Mark Martin Weighs in on Whether Ford Should Pour Money Into Driver Development
What’s Happening? Ford’s campaign across NASCAR in 2026 has hit a rough patch, with results, performance, depth, and presence across series…
Ford’s presence in NASCAR’s secondary series, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, has seen a sharp fall off in teams this past season, and recently, NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin placed the responsibility of rebuilding on the manufacturer. Here’s why fans are talking about Ford.
What’s Happening? Ford’s campaign across NASCAR in 2026 has hit a rough patch, with results, performance, depth, and presence across series…
Through seven races in the NASCAR Cup Series season, Ford has one points win, delivered by Ryan Blaney at Phoenix Raceway, and a non-points win with Ryan Preece, who reached Victory Lane at Bowman Gray Stadium. However, that event did not count toward the standings.
Their status is much smaller in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
After AM Racing and Nick Sanchez withdrew from last weekend’s race at Rockingham Speedway and skipped this weekend’s race at Bristol, Ford no longer has a driver planning to enter 33 races in 2026, taking it out of the running for a driver’s championship.
Following changes this past off-season, Ford’s presence in the field rests on AM Racing and Hettinger Racing.
Hettinger Racing is entering cars across the full season with a rotation of drivers, though recent rumors suggest that plan could shift to a partial schedule rather than all races.
Martin said the company has long kept a tight grip on spending and has not backed rising drivers, adding that the tap now appears to have tightened further. He also pointed to a possible shift in focus, with resources moving toward Formula 1, cutting support for stock car racing, and trimming driver-development programs.
“I don’t know. I’m an outsider looking in, but I can guarantee I was a Ford contract driver for 23 years, and I felt like that the reason we were less favored, we being Fords, than other manufacturers, is because they spent less money outside of what they did for their teams,” Martin said.
Martin’s opinion added fuel to a debate that has followed Ford through recent seasons, and, given their status in the OAP Series, has flared up once again in 2026. So, what exactly is Ford’s issue?
Opportunities have been there, but depth has become a sticking point for fans of Ford in recent years.
In a world where Penske drivers Austin Cindric, Ryan Blaney, and Joey Logano toed the line to victory lane in 2026, Chevrolet had a diverse lot of teams find wins with drivers like Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, William Byron, Ross Chastain, and Shane van Gisbergen, while Toyota had Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, and Chase Briscoe all find a win that same season.
Each rival also has names in the pipeline, including Jesse Love and Brent Crews, developed over time in lower tiers. In a post to X, one fan summed up the development gap: “Ford has literally only developed Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric through all 3 series in the last 11 years.”
In recent years, Ford Racing has spread its efforts across multiple fronts.
In 2024, it began support of Proton Competition in the World Endurance Championship and Multimatic Motorsports in IMSA. This year, it entered Formula 1 as an engine supplier for Red Bull Racing and Visa Cash App RB.
Within NASCAR, work is underway on the Mustang Dark Horse SC for 2027.
The to-do list is long, but their budget is not. Against that backdrop, it is little surprise that the O’Reilly Series has not sat at the front of the line, with Ford leaning on a model that allows others to develop talent before stepping in when seats open at the top level.
The fan base has taken notice. “Just realized Dodge has more of development program than Ford,” one fan wrote.
Another backed Martin’s view while pointing to Ford’s habit of signing drivers developed elsewhere once openings appear. “They absolutely should, but I am also incredibly biased as a Blue Oval diehard, I simply like seeing Fords on track in any series lol. I will say that their strategy of poaching other manufacturers’ young talent when they get to the top and run out of seats is pretty smart.”
Others shifted the focus to teams. “The reason ford doesn’t have an Oreilly program is simple. The teams they have in cup (RFK,Penske and FRM ) are not interested in building chassis. This has way more to do with the teams ford has than ford themselves. And ford can rob talent from Chevy and Toyota. Not nearly enough rides for everyone.”
Where Ford goes beyond 2026, especially in the OAP Series, will likely continue to be a topic of conversation well into the 2026-2027 offseason.
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