Connect with us

Published

on

AVONDALE, Ariz. — After a mediocre NASCAR season with its current Mustang, Ford Performance said Wednesday it will use its top-of-the-line Dark Horse in the Cup Series next year.

The Dark Horse is considered the blue-ribbon model of the Mustang lineup, with a starting price tag for consumers close to $60,000.

Joey Logano won the Cup title last year in the Mustang and Ryan Blaney will be in a Ford on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway when he challenges for the championship in the final race for the current model. The Dark Horse will make its NASCAR debut in the February exhibition opener at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Ford has won just eight of 35 races in the current Mustang this season, and although Ford qualified six drivers for the 16-driver playoff field, defending champion Logano and Kevin Harvick were eliminated in the first round and top team Stewart-Haas Racing is winless this season.

“We think we’ve got a great road car lineup with the Mustang, but also took the decision to commit to a seventh-generation Mustang on the road and also race it around the world,” said Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance Motorsports. “Now to be on the cusp of showing the new Mustang Dark Horse for NASCAR Cup racing is exciting, and we want to compete and win around the world with Mustang and most of the versions around the world are the Dark Horse.”

The Mustang will be eligible to race on six continents next season, from Bathurst to Le Mans and Daytona to Silverstone.

The Dark Horse was unveiled just over a year ago as the first new performance nameplate for Mustang since 2001. It is the most track-capable 5.0-liter V8 street-legal Mustang ever and was the inspiration for the Mustangs racing this year in Australia and the Formula Drift series.

The Dark Horse will be eligible to compete in GT3 and GT4 classes globally next year, and the Dark Horse R will compete in the Mustang Challenge Series and many grassroots racing events.

“If she gallops as fast as she looks, it’s going to be a good year,” said Brad Keselowski, driver and co-owner of RFK Racing. “Mustang is an iconic American car made famous around the world. I think of how Mustang has evolved over the years and how NASCAR has evolved along with it and they’re just two brands that go together. I’m proud to get to drive it and proud to be able to compete for the win in this car.”

The Mustang has competed in NASCAR since it entered Xfinity Series competition in 2011. The Mustang has won a driver’s or owner’s championship in nine of 12 Xfinity Series seasons. Ford won the Xfinity manufacturer’s titles in 2011 and 2013.

The Mustang entered Cup in 2019, and in 2021, when NASCAR introduced the Next Gen car, Ford’s design was widely regarded as the sleekest of the muscle cars. The current Mustang has won a manufacturer’s championship, a series-best 18 races in 2020 and a driver’s championship with Logano in 2022.

The Mustang has twice won the Daytona 500 and has wins in the Southern 500 and Brickyard 400. It also won the inaugural Clash at the Coliseum in the debut of the current Next Gen era.

Continue Reading

Sports

Sources: Sooners DT Stone hits transfer portal

Published

on

By

Sources: Sooners DT Stone hits transfer portal

Oklahoma defensive tackle David Stone entered the NCAA transfer portal Friday, sources told ESPN.

Stone, a former five-star recruit and the No. 6 overall player in the ESPN 300 for the 2024 class, made the surprising decision to enter the portal after playing in all 13 games as a true freshman with the Sooners. The 6-foot-3 313-pounder saw limited playing time, playing 88 snaps and recording 6 tackles, 2 tackles for loss and 1 sack.

Stone was expected to compete for a more significant role as a sophomore, and Oklahoma coach Brent Venables recently praised him as the Sooners’ most improved defensive tackle this offseason.

The Oklahoma native finished his high school career at IMG Academy in Florida and was a significant recruiting victory for Venables and his coaching staff in August 2023. Stone chose the Sooners over Texas A&M, Oregon, Florida, Miami and Michigan State.

The SEC does not grant immediate eligibility to players who transfer within the conference during the spring transfer window, so Stone would need to sit out the 2025 season if he moves on to another SEC program.

Oklahoma returns its top three defensive tackles from 2024 in Damonic Williams, Gracen Halton and Jayden Jackson. It also added Trent Wilson, the No. 164 recruit in the ESPN 300 for 2025, as an early enrollee this spring.

