Mustang fans will be happy to know that the legendary muscle pony will officially be entering NASCAR for the first time in the 2010 Nationwide Series. "We're excited about Mustang coming to NASCAR," said Brian Wolfe, director of Ford North America Motorsports, "It's the most successful product nameplate in racing history, and it seems only right that it should be coming to the most popular form of racing in North America.

"We had been talking with NASCAR for some time about Mustang as part of its vision for a ‘muscle car' rollout for the Nationwide Series. We both saw it as a way of differentiating the series from Sprint Cup," said Wolfe. "We loved the idea, so we jumped on the chance to extend Mustang's racing legacy to a new series reaching a huge and loyal audience. Mustang has dominated other forms of racing, including NHRA drag racing, Grand-Am Cup road racing, and Formula D drifting, and now it's coming to NASCAR Nationwide.” (1)

Ford Racing has already gone through the official NASCAR submission and approval process for the new racing Stang - Parts production will begin later this fall after templates are finalized (the picture above is the official rendering). 

"We're excited about the new car in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, and particularly the new body styles such as the Ford Mustang," said NASCAR President Mike Helton. "It's going to be one good-looking race car." (1)

For the full press release, see: http://jalopnik.com/5324888/ford-mustang-officially-coming-to-nascar?skyline=true&s=i

In other Blue Oval News, Ford recently announced that their Ecoboost technology, already known for milking V8 performance from V6 engines will soon be implemented in new 4-cylinder engines which will capable of producing V6 power without sacrificing four-banger fuel economy. 

The 2.0-liter 4-cylinder Ecoboost is expected to produce at LEAST 230-horsepower and at LEAST 240 pound-feet of torque. Ford has hinted that the engine’s first appearance may not be in one of their cars. Edmunds Straightline believes that since the engine will most likely replace Ford’s 3.0 liter V-6, the next Escape could see the Ecoboost on its option list. (2)

Other applications could include the Focus, Fiesta and Fusion as Ford has said that it will eventually offer Ecoboost engines throughout its entire lineup. 

Sources:

(1) http://jalopnik.com/5324888/ford-mustang-officially-coming-to-nascar?skyline=true&s=i
(2) http://blogs.edmunds.com/straightline/2009/07/ford-officially-confirms-4-cyl-ecoboost-engine.html

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