*Photos courtesy of NASCAR media

DEARBORN, MI – April 14, 2020 – If you ask Ryan Blaney what his favorite weekend is during the NASCAR season, there’s a good chance he’ll say Darlington.  Why? Because that’s become the traditional time when the sport looks back to its roots and celebrates a specific era in history.

It’s called “Throwback Weekend” and nobody in the Cup garage is more throwback than the 26-year-old Blaney.

While driving for the Wood Brothers in 2017, the team celebrated at Darlington by going back to it’s all white shirt and pants with traditional red lettering.  Likewise, Blaney’s uniform, with a splash of blue on the right breast and red and blue striping down the left side, reflected the same look that David Pearson wore with the organization in the 1970’s.  Blaney liked the look so much that he continued wearing the uniform for Motorcraft-sponsored races throughout the rest of that season.

And that throwback mentality doesn’t just go for uniforms, as Blaney has taken to the internet to find vintage hats, t-shirts and, yes, even vehicles.

“The vehicles are a little bit tougher to find because you have to find the right one and it’s more money than buying a t-shirt,” said Blaney, whose current daily driver is an F-250.  “You’ve got to do a lot of research on them and make sure you test drive them. I’ll never buy anything that I can’t go drive myself. If it’s in California and I can’t go drive it, I don’t really want to pull the trigger because the last thing you want is to buy something and then when it gets to your house there’s all this stuff wrong with it.”

Blaney’s latest prize is a 1988 red and white striped F-150 with a four-speed manual transmission he found in the Charlotte area.  The seller had put on only 25,000 miles and taken good care of it before putting it up for sale online.

“I just got lucky that this one was right in Concord and I was just browsing around.  I wasn’t browsing around to buy anything, I just like to look around to see what’s out there and this caught my eye,” said Blaney.  “I’ve always enjoyed those mid to late-eighties Ford trucks. I love their simplicity and it just speaks to what I enjoyed as a kid and as I get older I appreciate those cars even more.”

One of the vehicles Blaney has grown particularly fond of is the Bronco, which is scheduled to be re-introduced to dealer showrooms later this year.

“I’m pumped,” said Blaney of the impending debut.  “I’ve been on everyone at Ford telling them, ‘Make sure I’m on the list, and my dad wants one too.’  I don’t know why the Bronco has always stood out to me. It’s just a unique truck, and I love they’re coming back with it. I’ve been counting down the days and months to when it comes out, and I think they’re gonna be great.”

That, however, won’t be the only Bronco in his personal stable because two years ago he found a 1985 model in Abingdon, VA, where the original owner had it for 33 years.  Blaney said he hoped to “keep it for another 33.”

“I appreciate the ones that have the original engine, original transmission.  If you’ve got to replace that stuff, you’ve got to replace that stuff. Everything has a life span, but you try to take the best care of it that you can,” said Blaney about what he looks for in a throwback vehicle.  “You want to buy it from someone who has taken great care of it. I really appreciate somebody who does that because I try to do the best I can taking care of mine, especially when it comes to something that has that much history and has been around for so long.

“Some guys like buying old cars and putting a big engine in there and things like that, but it’s just not really me.  I don’t really have a need for speed on the road,” continued Blaney. “I don’t really want a big monster motor and have a vintage car.  I’d just rather have them bone stock. You’ll have your troubles and issues that you have to fix from time to time, but that’s with anything.”

Earlier this year, his Ryan Blaney Family Foundation spearheaded a project in which a custom-built 1974 ‘Blaney Bronco’ was auctioned off at Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale, AZ, for a Bronco-record $650,000.  All proceeds went to the Alzheimer’s Association.

So, while he anxiously looks toward the future, it’s always with at least one eye on the past.

“I can’t wait to park my brand new one next to my ’85,” Blaney said.  “That’s gonna be pretty cool.”

