Either a Chevrolet or a Toyota has won each of the first 9 races in the ongoing Cup Series season. Ford, which kicked off its campaign amid huge hype around the 2024 Dark Horse Mustang, has struggled to keep up with the expectations. With the blue oval not being given so much as a glimpse at victory lane yet, is the upcoming Talladega race a must-win for it to be taken seriously?
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Two Ford drivers, Michael McDowell and Chris Buescher, gave their outlooks on the pressure in their pre-race interviews at Dega. McDowell, pilot of the #34 Front Row Motorsports Mustang, said that every race was a must-win for him and he wouldn’t panic if a Ford failed to take the victory flag on Sunday. His words went, “Yes, it is a must-win. But if it doesn’t happen tomorrow I’m not panic-ed.”
McDowell was one of the playoff contenders in 2023. He has 2 top ten finishes this year and will hope to grab another one on the 2.66-mile superspeedway, if not a win. RFK Racing’s man-in-arms, Chris Buescher, had a similar take as McDowell to the idea of Sunday being a must-win situation. He provided his verdict that the readings won’t yet go red if a Ford fails to win – at least in his own camp.
He chose to speak with the spotlight on RFK Racing instead of the entire Ford line-up and noted that they were having decent results despite not having a win yet. Buescher continued to explain that most of his team’s finishes were inside the top ten and that they just had to finish 3 positions better to be where they wanted to be getting into the season.
He acknowledged, “Most of our days that have been top 10, that puts you fighting for fighting for a top five. And that takes our best days right now and puts us fighting for a win. That’s a very small step to take. Probably, the hardest step to take but that’s certainly in the ballpark.” Driving the #17 Dark Horse, he has 5 top tens in the first 9 races.
Ford drivers among the top favorites to win at Talladega
According to numbers from the SportsLine consensus, Ford names are the top betting favorites to emerge as the winner on Sunday. Team Penske’s Joey Logano tops the list with opening odds of 9-1. He is a three-time Talladega winner and a two-time Cup Series champion. On the cusp being named a driver with a winless streak (He hasn’t won in 40 races), he will have all the purpose.
Next to Logano is Buescher’s teammate and team co-owner, Brad Keselowski, with odds of 10-1. Keselowski is on top of a rather embarrassing 100+ race winless streak. He finished runner-up in Texas last week and appears to look poised to take that final step. Following him is yet another Ford driver, Ryan Blaney. The defending champion won at the track last October and stands firm with odds of 11-1 to do so again.
