Why Ford Isn’t Interested In Developing Drivers
Sigma recently bought out AM Racing, making them the only Ford Xfinity team, but why is that the case? For a manufacturer with such a long and rich history in all of NASCAR’s series. After all, you look at Chevy and Toyota; they’re in an arms race over developing drivers. So why is the blue oval no longer interested in developing drivers?!
They stand in such stark contrast with the rest of NASCAR Manus that it’s baffling. Never in history has such a prominent car brand had so little presence in one series. Even RAM, which is entering trucks this season, will have more entries than Ford in O’Reilly in 2026. Now we’ve got to acknowledge that it’s not like Ford is developing no drivers.
In the truck series, they have a few. Both Front Row trucks are driven by young up-and-comers Chandler Smith and Layne Riggs. In contrast, Thorsport has Jake Garcia in its 13. But Ford is letting go of Haas to Chevy. Thus, letting go of Creed and Mayer, along with it, shows their apathy towards developing younger talent. But they do have their reasons.
RFK and Penske Are Full Of Veterans
Ford’s top teams in the NASCAR Cup Series, RFK and Penske, are in the perfect position not to bother developing any talent for themselves. RFK is led by Chris Buescher, who is 33 years old with six career Cup Series wins. Which, in racing, means he has about 6 to 10 years left before starting to fall off.
And Penske was smart to develop Ryan Blaney in the early 2010s, when no other big teams were bothering to develop talent. Now the 2023 Cup Series champion is 31 and has a long career ahead of him.
Of course, Penske has Joey Logano, too. The three-time “champion” is only 35, and they’re their two best drivers, both of whom are in their prime. Plus a young Austin Cindric, who’s 27, an Xfinity Series champion, and a former Daytona 500 winner.RFK also has a 35-year-old Ryan Preece, who has proven he’s an elite driver with his 14 top tens last year.
The only older driver Ford has in their top Cup teams is Brad Keselowski, who’s over 40. But they could replace him with a Layne Riggs or Jake Garcia later down the line. And that’s not the only way Ford could even replace their older drivers or get new ones if RFK or Penske ever want to expand to a fourth car.
Nothing Wrong With Getting Those Leftovers Out Of The Fridge
Like I said before, Chevy and Toyota are full of younger talent; they’re still developing. Taking advantage of how it’s easier than ever to develop drivers. With the pipeline more streamlined than ever, bushwhacking is not very prevalent.
But there’s a problem with that: Chevy and Toyota only have so many cars to fill. Especially ones that can have race-winning speed on a week-by-week basis. They’re obviously prioritizing other younger drivers over others as well.
Toyota is investing a lot in Corey Heim and Brent Crews, and Chevy’s favorites are Connor Zilisch and Carson Hocevar. This makes it more likely that Ford will look into still-talented but less-valued younger talents. Like Jesse Love or Carson Kvapil, who are with Chevy, or Taylor Gray and Kaden Honeycutt, who are with Toyota for now.
Final Thoughts
Something made even easier by the fact that Chevy and Toyota do have drivers in their primes on top teams. Like Toyota having Bell or Chevy having Chastain and Elliott, and defending champion Kyle Larson! Thanks a bunch for reading!
