Looking back at last weekend’s race at the Daytona International Speedway, all that the regular season champion Martin Truex Jr. would have wanted was a win at a superspeedway. Instead, it was the sheer dominance of the Ford-powered cars ahead of the competition. The win eventually went to RFK Racing driver Chris Buescher as the Fords seemed to overpower the Toyotas and Chevrolets when it came to pure pace and drafting abilities on superspeedway-type tracks.
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Speaking about the performance showcased by the Ford cars at Daytona, Truex Jr. was recently quizzed about Ford’s dominant performance at these types of tracks. The 2023 regular season champion then broke down the weaknesses they were facing in comparison to the Fords.
Martin Truex Jr. talks about Ford’s dominance at Superspeedway
The #19 driver was asked if Toyota’s weaker numbers were also the reason for their struggles. He subsequently responded, “Yeah, there’s a few things. I think strength in numbers is one.”
“Obviously, they’re really fast. They’re low drag compared to us, I would say. That is kind of why we show up at some better downforce tracks a little faster. Another key is they can push really well with their bumpers the way they line up.”
“Our car is fast. My car was fast tonight. We don’t have a lot of people that wanted to work with us. Our car is a little squirrelly when pushing or being pushed. Kind of one of those things we have to deal with. They have great drivers as well. They have a good game plan, they stick together. They’re tough to beat here, for sure.”
How well have the Fords been performing lately?
Just looking at the past couple of races one can ascertain Ford’s performance gains. Teams like RFK Racing had been struggling in the first half of the season. But in the last five races, they picked up three wins, all of them going to Chris Buescher.
Meanwhile, in terms of the manufacturers’ championship, Ford with 6 wins, is still being overshadowed by the Chevys and Toyotas, at 13 and 7 wins respectively. Although they are ahead of Toyotas, in terms of points.
Looking at their current resurgence, not just at superspeedways, but also at road courses with Michael McDowell winning at the Indy Road course, Ford seems to be powering through the field. Another factor in favor of the Fords is the number of cars they field on the track.
Unlike Toyota, which has just two teams running with the manufacturer, Ford has FRM, RFK Racing, Rick Ware Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing, Team Penske, and Wood Brothers Racing under their roster. Thus, as in the case of Daytona, they had the advantage when it came to the number of the same manufacturers running up top.
