Slow start no match for Ford's resolve, resilience as NASCAR playoffs begin

In early May, things couldn’t be worse for Ford’s NASCAR Cup Series program. 

A heartbreaking loss by Chris Buescher in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas left the manufacturer winless over the first three months of Cup Series competition. 

While a few Ford drivers were on track to point their way into the playoffs, victory lane seemed further away than ever on that May evening in Kansas, when it had been within inches. 

One week later, however, the narrative changed. At the expense of Buescher and Tyler Reddick, 2012 champion Brad Keselowski broke a 110-race winless streak at Darlington, earning Ford its first Cup Series win since Ryan Blaney’s win at Martinsville in October of 2023. 

From there, the company has been on the upswing. A dominant win from Joey Logano at the All-Star Race followed, as did a win from Team Penske driver Austin Cindric on June 2. 

Blaney would win at Iowa (June 16) and Pocono, (July 14) with Logano completing the Penske triad with a season-saving victory at Nashville on June 30. 

As the summer came to a close, Ford had four drivers locked into the playoffs — a far cry from the down year it was experiencing in May. 

Then came Daytona and Darlington, where Ford drivers Harrison Burton and Chase Briscoe — driving for the Wood Brothers and Stewart-Haas Racing, respectively — destroyed the playoff picture, earning postseason bids with walk-off wins at two of the most historic tracks on the circuit. 

Their wins meant that Buescher, who won three races a season ago, would be knocked out of the playoffs, but also that six cars bearing the blue oval on the hood would compete for the Cup Series championship. 

Ford has won the last two Cup Series crowns with Logano and Blaney, and did so after both drivers had unremarkable regular-season showings. With six of their drivers vying for the crown, don’t be shocked if Burton, Briscoe, Logano, Cindric, Keselowski or Blaney are holding the championship trophy in Phoenix. 

Whether intentional or not, Ford has inadvertently adjusted to modern-day NASCAR magnificently, adopting a strategy of lying in the weeds until it’s the proper time to strike. 

It’s rather appropriate that the manufacturer that’s perhaps most ingrained with American culture has made a habit of not striking until they see the whites of their opponents’ eyes.