Ford Racing: A 100 Year Timeline
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Kevin Kennedy
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Greg Shea
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Ford Racing
A 100-Year Timeline
1901
- Henry Ford drives in his first and only race; defeats Alexander Winton in a 10-lap race on a one-mile oval track at the Detroit Driving Club, Grosse Pointe, Mich.
1902
- Barney Oldfield drives 999 to victory in a five-mile race at Grosse Pointe for the "Manufacturers’ Challenge Cup." Alexander Winton is primary challenger. Time is 5:28.0, a record for a five-mile race on a closed course.
1903
- Ford 999, driven by Barney Oldfield, laps the Indiana Fairgrounds one-mile dirt track at 60 mph, fastest speed ever recorded on a closed circuit.
1904
- In January, Henry Ford sets a one-mile land speed record – 91.37 mph – (AAA sanctioned and timed) in the rebuilt 999/Arrow on the ice on Lake St. Clair.
- Frank Kulick starts winning races, driving a car powered by two 2-cylinder Ford Model A engines bolted together (making a flat four).
1907
- Frank Kulick and Bert Lorimer win a 24-hour race for "stock" cars on a 1-mile oval at Detroit Fairgrounds, driving a production Model K with six-cylinder, 40 hp engine. The rules allowed the substitution of cars as well as drivers, and the team used two different Model Ks to cover 1,135 miles.
1908
- Ford Model T is introduced on October 1. In the next 20 years, it puts the world on wheels, and also becomes the car of choice in entry-level auto racing. Many performance aftermarket parts become available for racing modifications.
1909
- Ford Model T wins New York to Seattle cross-country race.
1911
- Driving a stripped and reworked Model T, Frank Kulick beats Bob Burman’s Blitzen Benz in a one-mile oval speed record run (50 sec. flat) at Detroit Fairgrounds.
1913
- Henry Ford tries to enter Kulick and the Model T record car in the Indianapolis 500. His entry is refused unless 1000 pounds is added to the car. Ford tells them, "we’re building race cars, not trucks" and pulls out.
1923
- L.L. Corum drives the Barber-Warnock Special, sponsored by an Indianapolis Ford dealer and powered by a modified Model T engine, to fifth place in the Indy 500. It is the best finish by a Ford-powered car until Jim Clark places second in 1963.
1932
- Ford V8 "flathead" engine is introduced. It brings affordable V8 power into mass production and becomes the favored powerplant for racers and hot-rodders for more than 20 years.
1935
- Ford Motor Company enters a team of Miller Fords, powered by the V8 flathead, in the Indianapolis 500. The cars are beautiful and technically innovative, but all drop out because the steering box is mounted too close to the exhaust manifold.
1949
- Jim Roper, driving a Lincoln, wins first-ever NASCAR Grand National race, held at Charlotte, N.C.
1950
- Jimmy Florian scores the first-ever NASCAR Grand National win by a Ford car in the 1950 season’s seventh race — a 100-miler on a half-mile dirt track in Dayton, Ohio.
1952
- Lincoln wins Carrera Panamericana road race in Mexico, the first of three consecutive victories for Lincoln in the famous event.
1956
- In its first full season of factory-backed stock car racing, Ford wins its first NASCAR Manufacturers’ Championship.
1957
- Ford wins its second NASCAR Manufacturers’ Championship.
- Automobile Manufacturers Association ban on factory-sponsored racing activities takes effect; manufacturer racing involvement becomes a "back door" operation until the early 1960s.
1960
- Ford begins its "Total Performance" program of the 1960s.
1963
- Colin Chapman teams with Ford to build rear-engine Indy cars powered by production-based pushrod engines. Jim Clark drives Lotus-Ford to engine’s first victory in Milwaukee 200. Ford engines go on to win 88 Indy car races between 1963 and 1971.
- Tiny Lund scores Ford’s first Daytona 500 win in the fifth running of the event.
- Ford wins its third NASCAR Manufacturers’ Championship.
1964
- Ford introduces double-overhead cam V8 Indy car engine. Jim Clark wins Indianapolis 500 pole in a Lotus-Ford.
- Ford wins its fourth NASCAR Manufacturers’ Championship.
1965
- Jim Clark scores Ford’s first victory in the Indianapolis 500, driving a Lotus-Ford. Cars powered by the DOHC Ford V8 finish 1 through 4.
