Ford asks NASCAR to approve Mustang for Cup 2013

The Ford Motor Co. has informed NASCAR it would like to race the Mustang in the elite Sprint Cup Series beginning in 2013. "We have declared our interest to NASCAR that we would like to see the Mustang in Cup," Jamie Allison, director of Ford's North American Motorsports program, told The Associated Press on Friday. The approval process to replace the Fusion with the iconic muscle car could take all year, and depends on the Mustang being competitively equal to the sedan models entered by rival manufacturers Dodge, General Motors and Toyota. Ford's motive is to get a car on the track that resembles one that can be purchased off a showroom floor. "We are driving to make sure that the car we race is more consistent and more in context with the cars we sell," Allison said. "They have to look like the cars we sell." Ford, which is seeking its 600th win in the Cup Series in the season-opening Daytona 500, will continue to race the Fusion this season and next. Associated Press