right away,” said Greg Biffle of the Gen-6 Fusion. “When I first saw the car unveiled at Ford, I was shocked by the look of it. I said, ‘There’s no way we’re racing this in NASCAR’ because it looked so cool. It really, really looked racy just sitting there. I’m so excited to see these cars sitting on the grid. It’s a neat car. It’s going to change our sport.”

Joey Logano, new to Ford Racing, said the situation entering Saturday night’s Sprint Unlimited, the non-points race that will open the season, is similar to preseason football.

“Saturday is preseason racing to me,” Logano said. “We need to learn as much as we can as a team, and it will help us when we get to the 500. As far as the racing goes, I would assume you are going to see something fairly similar to what you saw last year. But we will have to wait and see. When I was out there before, we found things with the side-draft that work differently. You have to fine-tune your techniques as a driver to find what you want for the 500.”

Saturday night’s Unlimited will give the participating teams their first true look at the new car in a competition environment. The race, scheduled for an 8 p.m. start, will be run in segments of 30, 25 and 20 laps as a result of a fan vote that concluded this week. Sprint Unlimited practice is scheduled at 5 p.m. (ET) and 6:30 p.m. Friday.

On Sunday, Daytona 500 qualifying is scheduled at 1 p.m. Results of the time trials will fill only the first two starting spots for the Great American race. The rest of the 43-car field will be set by the results of next Thursday’s 150-mile qualifying races, qualifying speeds and provisional.

Logano said Sunday’s qualifying will be more important than usual because of the uncertainties surrounding the week.

“We want to help ourselves in case something dumb happens in the Duel (Thursday),” he said. “They have the car in the [wind] tunnel working on that and trying to make sure we can qualify up close to the front. I know we made adjustments on the car since the test (at Daytona), and we have a different car than that one, but we planned on having a different car anyway. I feel like there were some pretty big gains there. I am sure everyone else has pretty big gains, too, I just hope ours are more than theirs.”
 


FORD RACING NEWS: Wood Brothers Racing Honor Ford’s 1st 500 Win/Unveils Retro Paint Scheme for Daytona 500



* The paint scheme of Trevor Bayne’s No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion has been altered to mirror that of the Wood Brothers Racing 1963 Ford Galaxie Tiny Lund drove to Ford’s first Daytona 500 victory, exactly 50 years ago to the day of this year’s race.

* The car also commemorates long-time crew chief Leonard Wood’s recent induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

* The No. 21 Ford Fusion will go back to its traditional Motorcraft/Quick Lane red, white and blue for the spring race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The date of this year’s Daytona 500 is an important landmark for Ford and Wood Brothers Racing. The green flag for this year’s “Great American Race” marks the 50th anniversary of the day substitute driver Tiny Lund drove a 1963 Ford Galaxie built by Leonard Wood to the Blue Oval’s first Daytona 500 win in 1963.

The odds were undeniably against him. Lund was only in the seat because the Woods’ regular driver, Marvin Panch, who had already qualified the Wood Brothers’ Ford for the Daytona 500, was injured trying to set a speed record in a sports car at the track 10 days before the race.

Panch, who lost control of the car in Turn 3, was pinned inside until Glen Wood, NASCAR official Johnny Bruner, crewmen and drivers, including Lund, ran to free him as the car caught fire. Incredibly, it was Lund -- the strongest of the rescuers -- who was able to pull Panch away from the wreck. He was awarded the Carnegie Medal of Honor for the rescue.

Losing a driver 10 days before the race could’ve been devastating to the team’s chances, but in what has so often been the case for the oldest continually running team in NASCAR, Lund’s win was a moment that must have been meant to be. It was largely possible because Leonard Wood, in a demonstration of his foresight and innovation, had equipped the Galaxie with a modified right-front spindle so the tire wore evenly through the corners, allowing the team to go without changing the tires.

To honor both Lund’s victory and Leonard Wood’s induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing has partnered with Wood Brothers Racing to create a special paint scheme for this year’s Daytona 500.

Driver Trevor Bayne, who had his own storybook moment when he won on NASCAR’s biggest stage in 2011, will pilot the Rangoon Red and Corinthian White Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion tribute car that mirrors the Galaxie Lund drove to Victory Lane.

“We are happy to honor this 50th anniversary with Wood Brothers Racing and Ford,” said Mary Lou Quesnell, marketing director, Ford Customer Service Division. “The story behind it is just incredible. Congratulations to Wood Brothers Racing and Leonard Wood for joining his brother Glen in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. We couldn’t be more proud to support you.”

The 1963 Galaxie the Woods built for Leonard’s display in the Hall of Fame’s Hall of Honor will be on display in the Sprint Fan Zone in the infield of Daytona International Speedway during the race weekend. It took the family -- including engineering genius Leonard Wood -- 18 months and countless hours of searching for the parts and pieces to make an exact twin of Lund’s car, from the wheels to the paint used.

“We’ve always been a Ford team, and we’ve had Motorcraft on our cars for a long time,” said Eddie Wood, who co-owns Wood Brothers Racing with his brother Len. “Our family has such a rich history in NASCAR and we love to tell the stories. We’re fortunate to have a sponsor that appreciates the history of the sport and especially our family’s history in stock car racing as much as we do.

“We were able to honor our dad, Glen, with a special car at Charlotte in 2011. We couldn’t ask for better timing. Maybe lightning will strike again, and we’ll get a win with Leonard’s car.”

For live updates from the Daytona 500, follow the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion team on Twitter (MQL_Racing) and Facebook. Follow Wood Brothers Racing on Facebook and Twitter (@WoodBrothers21) and driver Trevor Bayne on Facebook and Twitter (@TBayne21).