*Courtesy Ford Performance

Mooresville, NC – September 18, 2020 – The Round of 16 comes to a conclusion on Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway and five Ford drivers are on the bubble.  Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer, Cole Custer, Ryan Blaney and Matt DiBenedetto are all fighting to advance.

Here’s a glance at what some of the drivers are feeling as the pressure mounts in this Ford Performance NASCAR playoff video.

Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski have already clinched spots in the Round of 12 after winning the first two playoff races at Darlington and Richmond, respectively, while Joey Logano has a 51-point cushion for the final transfer position.

FORD DRIVERS IN THE ROUND OF 16 STANDINGS

1. Kevin Harvick        (Clinched: Darlington win)
2. Brad Keselowski    (Clinched: Richmond win)
3. Joey Logano                                        +51
4. Aric Almirola                                        +7
5. Clint Bowyer                                         +3
6. Cole Custer                                             -8
7. Matt DiBenedetto                            -25
8. Ryan Blaney                                        -27

It’s time – Let’s do this!

* Courtesy of Ford Performance

FONTANA, CA- March 3, 2020 –  Ryan Blaney was in contention for the third straight week, leading 54 laps — second only to eventual race winner Alex Bowman — and winning the second stage. But Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford was forced to pit road with a tire issue with three laps left in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway.

Blaney finished 19th, one lap off the pace.

Clint Bowyer started from the pole position and led the opening 11 laps, but a flat tire on his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford forced a caution flag on Lap 92. He finished 23rd.

In all, Ford finished with three Mustangs inside the top-10, paced by Brad Keselowski who used a late charge to take home a fifth place finish. He was joined by Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Aric Almirola (8th) and Kevin Harvick (9th).

Ross Chastain finished 17th in his second race filling in for the injured Ryan Newman in the Roush Fenway Racing No. 6 Ford.

MENCS RACE TOP-10 FINISHERS
1st – Alex Bowman
2nd – Kyle Busch
3rd – Kurt Busch
4th – Chase Elliott
5th – Brad Keselowski
6th – Denny Hamlin
7th – Jimmie Johnson
8th – Aric Almirola
9th – Kevin Harvick
10th – Erik Jones

REMAINING FORD FINISHERS
12th – Joey Logano
13th – Matt DiBenedetto
16th – Chris Buescher
17th – Ross Chastain
18th – Cole Custer
19th – Ryan Blaney
22nd – Michael McDowell
23rd – Clint Bowyer
25th – John Hunter Nemechek
29th – Corey LaJoie

Brad Keselowski, No. 2 America’s Tire Ford Mustang – FINISHED 5^th
“We had a good run today with the Discount Tire Ford. We ran fifth, which isn’t bad. There were some highlights. We were able to drive through the field there a couple times. The car had a lot of long run speed. We never had the speed the 88 had through the whole weekend but we fought really hard and scored a lot of points today to dig us out of a hole we had from early on in the season. There were a lot of positives.”

“I think we executed really well today. I probably could have done a little better on one of the early restarts, but other than that the team did really good.”

Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang – FINISHED 8^th
“I have to clean up some things and we have to clean up some things as a team. I thought we had a top-five car and we just kept giving away all of our track position. We have to do better, but we are building and we got a top-10 and we will take that and move on. I think we have a lot of potential. I think Bugga and all the guys did a great job with the car and I felt like we had a top-10 car going into today and we proved that. We ran in the top-10 most of the day but I feel like with track position and a few other things going a little better, a little smoother, we could have had a lot better result. Overall, it was still a decent day and we will take the points and move on.”

Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang – FINISHED 9^th
“We just didn’t have a very good weekend. This place wasn’t very good for us last year either. I am just having a hard time getting the car to be balanced all the way through the corner. I think as you look at it, we didn’t have a ninth-place car either, we just had a great day on pit road. Those guys did a phenomenal job on pit road and that kept us in the game.”

