F-150 Lightning Will Pace NASCAR Race at Martinsville April 7-9

[Administrator]

F-150 LIGHTNING IS FIRST ELECTRIC TRUCK TO PACE NASCAR RACE; WILL BE FEATURED AT MARTINSVILLE APRIL 7-9

APR 5, 2022 | DEARBORN, MI

• The all-electric 2022 F-150 Lightning will be the official pace vehicle for this weekend’s NASCAR event at Martinsville Speedway.
• Near instantaneous torque and 563 horsepower of Lightning make it well suited for pace car duties on nationally-televised race event.
• Production for Lightning truck is on track for customer deliveries beginning this spring. Ford is investing more than $50 billion in Electric Vehicles globally through 2026 to develop breakthrough EVs and bring them to market at scale.

DEARBORN, MI, April 5, 2022 – A fully-electric truck that is helping change the future of Ford Motor Company will be on track at Martinsville Speedway as the 2022 F-150 Lightning makes its debut as a pace vehicle for the NASCAR Cup Series on April 9.

Lightning received nearly 200,000 reservations since being unveiled last May and is part of a growing EV portfolio for Ford that includes the Mustang Mach-E and E-Transit.

“Ford is fully invested in electrification and the response to Lightning has been so overwhelming that it was an easy decision to bring it to a NASCAR event,” said Jeannee Kirkaldy, motorsports marketing manager, Ford Performance. “One thing we definitely know is that our fans love trucks and we’re confident that feeling will only grow when they see Lightning out on the track leading the field to green.”

”We can’t wait to show our Ford fans how capable the F-150 Lightning is. With 563 horsepower, 775 lb.-ft. of near instantaneous torque and a 0-60 mph time in the mid-4-second range, I think it will turn some heads out on the track.” said Darren Palmer, vice president, Ford electric vehicle programs.

This marks the second straight year an all-electric Ford vehicle will pace a NASCAR race after the Mustang Mach-E led the field at Talladega Superspeedway in April. Ford became the first OEM to use an electric vehicle to pace a NASCAR race way back in April 2012 when the all-electric Ford Focus paced the field at Richmond, Va.

“I haven’t driven the Lightning yet, but if it’s anything like the Mustang Mach-E, it’s going to be a blast,” said NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney. “I hope it ends up being the only thing in front of me once the race starts.”

The Ford F-150 is part of F-Series, America’s best-selling truck 45 years in a row and F-Series recently reached a milestone when the 40 millionth unit rolled off the assembly line in January.

Martinsville Speedway, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary, will be hosting all three top NASCAR touring series, beginning with the Camping World Truck Series on Thursday at 8 p.m. The NASCAR Xfinity Series takes to the track on Friday with the NASCAR Cup Series scheduled for Saturday. Both of those races are scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.

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[Mr. Flibble]

Wait, it's not racing?

Dissapointed!

 

[FXDR131]

Such a boring looking truck. Ford designers really missed an opportunity with this truck to make it special. The front end is vanilla and forgettable.

 

[Mr. Flibble]

Such a boring looking truck. Ford designers really missed an opportunity with this truck to make it special. The front end is vanilla and forgettable.

I like it: it looks like a truck, because that's what it is.

 

[MickeyAO]

Such a boring looking truck. Ford designers really missed an opportunity with this truck to make it special. The front end is vanilla and forgettable.

Which is the reason I want this over the Rivian or Cyber Truck. I want a pickup truck that is electric not an identity crisis looking for everyone to notice me.

 

[DarkSkyForever]

Such a boring looking truck. Ford designers really missed an opportunity with this truck to make it special. The front end is vanilla and forgettable.

I disagree. If I wanted something that looked fruity I'd drive an Aztec. Chevy's Avalanche looks like garbage compared to this.

 

[GABAR]

Such a boring looking truck. Ford designers really missed an opportunity with this truck to make it special. The front end is vanilla and forgettable.

The design of the Lightning is similar to the ICE F150 and this is intentional.

No need to do a drastic or special redesign just because it has a different / new power train.

F150 owners like the current design and the sales numbers prove it plus, F150 designers have always been conservative and cautious with its design.

The re-designed F150 will be out in another 1-2 years so there’s no need to do a special exterior design for the Lightning.

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

Such a boring looking truck. Ford designers really missed an opportunity with this truck to make it special. The front end is vanilla and forgettable.

I was on the fence about their choice to keep the same look as the regular F-150, but on the other hand as an F-150 owner, I've always felt the F-150 was the best looking pickup on the market.

That said, I wouldn't want the Lightning to look like anything else but an F-150 because to me it IS a real F-150. I have strong opinions about product names. That's why so many people are opposed to calling the Mach-E a Mustang. It's got 4 doors and it's too different looking to be called a Mustang.

If they change the look of a vehicle too much, they should give it a new name. I want an F-150, so I want it to look like one.

For the same reason, the Silverado EV shouldn't look different from their non-EV version.

Cybertruck is a clean slate, so they can make it look like anything that came before it.

 

[beatle]

The design of the Lightning is similar to the ICE F150 and this is intentional.

No need to do a drastic or special redesign just because it has a different / new power train.

F150 owners like the current design and the sales numbers prove it plus, F150 designers have always been conservative and cautious with its design.

The re-designed F150 will be out in another 1-2 years so there’s no need to do a special exterior design for the Lightning.

I agree with most of this, but I do wonder how much efficiency they left on the table by not pushing further with optimizing they aerodynamics. Ford says they've made the most aerodynamic F150 yet, but that's not saying much. The Cybertruck is on the opposite end of the spectrum, and I wonder what its drag coefficient will be.

Personally I don't really care much what a truck looks like since I view it as an appliance. However, I know I am one of the few that think that way since the Ridgeline is not a big seller. That being said, the look of the 2016-2020 Ridgeline really delayed my purchase. Had the 2016 Ridgeline looked like the 2021, I may have already bought one. I think it worked out after all.

 

[FXDR131]

The design of the Lightning is similar to the ICE F150 and this is intentional.

No need to do a drastic or special redesign just because it has a different / new power train.

F150 owners like the current design and the sales numbers prove it plus, F150 designers have always been conservative and cautious with its design.

The re-designed F150 will be out in another 1-2 years so there’s no need to do a special exterior design for the Lightning.

It's still a boring design. Headlights, "grill" just boring.

 

[FXDR131]

I disagree. If I wanted something that looked fruity I'd drive an Aztec. Chevy's Avalanche looks like garbage compared to this.

I didn't say it should look fruity or futuristic.....I stated it is boring and it is. The headlights and "grill" are plain and forgettable.

 

[petemill]

Any videos yet?

 

[MickeyAO]

They had the Lighting as the pace car for the Truck series, the Mach-E for the Infinity series, and the Lighting is back out for the Cup series.

 

[MickeyAO]

The race is on FS1 if anyone wants to catch a glimpse. It has been an entertaining race so far, and the intensity is only going to go up.

 

[GDN]

So is that a special paint job on the pace truck? Doesn't look like the standard red.

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