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via Getty

via Getty

It has not been a happy start to the first part of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series for Ford, and that’s really disappointing. Why’s that? Well, they swept the Cup, Xfinity, and Truck Series last year, so there was already a lot of hype going into this season. Then they revealed the Dark Horse Mustang, a new car that could make them a dominant force. But it’s safe to say that they have been far from dominant so far in the Cup Series, and veteran spotter Brett Griffin does not have high hopes for the Kansas weekend as well.

How is Ford’s much-hyped Dark Horse Mustang not getting the job done?

Griffin believes that the “Mustang has not lived up to the hype,” and with good reason. Ford has yet to win a single race so far this season, and they do not seem likely to anytime soon. It has been a year of Chevrolet and Toyota dominance—more specifically, Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing. Ford teams are unpredictable; you never know when they will find their form. Last year, they won the Cup Series exactly because of that. But according to Griffin, it just does not seem like it’s going to happen any time soon.

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“Ford has led a total of 45 laps out of the 1069 laps that had been run. So you’re going into the 12th race of the season and it doesn’t look promising that you’re gonna compete for this win. So 12 races is 1/3rd of the schedule. They’ve got to turn around and they’ve got to turn around fast. I know that they can get hot at any point of time but this isn’t just about one driver in their camp being relevant, all of their teams,” he said on a recent episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast.

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While Brett Griffin urged the Ford teams to step up their game, co-host Freddie Kraft believes that the Chevrolet and Toyota teams need to be worried as well. But about what?

Do we already have two of NASCAR’s winningest teams of the year?

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HMS and JGR are undoubtedly the two biggest heavyweights in the NASCAR Cup Series at the moment. They have won all but 2 races so far this year, and that’s concerning. The Next-Gen car was supposed to level the playing field, but that has not been the case at all. Kraft believes that other teams should panic as a result, not just the ones affiliated with Ford.

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“I think everybody that’s not in a JGR or HMS car probably needs to panic because they’ve won every non-drafting track this year. Obviously, Ford wants to be better but should you be more concerned if you’re a team like Trackhouse or Legacy whose running the same manufacturer, technically supposed to be the same car as HMS and JGR and you’re not performing,” he said.

“These 2 organizations are dominating the sport right now. I know Ford needs to be better…everyone should be in a little bit of a panic mode right now,” Kraft added. It will be interesting to see who steps up to the plate. With a third of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season already done, there need to be more competitive teams. Who do you think that will be? Let us know your thoughts.