Ford Motorsports came tantalizingly close to winning its first NASCAR Cup Series race of the season last weekend at Talladega, but neither Michael McDowell nor Brad Keselowski could make it happen at the end.
The two blue oval drivers will look to break the drought Sunday afternoon when they compete in the Wurth 400 at Dover Motor Speedway in Dover, Del., the 11th race on the 2024 schedule.
And what a 2024 it’s been so far for Ford Motorsports, huh?
While the most casual glance at the win column reveals a bad start for the teams — 0-for-10 — taking the whole season into consideration is even worse.
Ford failed to win in the season-opening exhibition race in California — The Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum — at the legendary Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as Denny Hamlin walked away with a win.
At Daytona during Speedweeks, the blue-clad teams fared no better: Toyota’s Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell won the Duels, the Daytona 500’s qualifying races.
So really 0-for-13.
As for the point standings, only one Ford — the No. 12 driven by reigning series champion Ryan Blaney at No. 7 — graces the top 11, and four of its drivers have combined to record just five stage wins thus far.
That’s a whole lot of time being any place other than at the front of the field.
When they were running 1-2 Saturday on the 188th lap at Talladega, one had to figure McDowell, a Daytona 500 winner, or Keselowski, a six-time Talladega winner, would manage to make it to Victory Lane with his Dark Horse Mustang in good shape.
However, neither could be blamed for what ensued: A chaotic melee that ended with Reddick roaring through the mess, stealing the checkers for his first victory at Talladega and crowding the trophy case for 23XI team owner/NBA icon Michael Jordan even more.
But neither Ford driver was finger-pointing afterward, even though a win would have likely put the winner into the playoffs and given either McDowell his third career Cup win or snapped Keselowski’s 107-race winless streak.
“Nobody did anything wrong there, not Michael, not Brad, not anyone,” said FOX analyst Larry McReynolds. “What (Ford) has to hang their hat on is they had a fast Ford Mustang. The superspeedways, the road courses — and we’ve got a lot more of those coming up — that’s obviously their best opportunity to go to Victory Lane and maybe punch their ticket to the playoffs.”
On the high banks of the one-mile Dover Motor Speedway, the last two victories for Ford were in cars driven by current booth analyst Kevin Harvick (2018, 2020). Since the 2009 season, the manufacturer has won just three times in 27 races.
Keselowski does have a win there — a 2012 triumph — but it was while he was driving for Dodge Motorsports during his title-winning season.
Nicknamed “The Monster Mile,” DMS might be too monstrous of a chunk of concrete for Ford to bust through.
–Field Level Media
