Ford Performance NASCAR Cup Series teams will have a new body style in 2024 and it’s based off the seventh-generation Mustang Dark Horse production line.
The new body style will make its debut at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in February for the Busch Clash. The teams expected to use the body will be Team Penske, Stewart Haas Racing, RFK Racing, Wood Brothers Racing, Front Row Motorsports and Rick Ware Racing.
“What a crazy year it has been revealing our new global Mustangs for racing,” said Mark Rushbrook, Global Director of Ford Performance Motorsports in a press release. “The positive response from our fans around the world has been amazing, and we’re confident that this Mustang Dark Horse Cup car will be no different, and that NASCAR fans will be excited to cheer us on next year.
“Our Ford Performance staff, together with our NASCAR race teams, have worked tirelessly in the wind tunnel developing this car, and I can’t wait to finally see it race on the track next season.”
The official unveiling will come on Friday afternoon at Phoenix Raceway before NASCAR championship weekend at the Arizona short track.
A Ford driver won the Cup Series championship last year, the first season under the NextGen racing platform, but it was a season in which teams that race the blue oval struggled to find speed with the body.
Their body style was slightly modified this year but it did not produce the immediate manufacturer gains Ford had hoped for. With that said, RFK drivers Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher found tremendous speed by the end of the season and Penske’s Ryan Blaney is going to race for the championship on Sunday.
With the Dark Horse, teams will start over again.
“We’re excited to debut this new Mustang Dark Horse next year. I’m really pumped because Ford did an amazing job with it,” said Blaney in the press release. “I can’t wait for this to debut and drive it next year at the Coliseum and, hopefully, I can be the one to get the first win. That would be a cool accomplishment.”
Keselowski is excited.
“If she gallops as fast as she looks, it’s going to be a good year,” he said. “Mustang is an iconic American car made famous around the world. I think of how Mustang has evolved over the years and how NASCAR has evolved along with it and they’re just two brands that go together. I’m proud to get to drive it and proud to be able to compete for the win in this car.”
Mustang has competed in NASCAR since the 2011 Xfinity Series season and immediately won back-to-back championships with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The brand has won a drivers or owners championship in nine of 12 seasons with manufacturers championships in 2011 and 2013.
It reached the Cup Series in 2019 and won a manufacturer’s championship with 18 wins. Mustang has since won the Daytona 500, Southern 500 and Brickyard 400.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.