New Ford NASCAR Body Coming In 2019 (Update)

The Penske Fords buried everyone in Sunday's Clash
Ford is deep-sixing the poor selling Taurus passenger car

UPDATE This rumor is upgraded to 'fact' with today's announcement.

02/12/18 Following his Ford team's dominating performance in Sunday’s Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona Int’l Speedway:

“We can’t really use [having the oldest body] as an excuse," Penske said of Ford’s on-track performance. "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 yet 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."

Mark Rushbrook, the Global Director for Ford Performance Motorsports, later released a statement addressing Penske’s comments and the potential of a new body at the Cup level for the Blue Ovals.

“This is racing, and we are always working on actions to improve performance and that includes engine, body, aero, everything on the car," said Rushbrook. “We will make an announcement on any future body actions when we are ready."

Given the complete domination of the Fords in the Clash, does Ford really need a new body? The answer is yes because on the 1.5-mile tracks they struggle. They are fine on the superspeedways.