The field at this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Martinsville Speedway will be led by the Ford F-150 Lighting which will become the first electric pickup truck to take on pace vehicle duties for the racing series. That’s a specific record because at least one electric SUV and car have both led the field before, and Ford can be proud because both were its vehicles. The Mustang Mach-E was the pace vehicle at Talladega Superspeedway in April last year and the all-electric Focus became the first EV to ever pace a NASCAR event in 2012 at Richmond, Virginia.
As a member of Ford’s F-Series of trucks,
the brand’s most successful model line, the F-150 Lightning is arguably very
important for the brand. Its electric motors make 563 hp and 1,048 Nm of torque, which allows it to get off the line and up to 96 km/h in the mid-four-second range.
The race will be a historic one for other
reasons, too. Martinsville Speedway is celebrating its 75th anniversary and
will be hosting all three of NASCAR’s top touring series between April 7 and 9.
Ford will be looking for its drivers, among them Ryan Blaney, to win the Cup
Series race in Ford’s brand new NASCAR Next Gen Mustang.
