Ford Is Struggling: How Can the Mustangs Get Back up to Speed in 2026?
If rebuilds, like in the NFL, were a thing in NASCAR, Ford would definitely be in one in 2026. In just a couple of years, they have gone from being championship favorites to struggling to crack the top five. When a driver has a string of good luck, it turns bad, and they plummet in the points. They are wrecking, having mechanical problems, and even losing teams. In the first half of the 2026 season, Ford, as a manufacturer, has been nothing more than a field filler.
In 2026, Ryan Blaney is the only competitor on Fords Flagship Team, Team Penske. The 2023 Cup Series Champion has Ford's only win in the Cup Series this season at Phoenix back in March. Joey Logano and Austin Cindric are having horrible seasons by Penske standards, though, with Cindric being in the Chase in 15th place in the points, and Logano is currently out of the Chase in 18th. RFK Racing is going through a similar season. Chris Buescher is in a comfortable spot in ninth, but veterans Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski are in 16th and 17th, right on the cutoff for the Chase. Josh Berry has been involved in eight on-track incidents, the second most wrecks in the series, and will not return to the ride in 2027. Rumors are pointing towards Ford losing the 36-year-old, as JR Motorsports in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series is listed as the likely landing spot for him.
Speaking of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, that brings us to Ford's biggest lowlight yet. Every single team backed by Ford in the O’Reilly series has closed down. Haas Factory Team and RSS Racing have both moved to the Chevy camp. Part-time team Hettinger Racing, the last Ford team for Luke Baldwin, pulled out of the race on May 2nd at Texas and hasn’t returned as of late June.
There is a bright side to the 2026 season for the Fords, however. While this season is a terrible one for the Mustangs, the F-150s of Layne Riggs and Chandler Smith have been phenomenal in the Truck Series. The 34 machine has four wins, including the inaugural race at the Coronado Naval Base, and currently has a 65-point lead. Smith in the 38 has been consistent and has one win so far. Both of the Front Row Racing trucks have been virtually locked into the Chase with just five races left before it begins on September 17th at Bristol.
Ford is running out of time to turn their season around. Blaney and the trucks are doing most of the work for the manufacturer at the moment, and Buescher is acceptable, but the rest of the Fords being just inside or outside of the Chase is a cause for concern. With the group having no entries in the O’Reilly Series, their development ladder isn’t filled with the kind of prospects that Chevy and Toyota have. The absence of an O’Reilly Auto Parts series team will make it virtually impossible for Ford to get prospects. If they cannot get teams to join their brand and their Cup Series Drivers keep struggling, Ford could be unwillingly making their slow exit from NASCAR.
