math does the math<\/a> there. So we\u2019ve still got a little work to do.”<\/p>\nThe question will be how they build on this so they don\u2019t start behind next year. Ford will have a new body in 2027.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s not really the body that the gains have come from,” Logano told me and other reporters on Saturday. “A lot of it is the setup and finding something finally that kind of seems to fit what I want, what I need in the car.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Joey Logano admits that there will be a learning curve driving the new Ford body in 2027. <\/p>\n
“Yes, there’s going to be somewhat of a learning curve with a new body, but the things that we have found and the things we like and what I need in the car isn’t really body-dependent.”<\/p>\n
Blaney believes they can build on it.<\/p>\n
“There’s things you can take, and a lot of people that are a lot smarter than me are going to do the right work to figure out just overall balance,” Blaney said. “How Ford built this new body, it was a lot of discussions on where do we need to be better \u2014 front downforce, rear downforce, side force, all the little things.<\/p>\n
“And Ford kind of went to work and tried to do the best they can. You can always learn.”<\/p>\n
Ford officials will obviously be coy on exactly what they are working on for the new body. Ford Racing Global Director Mark Rushbrook told me in an interview last week that 2027 will bring some unknowns.<\/p>\n
![]()
<\/p>\n
Ryan Blaney is looking forward to learning as Ford transitions to new body. <\/p>\n
“You go to the new body because it has greater potential in terms of what is designed into it. And as much as we know from CFD [computational fluid dynamics] and the wind tunnel, as with the past homologation and approval from NASCAR, we still don’t know how it is going to race on track on all these different style of tracks,” Rushbrook said.<\/p>\n
“We’ll learn more as we start the season. We’ve made some very good improvements in the body, and I think we have a good understanding to start. But until we get out there with 40 cars, we don’t know everything yet.”<\/p>\n
There are even more unknowns as far as 2027 and Ford, including how the departure of Brad Keselowski from RFK Racing will impact that organization.<\/p>\n
“We have confidence in how RFK will go forward in their commitment to continuing to improve, continuing to put three cars on the race track as well,” Rushbrook said. “So we look forward to what their future is.”<\/p>\n
Would he like that future to include Keselowski?<\/p>\n
![]()
<\/p>\n
Is Ford in Keselowski’s future now that he’s out at RFK? <\/p>\n
“At this point, it’s what is the opportunity given how late in the season this has developed,” Rushbrook said.<\/p>\n
Keselowski also left the door open.<\/p>\n
“We\u2019ll see. If Ford wants me, I would certainly listen to that,” Keselowski said.<\/p>\n
It certainly has been a long roller-coaster season for much of the Ford camp. And even with the improved performance at Penske, it seems like they are ready for a break and a little bit of a reset.<\/p>\n
“The season is plenty long,” Logano said. “I wish we found this speed earlier in the year. Things would look a little different right now. But it is what it is. That is how racing goes.”<\/p>\n
JGR-Gabehart Update![]()
<\/p>\n
Did Chris Gabehart violate his non-compete clause? <\/p>\n
A hearing in the Joe Gibbs Racing lawsuit against Chris Gabehart and Spire Motorsports is scheduled for Tuesday. The suit is regarding whether Gabehart and Spire have violated the restraining order that enforces Gabehart’s non-compete clause now that he’s moved to Spire from JGR.<\/p>\n
Gabehart, the team\u2019s Chief Motorsports Officer, was recently put on administrative leave, which JGR cites as an example that Spire has acknowledged a violation. Gabehart and Spire contend he did not violate the order and Spire has reiterated, adamantly, that it has not received any JGR “trade secrets” from Gabehart.<\/p>\n
JGR contends that there are two separate issues, the restraining order and the taking of its trade secrets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“JGR is not required to prove that Gabehart\u2019s comments were brilliant, novel or outcome-determinative,” JGR said in a court filing. “Instead, JGR must only show that Gabehart provided prohibited services.”<\/p>\n
In The News![]()
<\/p>\n
Austin Dillon will run a tire test for Goodyear in Charlotte. <\/p>\n
\u2014 Haas Factory Team confirmed that Cole Custer will remain in its No. 41 Cup car next season. Custer is 32nd in the Cup standings.<\/p>\n
\u2014 In O\u2019Reilly Series moves, the Burton cousins announced their next steps. Harrison Burton will move from Sam Hunt Racing to Peterson Racing next year, while Jeb Burton will go from Jordan Anerson Racing to RSS Racing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2014 The Kaulig Racing free agent truck will have familiar drivers who currently race other disciplines in its trucks over the next two weeks. INDYCAR driver Conor Daly will drive this weekend at Phoenix and three-time Cup champion and current NHRA driver Tony Stewart will be in the truck at Talladega.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Team Penske, Arrow McLaren and ECR announced multiyear extensions to remain as Chevrolet teams in INDYCAR.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Austin Dillon, Zane Smith and Erik Jones will conduct a tire test for Goodyear on Tuesday and Wednesday in Charlotte.<\/p>\n
RIP<\/p>\n
Monte Dutton was a pivotal member of the NASCAR media corps for decades, writing for the Gaston (N.C.) Gazette and other racing outlets. He died Oct. 8 at age 68.<\/p>\n
Social SpotlightThey Said It<\/p>\n
“I’m so proud of him. People want to lay sh– on me or whatever or say I’m hard on him. But it’s what it takes.”
\u2014 James Small, Crew Chief for Chase Briscoe<\/p>\n
WHAT YOU SHOULD READ NEXT![\"NASCAR](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/power-rankings-16x9-nascar-26.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nChase Briscoe has been red-hot over the last two weeks. Were his back-to-back wins enough to move him to the top of NASCAR’s contender rankings?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Charlotte Motor Speedway (Concord, N.C.) \u2014 The Team Penske drivers would need a lot to go their way…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":880237,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[20556,9035,655,425,1703,8656,99],"class_list":["post-880236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-austin-cindric","tag-brad-keselowski","tag-joey-logano","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-cup-series","tag-ryan-blaney","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=880236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/880237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=880236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=880236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=880236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}