Ford unveil its 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Mustang design Wednesday, showing off a new Dark Horse-themed look that looks impressively coherent stretched over the spec race chassis underneath. NASCAR regulations don’t allow a ton of leeway for cosmetic flair, but in this case, Ford managed to graft the Mustang’s major features onto the nose of the Cup car without much of a fuss. Kudos.
While it may be America’s most visible series, NASCAR merely scratches the surface of Ford’s commitment to competition. The Cup Series car will be just one of many cars Ford and its customers will campaign around the world this coming race season. Dark Horse racing variants will be eligible to compete in GT3 and GT4 classes globally, while Dark Horse R will compete in Mustang Challenge Series events all over the country.
Ford’s desire to run the Mustang in global endurance GT classes spawned the Mustang GTD — what amounts to a production race car for the road, à la Porsche’s 911 GT3. The Mustang GT3 will sport a Coyote-derived 5.4-liter V8 engine and components from Multimatic and Ford’s rally partner, M-Sport. The GT3 also gets a bespoke short-long arm suspension setup, a rear-mounted transaxle gearbox, GT3-specific aerodynamic bodywork and carbon fiber body panels.
The NASCAR Cup Series Mustang Dark Horse will debut on Feb. 4, 2024, as part of the Clash at the Coliseum exhibition race inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Ford says. Stay tuned for more on Ford’s quest to conquer the world’s race tracks with the redesigned Mustang.
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