RELATED: More photos of the 2016 Ford Fusion
The Ford Fusion fielded by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams this season will have a slightly different look, with changes to the front end of the car incorporated to more accurately resemble similar changes to the 2017 production model.
Officials with Ford Motor Co. unveiled the automaker’s 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series entry Monday evening during the opening day of the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. The street version of the vehicle had been unveiled during a morning event.
“There’s no mistaking we’re here to win races and championships,” Dave Pericak, global director, Ford Performance, said in a release announcing the new Fusion entry. “And we believe the new NASCAR Fusion will be a powerful tool in the hands of our teams and drivers.
“Aerodynamics are more important than ever at the speeds these cars run, so we used some of the best wind tunnel and computational fluid dynamics technology available to create this new Fusion. Fortunately, the Ford design team gave us a great car with which to start.”
From an appearance standpoint, the lower portion of the grille of the new Fusion is more rounded than previous models, while the inset area beneath the grille and above the splitter has undergone alterations as well.
It is the third body change for the Fusion, which has been Ford’s NASCAR premier series entry of choice since 2006. Since then, Ford drivers have won 71 times.
Seven organizations fielded Ford entries in 2015, with Team Penske drivers earning seven victories.
Brad Keselowski (Penske) will be the first to put the new Fusion on the track as he is scheduled to take part in a two-day Goodyear tire test Tuesday and Wednesday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The move to allow automakers Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota to incorporate changes to their race cars that more closely resembled their production vehicles began prior to 2013 and resulted in the debut of the Gen-6 car.