It's Official, the Ford Mustang is coming to NASCAR's Nationwide Series

By Matt Rigney

Matt Rigney

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Matt brings to the table a very intimate knowledge of modern Mustangs, Camaros and Challengers not only from the books in his collection but from... More

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Ford Mustang Nascar

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The man behind the push for the Mustang NASCAR is Brian Wolfe, director of Ford North American Motorsports.

"We're excited about Mustang coming to NASCAR," said Wolfe. "It's the most successful product nameplate in racing history, and it seems only right that it should be coming to the most popular form of racing in North America.

Having already gone through the official NASCAR submission and approval process for the new vehicle body, Ford Racing is putting the finishing touches on all the templates.  When those are done production of Mustang parts will begin so Nationwide teams can start building their first cars for testing in the fall.

Read more about the Mustang in NASCAR below in the press release:

Press Release:

MUSTANG extends racing presence - enters NASCAR FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2010 NATIONWIDE SERIES

· Mustang will be Ford's new race vehicle in the NASCAR Nationwide Series when it begins a limited rollout of its new car in 2010.
· Mustang's motorsports history includes many types of racing – drag, road, drifting – but this will be Mustang's first appearance in any NASCAR-sanctioned series.
· Mustang is Ford's most successful race car in its long history

DEARBORN, Mich., July 28, 2009 – Mustang is already the most successful single nameplate brand in professional racing history, but it hasn't competed in NASCAR – until now.

Brian Wolfe, director of Ford North America Motorsports, made the announcement today that Mustang will debut as part of NASCAR's "new car" limited rollout in the 2010 Nationwide Series.

"We're excited about Mustang coming to NASCAR," said Wolfe. "It's the most successful product nameplate in racing history, and it seems only right that it should be coming to the most popular form of racing in North America.

"We had been talking with NASCAR for some time about Mustang as part of its vision for a 'muscle car' rollout for the Nationwide Series. We both saw it as a way of differentiating the series from Sprint Cup," said Wolfe. "We loved the idea, so we jumped on the chance to extend Mustang's racing legacy to a new series reaching a huge and loyal audience. Mustang has dominated other forms of racing, including NHRA drag racing, Grand-Am Cup road racing, and Formula D drifting, and now it's coming to NASCAR Nationwide.

"I think race fans – and Mustang loyalists - will be very pleased when we publicly roll out the first car later this fall."

Ford Racing has gone through the official NASCAR submission and approval process for the new car, and, once templates are finalized, production of Mustang parts will start so teams can build the first cars for testing later this fall.

"We're excited about the new car in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, and particularly the new body styles such as the Ford Mustang," said NASCAR President Mike Helton. "It's going to be one good-looking race car."

The 2010 Ford Mustang will join the 2010 Fusion (Sprint Cup) and the 2009 Ford F-Series (Camping World Truck Series) as Ford's competitive entries in NASCAR's three major professional series.

"We're excited about being able to race Mustang in front of our loyal NASCAR fan base and know it's going to win races and championships just like it has in every other series it has competed," said Wolfe. "The Mustang created the pony car movement when it debuted in 1964. Now, the NASCAR Mustang has the opportunity to create a whole new look to stock car racing at its highest levels."