MARK RUSHBROOK, Global Director, Ford Performance Motorsports – WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THE MOST IN 2023? “I think 2022 was obviously a revolutionary season with the new car and a lot of changes coming, so we see 2023 very much as evolutionary. It’s good to see some of the changes in the cars that are being made and all the teams continue and manufacturers continue to learn these cars, so it’s gonna be interesting as we saw strengths and weaknesses across the three OEM’s last year throughout different parts of the season. I’m sure that’s gonna continue as we go through 2023 as well, so definitely an evolution of the Next Gen car. Also an evolution for us is we had three rookies last year with Austin and Harrison and Todd and we’re excited about continuing to watch their individual development as drivers and also welcoming Ryan Preece into a full-time Cup ride with Stewart-Haas. We’re definitely excited about that, and then in the Truck Series welcoming ThorSport back and seeing Hailie Deegan with a new opportunity there. There’s a lot of excitement across all the different series.”
WHERE ARE WE IN THE EV PROCESS? “In the question you talk about hybridization or electrification and I think that is important for relevancy at some point when it’s right. It’s also about the carbon reduction as David said. We see in a lot of other series and certainly to be discussed here, and part of the decision for the sport, while keeping a combustion engine going to a low carbon fuel or a responsible fuel. You see that in a lot of other series. There’s certainly an opportunity to do it here as well as the overall carbon footprint of the sport, not just what we’re doing on track. I think those are areas we continue to work together as OEM partners and with NASCAR on that, and then electrification, as I said to start out, it’s just when the time is right and when the technology is right. We’ve got a great formula here with Cup and Xfinity and Truck and three good national series, but there’s an opportunity to look and do more and try to introduce that technology in a way that makes sense.”
LATER TODAY THE GARAGE 56 ENTRY IS GOING TO BE REVEALED BY CHEVROLET AND NASCAR. TOYOTA AND FORD WERE OUTSPOKEN ABOUT THAT ISSUE LAST YEAR. HOW DO YOU FEEL NOW? “We both definitely were outspoken and a lot of that though was because we didn’t know all the details of exactly what was going to happen with the plan. What’s good about this sport is we do work together as partners, NASCAR does listen, and from that discussion I think there’s a good plan so we are able as manufacturers to attend the tests as David said. We are able to see all the data. I think with what the car is we’re comfortable with what can be learned from it and there are some good things that are being learned that can be shared with everybody and to help the sport, but it’s also really good for the sport to have that car competing at Le Mans. I think it makes a good statement. I know it’s a Chevy, but it’s still a good statement for the sport and at the end of the day it’s good for all of us.”
TEAMS SAY THEY ARE OPEN TO A SALARY CAP OR BUDGET CEILING. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT? “Certainly, for the sport to be sustainable the business model for the teams and the manufacturers, and all the stakeholders in the sport, needs to be sustainable. So, how a cost cap would be implemented is obviously going to be very important. How it’s tracked. How it’s enforced, but I think even before we get to that there’s still a lot more that we can do with the rules in the sport to take out cost and spend for both the teams and the OEMs.”
WHAT ARE SOME OF THOSE WAYS TO HELP TEAMS AND MANUFACTURERS? “Well, there are things that have already been done, such as the wind tunnel hour restrictions. That could still go lower. The number of CFD runs drives a lot of costs in engineers and CPU time. We’ve made improvements at different points in time with some of the engine rules and seals. I think there is further opportunity there, so it’s really just looking across everything that we do and where we are as an industry – OEMs, teams, other stakeholders – where is the money being spent and where is it really adding value to the sport to the fans.”
IS THERE A WAY TO ACHIEVE HIGHER HORSEPOWER WITH A LONGER LIFESPAN FOR THE ENGINES? “In terms of controlling costs, the biggest thing that we can do is keep the horsepower and the rules steady and constant and not be moving them up or down in different years. That’s one thing we can do because development is one of the areas where we spend a lot of money. There are also in most other series there’s a homologation of the engine that it’s not as much open development that’s allowed week to week throughout the year and by reducing the number of specifications through a season it reduces your development and some of your spend for the engineering as well as the durability testing.”
DOES THE INVOLVEMENT IN F1 IMPACT ANYTHING WITH YOUR CUP TEAMS AND RELATIONSHIPS THERE OR WHAT YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO PROVIDE THEM IN THE FUTURE? “The way that we’re approaching it is Formula 1, for us, is an overlay to our existing programs. It is not substitutional or displacing any of our current plans.”
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