- Mario Andretti becomes first Ford-powered driver to win the USAC (Indy car) national championship.
- Ned Jarrett is first Ford driver to win the NASCAR Grand National drivers’ title, driving a Bondy Long-owned Ford Galaxie (Jarrett’s second title; he also won in 1962 in a Chevrolet)
- Ford wins its fifth NASCAR Manufacturers’ Championship.
1966
- Ford GT-40 Mark IIs finish 1-2-3 in 24 Hours of Le Mans. Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon drive the winner.
- Ford wins its sixth NASCAR Manufacturers’ Championship.
1967
- Ford Cosworth DFV V8 engine makes Formula One debut, driven to victory by Jim Clark in a Lotus-Ford in the Dutch Grand Prix. Between 1967 and 1983 the engine would win 154 races, power 12 world champion drivers and 10 world champion constructors.
- Ford wins its seventh NASCAR Manufacturers’ Championship.
1968
- David Pearson wins the NASCAR Winston Cup championship, driving a Holman & Moody Ford Torino.
- Ford wins its eighth NASCAR Manufacturers’ Championship.
1969
- David Pearson wins his second straight NASCAR Winston Cup championship, driving a Holman & Moody Ford Torino Talladega.
- Ford wins its ninth NASCAR Manufacturers’ Championship, and seventh in a row.
1971
- Ford (North America) ends all racing support and involvement due to budget cuts and an oil embargo.
1973
- Timo Makinen drives an Escort RS 1600 to Ford’s first win in the new FIA World Rally Championship series, at Finland’s 1000 Lakes Rally. Escort becomes one of the most successful cars ever in the WRC, with 33 wins between 1973 and 1997.
1976
- Al Unser Sr. wins Pocono 500 in a Parnelli-Cosworth, first victory for the turbocharged Cosworth DFX V8 engine. It would go on to win a total of 153 Indy car races through the 1987 season.
1977
- Tom Sneva, driving a McLaren-Cosworth, wins USAC national championship; it is the first of 11 consecutive USAC and CART national championships for the Cosworth DFX engine.
1981
- Ford establishes Special Vehicle Operations as its administrative center for all racing activities. The Miller Mustang, driven by Klaus Ludwig in IMSA GTX racing, scores the first two victories in Ford’s resurgent program.
1985
- Bill Elliott in a Thunderbird wins the inaugural "Winston Million," plus a record 11 NASCAR superspeedway races, including the Talladega500 at a 500-mile race speed record 186.288 mph.
1988
- Bill Elliott wins NASCAR Winston Cup championship in a Thunderbird – first Winston Cup title for a Ford driver since 1969.
1992
- Ford re-enters Indy car racing with the new Ford-Cosworth XB engine.
- Ford wins its 10th NASCAR Manufacturers’ Championship, the first since 1969.
- Alan Kulwicki wins NASCAR Winston Cup championship in a Thunderbird.
1993
- Nigel Mansell wins IndyCar PPG Cup and Rookie of the Year in a Ford-Cosworth XB-powered Lola, Ford’s first drivers’ title since 1971.
1995
- Jacques Villeneuve wins the Indianapolis 500 in a Reynard Ford-Cosworth, Ford’s first Indy 500 victory since 1971.
1994
- Ford introduces the Zetec R V8 Formula One engine. Michael Schumacher drives a Benetton-Ford to F1 World Championship, Ford’s first since 1982. Schumacher’s eight wins push Ford’s all-time F1 victory total to 174, higher than any other engine manufacturer in the history of F1 racing.
- Ford wins its 11th NASCAR Manufacturers’ Championship.
1997
- Ford launches the Taurus NASCAR Winston Cup race car for competition in 1998 and beyond.
- Ford wins its 12th NASCAR manufacturers’ championship.
1998
- Ford buys Cosworth Racing, the company’s partner in performance engine development and production for more than 30 years.
1999
- Ford purchases the Stewart-Ford Formula One race team.
- Dale Jarrett wins NASCAR Winston Cup championship in a Taurus
- Ford wins its 13th NASCAR Manufacturers’ Championship.
2000
- Ford renames Stewart-Ford as Jaguar Racing, the British marque’s first entry into Formula One World Championship competition.
- Ford wins its 14th NASCAR Manufacturers’ Championship.