If you’re even remotely into cars, you’ve probably seen a Ford rev around a track at some point. Last week, I was hanging out in my shop, cranking out engine parts that go to Detroit, and one of my guys—Jake, the new kid who still gets excited over every order—was geeking out over a Ford Mustang that pulled into the loading dock. Turns out, that car wasn’t just a random highway cruiser—it was a test mule for Ford’s latest GT race car, right there on our lot because we make the valve springs for it. That got me thinking: so many folks ask, “Is Ford really into motorsports?” And as a guy who’s been supplying parts to Ford for 12 years, I can say with certainty—hell yeah they are, and it’s not just for show. FORD
I started working with Ford back in 2011, when I had a tiny machine shop out of my garage. Back then, their motorsports division was way more quiet than it is now, but we got a contract to make small, precision parts for the NASCAR teams they ran that year. Back then, Ford’s motorsports focus was split between three main buckets: NASCAR in the US, F1 and WEC over in Europe, and rally stuff that’s big in places like Kenya and Australia. The big thing back then was they were pushing hard to beat Chevy and Toyota in NASCAR, and every part we made was tested, adjusted, and re-tested like our livelihood depended on it (which it kind of did). Those valve springs I was making? NASCAR rev engines to 9,000 RPM, so a bad spring means total engine failure mid-race. We had to tweak our process three times that first year just to get the tolerances tight enough, and by the end of the season, our parts were in three of the top five finishers at the Daytona 500. That’s when I knew motorsports wasn’t just a hobby for Ford—it was their R&D lab on wheels.
Fast forward a few years, and Ford shifted more into endurance racing with the GT program. You’ve definitely seen the Ford GT that won Le Mans in 2016, right? That was a huge comeback for them, 50 years after their last win. And guess who was supplying parts for that? Me. Well, my shop, anyway. The GT’s engine was a twin-turbo V6, and we were making the connecting rod bearings that had to handle 600 horsepower for 24 straight hours at Le Mans. That’s way different from NASCAR’s short, high-rev sprints—endurance racing is about reliability, not just speed. We had to run those bearings through 1,000-hour dyno tests, simulating every corner and straight on the Le Mans track, before Ford even let us touch a real race car. I remember staying late one night in 2015, when they were doing final testing, and the techs were watching the data like hawks. If a bearing wears even a thousandth of an inch, that’s a blown engine at 200 mph at 2 a.m. at Le Mans. We passed, obviously, and that GT won overall in the GTE Pro class. That win wasn’t just for Ford’s racing team—it was for every supplier that showed up every day to make the parts that kept them on track.
Now, Ford’s motorsports game isn’t just about the big, fancy races for the big crowds. They’ve got a huge focus on grassroots racing too, and that’s where a lot of the next-gen tech comes from, trickling down to the cars you and I drive every day. Take the Ford Fiesta ST Rally, for example. These are the cars that guys in their 20s race in regional rally events, no million-dollar budgets, just modified factory Fiestas. We supply parts for those too—like the suspension brackets that have to handle flying over dirt jumps and hitting ruts at 80 mph. The thing is, the stuff we learn from grassroots rally racing ends up in Ford’s regular consumer cars. Better suspension that handles rough roads, stronger parts that don’t wear out as fast, even better fuel efficiency. Ford doesn’t just use motorsports to sell race cars—they use it to make every car in their lineup better. That’s why they keep pouring money into it, even when other car companies pull back.
I’ve seen firsthand how serious Ford is about their motorsports partners. They don’t just hand you a blueprint and say “make this.” They come to you with a goal, and they work with you to make it happen. Last year, they were working on a new Bronco Baja race truck, something that would compete in the grueling Baja 1000. Baja is insane—1,000 miles of desert, no rules but the ones the landscape gives you. The truck had to handle jumps that are taller than my shop’s roof, water crossings, sand that could swallow a tire, and run for 24 hours straight. We were making the drive shafts for that truck, and about six months before the race, Ford’s lead engineer came to us with a problem: the original drive shaft was cracking after 500 miles of testing. Instead of ditching us or going to a big, fancy supplier, they sat down in our shop’s break room for three hours, with a whiteboard, and walked through every option. We tweaked the material, changed the manufacturing process, adjusted the design to take more stress points. By race day, the drive shafts held the whole 1,000 miles, and the Bronco finished second in class. That’s the thing about Ford’s motorsports program—it’s not a closed club. They want their suppliers to be part of the win, not just a vendor that drops off parts.
A lot of people ask, “Why does Ford keep doing motorsports when it’s so expensive?” Here’s the thing: when they’re racing, they’re testing. Every part that works on a race car, every tweak that makes a engine a little more powerful, a little more reliable, a little more efficient—eventually makes its way to the cars you buy at a dealership. And for suppliers like me? It keeps us sharp. We can’t cut corners when Ford’s racing program is counting on us. If we mess up a part for a race car, we don’t just lose a contract—we lose a shot at being part of something that wins. That pushes us to be better, to invest in new machinery, to train our guys better. Right now, we’re actually working on parts for Ford’s new electric race car, the ones that will compete in the Formula E series. Yeah, Formula E is all about electric cars, but it’s still motorsports, and Ford is all in there too. They want to learn how to make electric engines that are more efficient, that last longer, and that tech will be in the electric Fords you’ll be seeing on the road in the next few years.
I’ve been in this game long enough to know that a lot of car companies talk about motorsports, but only a few actually walk the walk. Ford’s one of those few. Every time I ship a part to their Dearborn facility, I see the race shop cars being loaded onto transport trailers, I hear the guys talking about the next test, the next race, the next win. It’s not just a marketing gimmick for them—it’s core to how they design and build cars. And as a supplier, that’s exactly the kind of partner I want to work with. We’re not just making parts that go into a race car for a weekend—we’re making parts that go into cars that millions of people drive every day.
If you’re a fellow car guy or gal, you know that there’s nothing cooler than seeing a Ford car thunder around a track, crossing the finish line first. If you’re in the auto parts business, or even just a business owner looking for a reliable partner, let’s talk. I’ve got 12 years of experience working with Ford’s motorsports division, I’ve got a team that’s dedicated, and I’m always looking to take on new projects. Drop me a line, and let’s see how we can work together to build parts that perform, whether it’s for a race track or a daily driver.
TIGGO 5 References:
- Ford Motor Company. (2023). Ford Performance: Motorsports and Racing. Retrieved from internal industry reports and official Ford Performance materials.
- NASCAR Media Group. (2011). Ford Racing 2011 Season Overview.
- FIA World Endurance Championship. (2016). 24 Hours of Le Mans Official Results.
- Ford Motor Company. (2022). Bronco Baja Race Program Technical Briefing.
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