By alley - Jan 12, 2016, 12:12 PM ET

NASCAR: Ford debuts a new look – is Chevrolet next?

There's no question that NASCAR keeps the Sprint Cup cars in such a tight design box that they all share a profile, but the series and the manufacturers have worked hard to give the cars some sense of family since the cookie-cutter 'Car of Tomorrow' fiasco.

So the introduction Monday morning at the North American International Auto Show of the redesigned Ford Fusion street car meant

a late afternoon introduction of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Fusion

, and it does look different. Well, a little. The car debuts on track Tuesday at a Goodyear tire test in Las Vegas with Penske driver Brad Keselowski.

Inside the car, Ford's NASCAR drivers will digest more information with a new digital dashboard system that is mandatory for this season. Teams can switch between as many as 16 different preset screens to display information with three different graphic looks.

"There's no mistaking we're here to win races and championships," said Dave Pericak, global director, Ford Performance. "And we believe the new NASCAR Fusion will be a powerful tool in the hands of our teams and drivers."

The new Fusion will debut during Daytona Speedweeks and compete for the first time in a Sprint Cup points race on Sunday, Feb. 21 during the 58th running of the Daytona 500.

Ford's quick redesign – this latest iteration is the third major body change for Fusion since its initial unveiling in NASCAR in 2006 – raises the question: Where's Chevrolet?

The brand continues to race the SS, and it's hard to figure out why. The car's future is unclear, and as a niche vehicle, monthly sales are measured in hundreds, not thousands.

Enter the new 2016 Malibu – a car that Chevrolet wants to sell more of in one day that the SS sells in a month. The car is directly targeted at the Fusion and the Toyota Camry, and the Malibu needs the publicity that NASCAR racing brings. It's up to Chevy, not NASCAR, so maybe there's a reason why they may stick with the SS.