Ford Performance’s driver development program in NASCAR has been weak compared to Toyota and Chevrolet, not in terms of talent, but volume, in recent years. Austin Cindric is the most recent Blue Oval product to be promoted to NASCAR’s premier level, and he’ll likely be the last for quite some time as far as top-level organizations are concerned.
This season, Team Penske announced it would not field a full-time car in the Xfinity Series due to sponsorship issues, but Ford also doesn’t have many prospects waiting in the wings.
Of the more prominent teams fielding Fords in the NASCAR Cup Series, Team Penske, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, and Stewart-Haas Racing have produced a bulk of the young talent competing for the Blue Ovals at the sport’s top-level. Roush hasn’t fielded a full-time car in Xfinity since 2018. Penske is sitting out this season, which leaves SHR as the only competitive organization with a full-time driver across the developmental series.
Sure, there are teams like RSS Racing and B.J. McLeod Motorsports fielding Mustangs in the Xfinity Series. However, their equipment isn’t on the same level as the three aforementioned organizations.
Looking at Team Chevy and Toyota Racing Development, they’ve got a mass influx of talent and resources in the Xfinity Series alone with teams like JR Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, and Richard Childress Racing. That’s without even taking into account stables like Kyle Busch Motorsports and GMS Racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
Many tend to gloss over a particularly glaring stat that Ford has only won one Cup Series Championship in the last 17 seasons. That’s pretty shocking considering talents like Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Chris Buescher, who’ve come up through Ford Performance’s development program and won titles in Xfinity.
That’s not a knock on Ford Performance, but rather a testament to the efforts of Team Chevy and TRD. Although, the Blue Oval’s future in Cup may not be as bleak as the diminishing developmental program may let on.
To put it in stick-and-ball terms, Ford seems to be emulating a win-now approach. With drivers like Chase Briscoe, Cole Custer, and Cindric being promoted to Cup within three years, a lot is riding on the present.
Both Briscoe and Cindric accounted for the most wins in the Xfinity Series over the last two seasons, with the latter picking up a championship in 2020. In his debut Cup season, Custer earned a victory, playoff appearance, and Sunoco Rookie of the Year award.
Looking beyond the up-and-comers, Roush transitioned to RFK Racing in the offseason after 2012 Cup champion Brad Keselowski, signed on as a driver and part-owner to revitalize a once-dominant program. His former teammate, Ryan Blaney, also completed a career-best season in the NCS last season for Penske.
It’s possible teams across NASCAR’s premier level have caught on to Ford Performance’s driver development woes, as three sought reinforcements during the offseason.
Wood Brothers Racing snatched 21-year-old Harrison Burton from Joe Gibbs Racing to pilot the famous No. 21 Ford, while Stewart-Haas Racing tapped Ryan Preece as a reserve driver for the organization.
The significance of the Preece signing is pretty huge for the team and driver. The 31-year-old will compete in a minimum of 12 races across all three national series for SHR affiliates, with the opportunity for more as a backup driver. He will also serve as a simulator driver for Ford and the organization, further developing the program, team, and himself.
Finally, there’s Todd Gilliland, who will be driving the No. 38 for Front Row Motorsports. This move could point to the answer to where Ford Performance’s driver development is focused – the Truck Series.
The promotion for Gilliland came as a shock to most going from the Truck Series to Cup, but it makes sense with the lack of Ford’s presence in Xfinity. The 21-year-old has been trending in the right direction for years, and he just completed the best season of his career in 2021.
The same can be said for the organization as a whole; Michael McDowell won the Daytona 500 and became the second FRM driver to appear in the playoffs. Wins aside, the organization’s performance has improved drastically over the past two years. They’ve made strides in being more competitive, as evident from McDowell and Gilliland’s completed seasons.
After Gilliland got promoted to Cup, Front Row may have made the most impactful offseason signing by stealing Zane Smith from GMS Racing. The 22-year-old is riding back-to-back Championship 4 appearances in the Truck Series and has been touted as a worthwhile talent.
Although Xfinity is often seen as the next step before Cup, could it be that Ford Performance is allocating all resources to the Truck Series? If this is the case, Front Row Motorsports and David Gilliland Racing – both affiliates of Stewart-Haas Racing – could be leading the charge in Ford’s driver development program.
With Gilliland, Smith, Hailie Deegan, Taylor Gray, and Tanner Gray on the rise, there are names to look forward to in the Ford camp. While their driver development program may be virtually nonexistent in Xfinity, drivers and teams have a lot of promise in the Truck Series.
As for Cup, the future is now, and it will be interesting to see if Ford can give competing manufacturers something to fear with youth and experience running rampant at the top-level.