Continue Reading

Sports

QB Browne returns to Purdue after brief UNC stint

Published

on

By

QB Browne returns to Purdue after brief UNC stint

Quarterback Ryan Browne has decided to transfer back to Purdue after joining North Carolina earlier this offseason.

Browne committed to rejoining the Boilermakers on Friday after entering his name in the NCAA transfer portal Wednesday.

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound redshirt sophomore started two games for Purdue in 2024 but moved on amid the program’s head coaching change and went through spring practice under new Tar Heels coach Bill Belichick.

North Carolina landed a commitment from South Alabama transfer quarterback Gio Lopez on Thursday.

Browne and freshman Bryce Baker were North Carolina’s lone scholarship quarterbacks available for spring practice and were competing with three walk-ons while sixth-year senior Max Johnson recovers from a broken leg.

Browne threw for 636 yards, rushed for 240 yards and scored four touchdowns while appearing in nine games as Hudson Card’s backup over the past two seasons at Purdue, earning starts in losses to Illinois and Oregon.

By returning to West Lafayette, Browne will get an opportunity to compete for a starting job with Arkansas transfer Malachi Singleton, Washington State transfer Evans Chuba and Bennett Meredith, a former Arizona State transfer.

The Boilermakers lost one quarterback, EJ Colson, to the transfer portal earlier this week.

Continue Reading

Sports

U-M’s Underwood has up-and-down spring game

Published

on

By

U-M's Underwood has up-and-down spring game

Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood showed glimpses of the growing pains he will experience as a freshman and flashes of the promise that made him the nation’s top-rated high school football recruit in the Wolverines’ spring game Saturday.

Underwood was 12 of 26 for 187 yards with a scrimmage-ending, 88-yard pass to tight end Jalen Hoffman on a reverse flea-flicker in a 17-0 win for the Blue over the Maize.

He also recovered his fumble, had a pair of delay-of-game penalties, several errant throws – high and wide – and some dropped. Underwood lost 12 yards on two sacks and gained 17 yards on three runs.

“He did well,” coach Sherrone Moore said. “Made some really, good throws and had some things we need to clean up and get better at.”

As the Wolverines wrapped up spring football in front of about 40,000 fans at the Big House, all eyes were on Underwood and he has become comfortable with that.

“It’s just the pressure that came with my arm,” Underwood told The Detroit News earlier this spring. “I can’t stop that.”

Underwood was sacked on his first snap and his first completion went for a loss. He did throw some darts, usually in the flat, and was quick enough to escape collapsed pockets to pick up yardage with his feet.

Underwood is expected to compete with sophomore Jadyn Davis and Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene for playing time ahead of the season-opening game on Aug. 30 at home against Fresno State.

“It’s a battle,” Moore said. “It’s going to go all the way to fall camp.”

Underwood is motivated to start and kick off a legacy-building career with lofty goals.

“A couple of Heismans and at least one natty,” Underwood said last month in an interview on the Rich Eisen Show.

Underwood knows there will be people doubting he can live up to the hype.

‘He’s just a freshman. He won’t be good enough,'” Underwood said. “I might keep that chip my whole three years.”

He attended at Belleville High School, which is about 15 miles east of Ann Arbor, and flipped his commitment to Michigan after telling LSU coaches last year he intended to play there.

Tom Brady, a former Wolverine and seven-time Super Bowl winner, talked with Underwood during the school’s recruitment via FaceTime and Oracle founder Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people, also connected with him.

Jay Underwood told the Wall Street Journal that his son is expected to make more than $15 million at Michigan, but that doesn’t guarantee he will take the first snap next fall.

“He wants to earn everything,” Moore has said. “He doesn’t want to be given anything.”

Hoffman said Underwood has simply blended in with his teammates.

“He’s really humble, like not a big head, ego, nothing like that,” he said. “Comes into work and every day, he wants to get better every day. He’s not riding off his success in high school. He’s really trying to be one of those top players in college football.”

Underwood participated in practices with the team before it beat Alabama in a bowl game, enrolled in classes in January and gained a lot experience in 14 private practices before a public scrimmage.

“Football is football,” he told MLive.com. “School is a little bit more overwhelming now.”

Continue Reading

Trending