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Ford earned its 1,000th NASCAR national series win on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich.
Trevor Bayne, who claimed the manufacturer’s 200th NASCAR Nationwide Series victory last Sunday at Iowa and its 600th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win in the 2011 Daytona 500, did the honors as the Blue Oval celebrated about an hour drive west of its Dearborn headquarters.
FORD’S 1,000 NASCAR WINS
-- 614 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins by Ford
-- 96 Sprint Cup wins by Mercury
-- 4 Sprint Cup wins by Lincoln
-- 201 NASCAR Nationwide Series wins by Ford
-- 85 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series wins by Ford
The milestone comes nearly 112 years after Henry Ford defeated Alexander Winton in a 10-lap race on the one-mile oval at the Detroit Driving Club in Grosse Pointe, Mich. on Oct. 10, 1901. It was the first and only race Ford ran and set him on the road to establishing Ford Motor Company 110 years ago this month.
Ford designed the car, named “Sweepstakes,” that won his company’s first race. On Thursday at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Carl Edwards became one of “only eight or nine people” to drive “Sweepstakes.” After winning the Coors Light Pole Award with an average lap of 202.452 mph, Edwards talked about driving Ford Racing’s first winning car.
“We got it up to maybe 20 or 25 miles per hour driving on the road there, and they said it would go 73 miles per hour in 1901,” Edwards said. “It was scarier driving that thing 25 miles per hour than it was driving the corner here at 205. Those guys were brave.
“The neatest thing about that which I didn’t know until I talked with Edsel Ford (great-grandson of Henry Ford and member of the board of directors of Ford Motor Company) and the guys there is that if it weren’t for winning that race, Ford Motor Company as we know it might not exist,” Edwards said. “For him to risk everything and build this race car and go out and race it and win and be able to put together investors for Ford Motor Company was huge.”
Bayne’s win extended owner Jack Roush’s record to six victories in the Nationwide Series at his home track. It was the seventh series win for Ford at the track.
On Friday, Bayne thanked Jamie Allison, director of Ford Racing, for the manufacturer’s support and noted that Blue Oval executives had a feeling that their chances were pretty good this weekend.
“I think they made a banner up for Sunday in case we do get it for 1001,” Bayne said. “They’re being pretty optimistic here at Michigan since it is their home track.”
Understanding the importance of the track’s proximity to the auto manufacturing hub of Detroit, MIS President Roger Curtis announced that a manufacturer’s trophy will be awarded after each NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, beginning with the Pure Michigan 400 on August 18, for the car company that goes to Victory Lane.
Allison acknowledged that winning at MIS held special meaning for Ford.
“We want to show up and compete and win in front of our friends, our neighbors, our employees, the entire network of people who support our company, whether it's executives, fans, you name it,” Allison said. “It's an extra level of pride that comes with being here in your hometown.”
Ford's winning ways began at the beginning of NASCAR as Jim Roper in a Lincoln won the first Strictly Stock, now Sprint Cup Series, race in the sport's history on June 19, 1949 at the old Charlotte Speedway.
Sixty-four years later, Ford supports11 full-time drivers in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition, five in the Nationwide Series and two in the Camping World Truck Series. Ford competes in all three national series with support of Front Row Motorsports, Germain Racing, Penske Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports, Roush Fenway Racing and the Wood Brothers. This season, Ford added full-time support of Brad Keselowski Racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.