What’s Happening?

Despite a new team in their ranks, Ford is still facing an uphill climb in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series entering 2027, so should the manufacturer consider adding a new program, or ride out the season with the group they have?

Last week, Sigma Performance Services announced its purchase of AM Racing.

This story was significant for a number of reasons, considering AM’s role as a NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff team in 2025, but perhaps more importantly, its status as a Ford team.

Ford’s Folly

Rumors of this acquisition first sparked in late October, following the announcement that Harrison Burton would not return to AM in 2026. As shocking as this may have been, a majority of NASCAR fans were curious about the broader consequences of this purchase, in regard to the team’s status with Ford.

SPS was, at the time, an ARCA Menards Series team that entered Chevrolets, while AM was a long-time member of the Ford Camp.

Furthermore, in 2026, AM was set to be one of what was at the time just three teams set to enter Fords in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, and potentially could have been the top Ford team following the Haas Factory Team’s defection to Chevrolet.

In mid-November, a second Ford team, RSS Racing, announced its intentions to move to Chevrolet alongside HFT, leaving AM and Joey Gase Motorsports as the final two Ford teams in the NASCAR OAP Series.

Combined with the rumors of the SPS acquisition, fans wondered if Ford was likely to add a new team to their lineup to fill this massive gap in their developmental ranks. While SPS will continue to field at least one Ford team in 2026, this question remains, with just 74 days until the OAPS season opener at Daytona.

Though Ford has had a limited presence in the NASCAR OAP Series since Team Penske shuttered their operation after the 2021 season, the manufacturer has continued to compete at a high level, specifically through the now-shuttered Stewart-Haas Racing and Haas Factory Team.

Nonetheless, this success doesn’t mean much if the brand is not able to bring talent through NASCAR’s three National Series.

Furthermore, although the brand is not hurting for drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series, the OEM also needs a place to let Cup Series drivers turn more laps at a high level. While SPS brass has claimed they intend to do so in 2026, the scope of which they could field Cup Series drivers is unknown.

This leaves Ford at a crossroads.

Though they could invest heavily in SPS, which still leaves them with a limited footprint in one of NASCAR’s most-watched series, it returns to the question of whether or not they should add another team.

According to Plan?

While adding another team is an easy prospect on paper, even the concept of doing so creates more questions for the OEM. For example, if they added an existing team, where would they get the team from, Toyota or Chevrolet? Or, should they think bigger picture, and bring back a top organization like Penske?

Penske, for one, has already shot down such talks, and regarding adding a new team, most fans have “fantasy booked” Ford bringing on an up-and-coming team like Jordan Anderson Racing or Alpha Prime Racing.

While JAR has reassured its relationship to Chevrolet with a new partnership with Richard Childress Racing, APR has been subject to a few rumors of a switch to Ford, but nothing more than speculation. Despite fans continuing to theorize and question Ford’s plans, they are continually left without an answer.

Ford does not seem to be in a rush to patch together an expanded OAPS effort in 2026, a season that will see their field cut down from seven to three cars.

Of course, by now, it seems like the addition of a new team for 2026 is unlikely as the countdown to green draws closer. That may be cause for concern, or it could be by design, and something better is in wait for 2027 or beyond, perhaps even a hard reset of sorts.

Only time will tell how Ford will approach this glaring hole in their developmental roster, all while their Cup Series roster continues to age.

What do you think about this? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.