Ford Mustang Dark Horse SC coming to NASCAR in 2027

Ford Racing will debut a new Mustang Dark Horse into NASCAR competition in 2027.

Mark Rushbrook, the global director of Ford Performance, announced the future rollout of the Ford Mustang Dark Horse SC during Thursday night's preseason launch event in Detroit. He did so alongside the production model, which was driven into the room by Ryan Blaney, the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion.

“It’s great that I got to drive it for the first time – the supercharged V8 is unbelievable,” Blaney said. “The carbon brakes are really amazing. When you get it on the track, you want to punch it hard, brake late. Mark, you think I can take this into competition soon?”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Rushbrook said. “In fact, I’m excited to announce tonight that we will, in 2027, take the Dark Horse SC and debut it at America’s racetrack with America’s race team, the Daytona 500.”

Ford drivers Chris Buescher, Joey Logano and Zane Smith were also present for the announcement.

The Mustang Dark Horse SC production model was tested at Sebring and Virginia International Raceway, alongside the Mustang GTD supercar and the Mustang GT3 race car.

In a lengthy post on the Ford Racing website, which was written by Arie Groeneveld, the chief program engineer for the vehicle, it’s revealed that “by working with the GTD team, we were able to adopt Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup2 R tires for the Mustang Dark Horse SC Track Pack. The aerodynamic changes on Mustang Dark Hose SC – like its new hood and the carbon fiber venting, as well as the revised fascia and underbody venting – all benefited from the raw data we shared at the track.”

Ford introduced the Mustang Dark Horse into NASCAR in 2024. In doing so, it became the first new performance nameplate for Mustang since 2001.

Before the Mustang Dark Horse SC race car debuts on the track, Ford will go through a body submission and approval process with NASCAR. Included in the timeline will be a submission of a new body from Ford to NASCAR, renderings, photos, or models of the design, as well as wind tunnel testing along the way.