Edsel Ford II: ‘It’s tough’ with no Ford in Championship 4 – Nascar

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — It’s Ford Championship Weekend and the automotive manufacturer has its name on all three NASCAR races this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

A champion in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will be crowned Friday, where Brad Keselowski Racing driver Tyler Reddick trails Erik Jones by 19 points.

On the XFINITY Series side, Roush Fenway Racing‘s Chris Buescher has his Ford out front by 18 points over Chase Elliott (JR Motorsports).

Sunday, the Sprint Cup championship will be decided among four teams that have survived a nine-race, elimination-style playoff to get here. None of the entries among those four title-contending teams preparing for Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 carry the Ford nameplate.

“It’s tough. I’m not going to mince words,” Edsel Ford II said Friday. “We’re very disappointed that we don’t have a car in the Chase, especially (for) Ford Championship Weekend.”

Two Ford drivers, Team Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, qualified for the 16-team Chase for the Sprint Cup. Roush Fenway Racing, the last Ford team to win the Sprint Cup title (with Kurt Busch in ’04) failed to place one of its drivers in the Chase for the first time since the format debuted that same season.

But Keselowski, who won the championship in 2012 with Penske and Dodge, failed to advance out of the final eight this season to earn a berth in this weekend’s Championship Round.

Logano, meanwhile, swept one of the three-race rounds and appeared to be one of the title favorites before a run-in with Matt Kenseth escalated, eventually ending when Kenseth wrecked the No. 22 earlier this month at Martinsville.

Thus, this weekend’s four Chase contenders represent two of the three automotive manufacturers competing in NASCAR — defending series champion Kevin Harvick (Chevrolet), Jeff Gordon (Chevrolet), Martin Truex Jr. (Chevrolet) and Kyle Busch (Toyota).

“We would have loved to have had a car in the Chase, frankly. But it is what it is. That’s racing I guess,” said Ford, a member of the Ford Motor Company Board of Directors. This was a chance we could win a Ford Championship — we’ve got good trucks, we’ve got good XFINITY cars, we’ve got very good (Sprint) Cup cars so who knows?”