Focus on the Fusion

Jorge A. Mondaca
Assistant Editor



DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The completion of the first three days of the Jackson Hewitt Preseason Thunder at Daytona International Speedway marks the official introduction of the new Ford Fusion to the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup scene.

And so far, the car is getting rave reviews.

Three Ford teams took part in the first NEXTEL Cup testing session at 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway, and all left impressed by the results of the new race car.

As Greg Specht, Performance Operations Manager at Ford Racing Technology, said prior to the beginning of this week’s test, "I think that this car is better than the one we raced last year. I’m guardedly optimistic. We can only go by the wind-tunnel numbers that we’ve seen on our own car, and those indications are that we’re a little better than we were last year (in a Taurus). Again, you won’t know until you get on the race track and the green flag drops, but so far we think we’re okay."

While the green flag has yet to drop on the 2006 NEXTEL Cup season, the testing numbers show that Specht and his crew at Ford Racing have every reason to be optimistic as the car goes through its preseason program. The first day in Daytona saw at least one Fusion within the top five of both test sessions. The second day showed improvement in the car, as Elliott Sadler pushed his No. 38 M&M’s machine into the third spot on the overall speed charts.

Was it any surprise that Sadler was pretty excited about the car’s potential?

"I’ve been very happy with the way my car feels in the race track this morning. So, I like the new Fusion body. I like the nose on it, the front tires in the ground, and I can’t wait to get it some drafting practice to see the full effects of it. But, so far, so good. I’m real happy with everything. I’ve got a car that’s handling great. I think to run good here at the Daytona 500, you got to have a comfortable race car and right now we have that."

More surprising was the Fusion’s performance yesterday morning during drafting practice. While only four of the 31 cars who set times were Fusion’s, they all managed to have times in the top 10.

Ken Schrader, who will be driving the No. 21 Woods Brothers Racing Fusion, came in sixth place with a speed of 187.441 mph. Sadler came in second with a best speed of 187.649 mph. And most impressively, Roush Racing driver Matt Kenseth placed his two testing cars in the top five, as his No. 17a car came in first with a speed of 188.403 mph and his No. 17b finishing fourth with a 187.512 mph.

Even though Chevrolet came back during the last period of testing on Wednesday, the Ford camp left Daytona happy with the performance of the new car.

One such person was Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 DeWalt Power Tools out of the Roush Organization. The 2003 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Champion was not only impressed with the race car, but also the street version, which is being sold for the first time this year as well (marking the first time in 38 years that an new model was introduced and raced in the same year).

"it’s probably going to be a little bit better and we already had a great race car last year so I think it’s going to be a great car. It’s a great street car, that’s for sure, and I think the race car will be just as good."

The other major Ford team was equally as pleased with the week’s results.

"I was really happy with it. I think the Fusion is a little better than what we have had in the past. I think we still have a lot of work to do to it. But all in all, after the first day of drafting – the first day really of testing in the field, I am happy with it," said Sadler, who is part of the Robert Yates Racing organization. "We made some changes to it and it responded which is a great sign. I can’t wait to get it in racing conditions when we come back."

Despite one more test session upcoming at "The World Center of Racing," the real test for the Fusion will come January 29th through February 1st during the second round of pre-season testing at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

As Sadler said about the next round of testing, "I don’t know. By the wind tunnel numbers and tests, (the Fusion) looks good. But we will have to wait and see when we get there. We can be judgmental and optimistic about it, but until we get it in true racing and testing conditions, it’s hard to answer that. But we think we are going to show up there and be pretty competitive."

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Down the two lane blacktop.
Oldskool Is Kool :thumbsup:
Ford Man From Way Back



Check out: hotrodhotline.com for my pictures.

I still really enjoy NASCAR racing but, i miss the days when the cars were alot closer to stock. Back in the '70's when Monte Carlos, Regals and T-birds ruled!

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...... BRIAN ......

Ya I agree 100%. But tecnology ????? In order for a car company to put there badge into Nascar they had to build X amount for the street.

__________________
Down the two lane blacktop.
Oldskool Is Kool :thumbsup:
Ford Man From Way Back



Check out: hotrodhotline.com for my pictures.