Ryan Blaney, No. 12 BodyArmor Ford Mustang – FINISHED 19^th
YOU LED 54 LAPS AND HAD TO PIT LATE WHILE RUNNING SECOND, CAN YOU TAKE ANYTHING POSITIVE AWAY FROM TODAY?
“Yeah, we led a little bit and ran pretty good, we just corded a right rear at the end. We lost the lead there at the beginning of the third stage and kind of got swallowed up and the 88 got away and got gone. We needed to be in front of him. It is just the way it goes sometimes.”

*Courtesy of Ford Performance

DEARBORN, MI – April 15, 2020 – NASCAR announced the 15 finalists for consideration as part of the 2021 Hall of Fame Induction Class on Tuesday.  Five of those men have Ford Motor Company ties, four of whom appear on the Modern-Era ballot and one on the Pioneer Ballot.

Those on the 10-member Modern Era ballot include Ricky Rudd, the sport’s Iron Man, who had 23 wins in more than 900 starts, including stints with Bud Moore, the Wood Brothers and as an owner/driver, and Neil Bonnett, who won nine times with Ford and the Wood Brothers during a four-year run from 1979-82.  First time nominees are former Roush Fenway drivers Jeff Burton and Carl Edwards.  Burton won 17 times in the Cup Series with Roush from 1996-2004 and added 16 more victories in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.  Edwards won the 2007 NASCAR XFINITY Series championship with Roush and Ford while combining to win 61 races in NASCAR’s top two series from 2004-2014.

The Pioneer Ballot is led by Ralph Moody, former co-owner of the Holman-Moody Ford factory team of the 1960’s that put the manufacturer on the NASCAR map.

Two members from the Modern-Era ballot and one from the Pioneer Ballot will be selected later this year as the NASCAR Hall of Fame goes from five annual inductees to three.

JEFF BURTON

Jeff Burton became the first teammate of NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin when he joined owner Jack Roush in 1996 to form a two-car operation.  Burton won his first career Cup Series race in the inaugural event at Texas Motor Speedway in 1997 and went on to post 17 of his 21 career victories with the organization.

Burton, won the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in 1999 and the Coca-Cola 600 in 2001, and had four consecutive seasons where he finished fifth or better in the final point standings.  He also holds the distinction of being the last driver to lead every lap in a Cup Series event when he led wire-to-wire at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2000.

NEIL BONNETT

Neil Bonnett won 18 times during a 20-year career with nine of those coming in Ford Motor Company products.  Each of those wins came during a four-year span driving for the Wood Brothers from 1979-82.  He won five times driving a Mercury in 1979 and 1980 before winning four more events behind the wheel of a Ford in 1981 and 1982.  During that time he won two of the sport’s biggest races, capturing the 1981 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway and the 1982 World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Bonnett won on every type of track NASCAR offered during his career, capturing one win each at the superspeedways of Daytona and Talladega while dominating tracks like Rockingham and Atlanta, where he won three times apiece.

CARL EDWARDS

Carl Edwards drove for Ford and Roush Fenway Racing from 2004-14 and ran full-time in the NASCAR Cup and XFINITY Series for seven of those seasons.  He sits third in the all-time Ford record book for most wins in NASCAR’s top three series combined with 67 (23 NCS, 38 NXS, 6 NGOTS), trailing only NASCAR Hall of Famers Mark Martin (89) and David Pearson (73).

Edwards won the 2007 NASCAR XFINITY Series championship and finished second in the 2011 Cup standings by virtue of a tiebreaker.  He became the first driver in history to register his first wins in the NASCAR Cup and XFINITY Series on the same weekend when he won both events at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in March 2005.  And he instantly became a fan favorite with his patented back flip, which he displayed after registering Mustang’s first NXS win in April 2011.

RICKY RUDD

There may be drivers who have won more races, but when it comes to pure toughness it’s hard to put anyone above Ricky Rudd.  Whether it was putting tape over his eyelids after a harrowing crash at Daytona or surviving burns to his backside during a sweltering day at Martinsville, Rudd continually showed what made him a NASCAR staple from 1975-2007.

