{"id":34936,"date":"2025-09-05T09:45:19","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T13:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=34936"},"modified":"2025-09-05T09:45:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T13:45:19","slug":"new-ford-racing-division-establishes-motorsports-as-key-brand-pillar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/new-ford-racing-division-establishes-motorsports-as-key-brand-pillar","title":{"rendered":"New Ford Racing division establishes motorsports as key brand pillar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since its inception, Ford Motor Co. has been fueled by racing. Henry Ford won the 1901 Sweepstakes race to secure investors for his fledgling company. Ford v Ferrari at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans became movie legend. And Mustang is one of the most recognized GT racers in the world.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s only fitting that, on the 125th<\/sup>\u00a0anniversary of Henry\u2019s Sweepstakes feat, the company is reorganizing its Ford Performance operation as Ford Racing.<\/p>\n

At a time when the Ford brand has organized the company around what it calls its icons \u2014 Bronco, Mustang, F-150 pickup \u2014 the new department is recognition that racing has made Ford an icon. Ford Racing will oversee the Dearborn automaker\u2019s portfolio of race cars across \u00a022 motorsports series that Ford competes in, including Formula One, NASCAR, IMSA Weathertech, GT3 racing, Mustang Challenge. While integrating learnings from these race cars into its production vehicles, attracting top-shelf engineers, and winning races, Ford Racing also intends to be a moneymaker for the Blue Oval.<\/p>\n

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Ford Racing logo. Ford, Ford<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

\u201cIt’s a unique moment for racing,\u201d said Ford Racing General Manager Will Ford who, along with Global Director Mark Rushbrook, will run the new division. \u201cWe\u2019re racing in more places than ever before, across every terrain imaginable, and maintaining an incredible lineup of performance products.\u201d<\/p>\n

In January, the new entity \u2014 a division under the Ford Blue internal combustion-engine unit \u2014 will kick off the 2026 racing season with logos and naming convention to signal a profit-driving enterprise enveloping racing programs, performance cars, customer experiences and merchandise. Will Ford likened the Blue Oval\u2019s racing identity to Porsche, another brand whose track success has helped elevate its product offerings.<\/p>\n

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The Ford Mustang GT3 at the Detroit Grand Prix. The Dearborn automaker is rebranding its performance division as Ford Racing. Wes Duenkel, Ford<\/em><\/p>\n
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\u201cMotorsport is really infused into everything (Porsche does) and everything they stand for as a brand. There are certainly other examples of great performance brands across our industry (like) Mercedes-AMG and what BMW has built,\u201d said Ford, the great-great grandson of Henry Ford and who has been an architect of the new division since\u00a0joining Ford Performance<\/a>\u00a0two years ago. \u201cBut we have a really unique message: our breadth of where we race and the products that those racing efforts influence our customers to buy. There’s no one else doing it across sports cars, pickup trucks and SUVs at such a global scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ford\u2019s partnership with Red Bull Racing in F1 and NASCAR teams like Team Penske and RFK Racing are the headliners of Ford motorsport, but the brand\u2019s off-road models have become a growing part of the mix in recent years.<\/p>\n

At the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June, CEO Jim Farley highlighted Ford\u2019s off-road potential even as he announced Ford\u2019s entry into Le Mans’ top prototype class for the first time since 1969.<\/p>\n

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At the 2025 Ford Performance Season Launch in Charlotte, N.C., Executive Chair Bill Ford (left) and Will Ford, general manager of Ford Performance (now Ford Racing), talk about the automaker’s racing plans. Behind them is the Ford Raptor T1+ Dakar Rally race car. Ford<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWe want to sell Raptors and Broncos and then race the King of the Hammers,\u201d said Farley referring to Ford\u2019s truck\/SUV lineup and the epic, off-road California event Ford has dominated. The Ford CEO said the goal is to \u201chave people exited about the technology of their off-road vehicles \u2014 the same vehicles that we race at Baja and at Dakar (Saudi off-road race).\u201d<\/p>\n

Will Ford underlined the company\u2019s commitment to off-road motorsports \u2014 competition that has grown in visibility as the buying public has increasingly turned to rugged, four-wheel-drive SUVs and pickups as daily drivers.<\/p>\n

\u201cOwning off-road is our mission,\u201d he said. \u201cThat’s not to say we’re going to take our foot off the gas on Mustang and on-track performance, but we’ve developed something really special with Raptor. You can’t extract Baja from Raptor\u2019s DNA. It’s perhaps the truest example of race to road.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ford Raptor T1 at Dakar Rally, Saudi Arabia. \u201cOwning off-road is our mission,\u201d Ford Racing General Manager Will Ford says. Robert Gray, Ford<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Ford\u2019s Raptor off-road badge now appears on everything from F-150s in the Baja 1000 in Mexico to the Bronco in Hammers all the way to the T1 prototype in the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

The new division\u2019s unveiling is intentionally timed with the 125th<\/sup>\u00a0anniversary of Henry\u2019s Sweepstakes victory as Ford embarks on a new century of motorsports. \u201cThis was the moment . . . (to create) an extension brand with a straightforward and visceral name to go along with it as we enter into this new phase,\u201d Will Ford said.<\/p>\n

Key to that new phase is profitability.<\/p>\n

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The Mustang Challenge is another prominent racing vehicle for Ford. Wes Duenkel, Ford<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Where past Ford racing efforts have been aimed at specific achievements (winning Le Mans from 1966-1969 or in building bullet-fast electric EV Demonstrator rockets like the SuperTruck that has set Pikes Peak and Bathurst records), Ford Racing aims to build sustainable progress across race series.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ve done a lot of lean-in \u2014 and lean-out \u2014 as a company. This is a full lean-in,\u201d said Will Ford. \u201cWe’re committed to these series. This new organization that we formed underneath the Ford Racing banner is going to make sure that all that racing we’re committed to is continually utilized to make our production vehicles better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company sees consistent success in motorsport aiding the deployment of productions models.<\/p>\n

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At the 2025 Ford Performance Season Launch in Charlotte, Red Bull Formula One boss Christian Horner (middle) talks with Ford CEO Jim Farley. Red Bull and Ford are teaming on the F1 drivetrain for the 2026 season. Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cRace-to-road and road-to-race is our primary mission,\u201d he said. \u201cThe name change is not the primary story here. It’s a reflection of the future that we’re headed down in the motorsport and performance world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Key to that business model is the Mustang sportscar, which fronts race series from NASCAR to international GT3 racing to the Mustang Challenge. The series offer solid revenue as Ford provides cars and engineering support to customer teams globally.<\/p>\n

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Ford Racing General Manager Will Ford: \u201cPassion needs to be infused into every product that we put on the road\u201d Bob Chapman, Ford<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As with Mustang, Bronco, and F-150 icons, Ford Racing aims to elevate the Blue Oval to more than a household appliance-maker.<\/p>\n

\u201cPassion needs to be infused into every product that we put on the road, and passion doesn’t doesn’t come to life any more strongly than here in Ford Racing,\u201d said Will Ford. \u201cThe thrill is a huge part of our brand DNA. With this rebrand, Ford Racing plays a more prominent role in the master brand, more than any variation of our name has in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n