Team Penske car owner Roger Penske confirmed after Sunday’s Clash that Ford will have a new body in 2019.
Asked about the challenges of having the oldest body among the manufacturers (Toyota updated its Camry last year and Chevrolet is using the Camaro ZL1 this year), Penske said the team will have help next year.
“We can’t really use that as an excuse,” Penske said of having the oldest body this year. “There’s no reason to. I think we thought the same thing coming out of St. Petersburg last year in IndyCar that we might not have the power Honda had and we won 10 races. I keep reminding the team that. We’ve got to race all year. We’ll have a new body next year.”
Brad Keselowski, who has been vocal since last year about the advantage Toyota had and expressed concern at Miami about Chevrolet’s new body, was asked about Penske’s comment.
“They don’t tell me those kind of things because they know I’ve got a little bit of a big mouth and they don’t trust me, which is probably smart,” Keselowski said after his win in the Clash. “If (Penske) says it, I would say go with him. He’s always pretty trustworthy.”
In a statement to NBC Sports, Mark Rushbrook, Global Director, Ford Performance Motorsports, said: “This is racing, and we are always working on actions to improve performance and that includes engine, body, aero, everything on the car. We will make an announcement on any future body actions when we are ready.”
Toyota won 16 of 36 points races last year with the new Camry body, including 14 of the final 19 races and the championship with Martin Truex Jr. and Furniture Row Racing.
