One of the hits of the 2012 Detroit auto show was the 2013 Ford Fusion, and the NASCAR Sprint Cup version of the Ford is the hit so far at this week’s NASCAR media tour at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The automaker debuted the race car to the press this afternoon, and it’s impressive, looking far sleeker than the “Car of Tomorrow” currently used by NASCAR. The main reason: It maintains many styling cues from the production Fusion, including its nose, tail, greenhouse, and even profile. The same wide-mouth grille and squinty headlights and taillights also are present, at least in sticker form.
Currently, thanks to NASCAR’s “COT” uniform design, every stock car wears a body shell that’s nearly identical, with brand identification essentially consisting of a handful of headlight and grille decals. Beginning next season, however, NASCAR wants manufacturers to race Sprint Cup cars that wear more brand-specific bodywork, and that means forthcoming race models from Chevrolet, Dodge, and Toyota also will more closely resemble their street counterparts. Unlike the introduction of the Mustang Nationwide race car, which was gradually introduced over two seasons, the new Fusion will debut as Ford’s entry at the 2013 Daytona 500 in just over a year.
The debut took place in the Nationwide Series garage at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with Ford executives and even NASCAR honcho Mike Helton in attendance. The event included Ford putting the only two 2013 Fusion race cars in existence on the track for a demonstration. There is obviously no rear-drive, V-8–powered Fusion in Ford’s lineup—and there will be no turbocharged NASCAR entry despite the hilariously inaccurate EcoBoost stickers seen here—but neither Chevrolet nor Toyota have such a model, either. (Chrysler’s Dodge Charger, of course, is offered in such a configuration.) Looking at the NASCAR Fusion, though, we mused that a performance coupe version of the production car just might sell; in person, the thing almost has the presence of a Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG coupe. At minimum, at least this new race car will be more pleasing to fans’ eyes than the current car and its razor-blade grille graphics.
Andy Slankard, Ford’s NASCAR production manager, said that NASCAR and Ford “heard the fans loud and clear—they want more brand identity in their race cars.” Such a shift began in 2010, when the aforementioned Mustang debuted, which led Chrysler to enter a semi-realistic Dodge Challenger. Chevrolet has unfortunately not embraced the idea of a NASCAR version of the Camaro, and Toyota no longer has anything but the four-door Camry. Slankard said Ford came close to using the Mustang in Sprint Cup competition, “but once we saw this new Fusion, it seemed like a natural to stick with that.”
Even though we’re still a ways off from the old “Race on Sunday, sell on Monday” dynamic from NASCAR’s halcyon days—beyond driveline and engine differences, there is that pesky tube-frame in the stock car—this Fusion shows we’re closer than we’ve been in years. Given that, we dig.
No comments:
Post a Comment