He set the sport’s all-time record for consecutive starts at 788 – starting every race from 1981-2005 – until Jeff Gordon broke it in 2015, and ranks second on NASCAR’s list for career starts with 906.  Rudd registered 23 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victories and went to victory lane 15 times with Ford.  His biggest win undoubtedly came in the 1997 Brickyard 400 during a stretch where he filled the dual roles as owner and driver.  His success and consistency are also remembered by the fact he had a streak of at least one series triumph for 16 consecutive seasons (1983-98).

RALPH MOODY

As one half of the famed Holman-Moody Ford factory-backed team of the 1960’s, Ralph Moody helped produce some of the most recognized names in the sport.  It’s the place where NASCAR Hall of Famers Robert Yates and Waddell Wilson honed their engine-building skills and where legendary drivers like Bobby Allison, Mario Andretti, Jim Clark, A.J. Foyt, Dan Gurney, Junior Johnson, Parnelli Jones, Fred Lorenzen, Benny Parsons, David Pearson, Fireball Roberts, Curtis Turner, Bobby Unser, Joe Weatherly, and Cale Yarborough took turns behind the wheel.

Moody was responsible for providing the engines that powered the fast Ford of Pearson to consecutive championships in 1968 and 1969 in what is now known as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.  Overall, the organization won 96 races and in 525 all-time starts finished in the top 5 a total of 284 times (54 percent).

*Courtesy of Ford Performance

LONG POND, PA – June 25, 2020 – A doubleheader is on tap for the NASCAR Cup Series this weekend at Pocono Raceway with a 325-mile race scheduled for Saturday and a 350-mile event on Sunday.  In addition, the NASCAR RV & Gander Outdoors Truck Series (Saturday) and NASCAR XFINITY Series (Sunday) will also be in action.  Here’s a look at some of  the highlights heading into Pocono.

FORD IN THE NASCAR CUP SERIES AT POCONO

• Ford has 23 all-time series wins at Pocono.
• The last two Ford wins at Pocono have been by first-time series winners – Chris Buescher (2016) and Ryan Blaney (2017).
• Bill Elliott got Ford’s first series win at Pocono in 1985 (season sweep).

FORD IN THE NASCAR XFINITY SERIES AT POCONO

• Ford is the first manufacturer with multiple Pocono wins in the series.
• Ford has 2 victories in 4 all-time series starts.
• Those victories have been by Brad Keselowski (2017) and Cole Custer (2019).

FORD IN THE GANDER OUTDOORS TRUCK SERIES AT POCONO

• Ford has 1 series win at Pocono (Ryan Blaney, 2013).
• Ben Rhodes has one series pole (2017).
• This will mark the 11^th series race at the track.

SEVEN AND COUNTING…
Ryan Blaney’s Cup victory yesterday at Talladega Superspeedway continued Ford’s dominance at the track and increased its win total to a manufacturer-best seven this season.  Ford, which has won 9 of the last 10 NCS races at Talladega, has now seen all three Team Penske drivers win at least once as the series heads to Pocono Raceway.  Ford also holds down the top three spots in the point standings as Kevin Harvick holds a 23-point lead over second-place Joey Logano and 25 points over Blaney in third.  Ford also extended its lead in the manufacturer standings to 32 points after 13 races this season.

BLANEY GETS FIRST CUP VICTORY
Ryan Blaney earned his first NASCAR Cup Series two years ago at Pocono Raceway, giving the Wood Brothers their 99^th all-time series win.  Blaney held off Kevin Harvick over the final seven laps to win the Pocono 400 after overcoming a loose wheel only 19 laps into the event.  He found himself in position to win after the caution came out with 19 laps to go.  Kyle Busch opted to stay out while all of the other contenders behind him pitted, including Blaney who got four fresh tires and restarted fourth.  A major battle between Busch and Blaney resulted, but the newer tires proved to be too much as Blaney eventually got by with nine laps to go.  He couldn’t breathe easily, however, as Harvick started to reel him in, but could never pull alongside to challenge.

