Ford unveils the new face of their NASCAR program featuring the 2013 Fusion

The Ford Fusion has long been the choice of Ford factory backed racers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series while the Ford Mustang has carried the flag in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Ford originally planned to pilot the Mustang in the Spring Cup in upcoming years but later in 2011, Ford officially removed their request to have the Mustang approved for usage in the NASCAR “big leagues”. At first, it seemed like an odd move due to the popularity and success of the Mustang stock car in the Nationwide Series but with today’s debut of the 2013 Ford Fusion stock car, it is clear why Ford has opted to stick with the Fusion rather than move onto the Mustang.

The 2013 Ford Fusion front end fits the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series body very nicely with the massive grille and slender headlights of Ford’s new design direction lending joining with the lower fascia opening and the faux fog lights making for one great looking race car. Over the past few years, NASCAR has come under scrutiny for all of the cars essentially being identical with just some decals on the front and back attempting to make the cars look like the production models with which they share a name but with the 2013 Ford Fusion race car, the shape and overall look of the new Fusion translates very well to the next generation of Ford NASCAR stock cars. While the side profile of the Fusion stock car carries more of a coupe look (which is very typical of NASCAR), the back end of the 2013 Fusion racer is similar in shape to the production models that will hit showrooms later this year. The race car offers a similar taillight design to the production road going Fusion and with the exception of the massive, flat rear spoiler – the Ford race designers have done a great job of translating the road car to the race car design.

One interesting feature of the 2013 Ford Fusion NASCAR racer shown in the gallery on the right is the fact that Ford has plastered the EcoBoost name all over the car. Even though the 2013 Ford Fusion production sedan will sport a handful of EcoBoost options, NASCAR fans should not expect to see a turbocharged 4- or 6-cylinder under the hood of the NASCAR Fusion when it makes its grand debut at the 2013 Daytona 500 next February. All of the competitors in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series currently rely on naturally aspirated V8 engines and there is no indication that we will see the high tech EcoBoost technology any time soon.

Check out our gallery on the right for a closer look at the 2013 Ford Fusion in NASCAR stock car form and stay tuned to TorqueNews.com for all of your automotive news!