ELLIOTT SWEEPS IN 1985
Ford reached victory lane at Pocono Raceway in the NASCAR Cup Series for the first time on June 9, 1985 when Bill Elliott beat Harry Gant to win the Van Scoy Diamond Mine 500.  Elliott was able to pass Gant with 11 laps remaining, shortly after a restart, to claim Ford’s first win at the facility.  Elliott, who also started on the pole, was helped by four cautions over the final 25 laps and won for the sixth time as he led 32 of the 200 circuits.  It marked the front end of what would eventually be a season sweep for Elliott at Pocono as he won a few weeks later on July 21.

KULWICKI’S FINAL WIN
Nobody knew it at the time, but when Alan Kulwicki won the Champion Spark Plug 500 on June 14, 1992 it marked the final victory of his career.  Kulwicki, who was voted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame last week, passed Bill Elliott with 11 laps remaining to cap a day that saw 15 cars drop out before the checkered flag flew, including 11 engine failures.  In a precursor to what happened a few months later at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kulwicki and Elliott battled down the stretch as they exchanged the lead multiple times over the final 25 laps.  Kulwicki passed Elliott for the top spot on lap 181, but traffic slowed him down to the point that five laps later the two swapped positions.  Mark Martin made it a three-way battle, but Kulwicki ultimately prevailed as he got by both drivers on lap 190 and never looked back.  Kulwicki, who won five series races overall, went on to win the championship later that year over fellow Ford drivers Elliott and Davey Allison.

WALLACE HOT STREAK
Rusty Wallace was in his first season with Ford after car owner Roger Penske decided to switch from Pontiac for the 1994 NASCAR Cup Series season.  That decision paid immediate dividends as Wallace went on to win eight times that year, including the UAW-GM Teamwork 500 at Pocono on June 12.  The victory, his second straight in a streak that eventually grew to three with another triumph at Michigan a few days later, was a dramatic one as he passed Dale Earnhardt on the final lap.   The two waged a major battle as Earnhardt grabbed the lead with five laps to go, only to see Wallace fight back after the white flag flew to win by 0.28 seconds.

BIFFLE SNAPS DROUGHT
When Greg Biffle won the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono on Aug. 1, 2010 it snapped a 65-race winless drought and gave Ford its first win of the season.  Biffle found himself next to Sam Hornish Jr. on the front row of a restart with 20 laps to go and after he was able to gain the lead through the tunnel turn, he never looked back and ended up beating Tony Stewart to the finish line by more than three seconds.  The win was the first of two for Biffle that season as he also took the checkered flag at Kansas two months later.

FORD NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS AT POCONO
1985 – Bill Elliott (Sweep)
1988 – Bill Elliott (2)
1989 – Terry Labonte and Bill Elliott
1990 – Geoffrey Bodine (2)
1992 – Alan Kulwicki (1)
1994 – Rusty Wallace and Geoffrey Bodine
1995 – Dale Jarrett (2)
1996 – Rusty Wallace (2)
1997 – Dale Jarrett (2)
1998 – Jeremy Mayfield (1)
2000 – Jeremy Mayfield and Rusty Wallace
2001 – Ricky Rudd (1)
2002 – Dale Jarrett (1)
2005 – Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch
2008 – Carl Edwards (2)
2010 – Greg Biffle (2)
2016 – Chris Buescher (2)
2017 – Ryan Blaney (1)

FORD NASCAR XFINITY SERIES WINNERS AT POCONO
2017 – Brad Keselowski
2019 – Cole Custer

FORD GANDER RV & OUTDOORS TRUCK SERIES WINNERS AT POCONO
2013 – Ryan Blaney

*Courtesy Ford Performance