Spy photographs of 2027 NASCAR Ford Mustang testing at Charlotte, however what’s totally different?

Ford seems to be readying a brand new NASCAR Cup automotive for 2027 as a automotive with acquainted blue camouflage was noticed testing immediately throughout a Goodyear tire check at Charlotte Motor Speedway. That camo seems to match the personalized wrap that we’ve seen on the Ford hypercar prototype abroad. Groups and producers are testing at Charlotte forward of a brand new intermediate package deal for 2027.

Ford introduced earlier this yr that they deliberate to debut a brand new Ford Mustang Darkish Horse SC on the 2027 Daytona 500 which is probably going the automotive that was seen testing immediately at Charlotte.

Throughout that January announcement, Ford Racing’s world director Mark Rushbrook shared that “In 2027, we’ll take the Darkish Horse SC and debut it at America’s race observe with America’s race workforce, the Daytona 500.”

These hints lead us to consider that the styling that we’ve seen from the 2026 Mustang Darkish Horse SC will lead the course of the brand new NASCAR Cup automotive and photographs from the observe seem to indicate that the entrance finish has been modified considerably.

Ford revealed the Mustang Darkish Horse NASCAR Cup automotive in late 2023 and launched it at first of the 2024 season and it’s now in its third yr of competitors with none vital aerodynamic adjustments. Groups have finished effectively to adapt it to a wide range of tracks however the Mustang has not often been the quickest automotive at intermediate model tracks which are closely downforce dependent. The 2027 Mustang Darkish Horse SC is probably going geared at making it extra adaptable for these tracks and bringing it nearer to the Toyota Camry Cup automotive which has been the dominant automotive to have on the intermediates.

Primarily based on what we’ve seen from the 2026 Ford Mustang SC manufacturing automotive it’s probably that we are going to see fenders on the 2027 Mustang Cup automotive which are considerably much less pronounced together with modification to carry the highest of the grille space down just like what we see from the Chevrolet and Toyota Cup vehicles. The manufacturing automotive additionally has grille vents within the decrease corners of the bumper which are flipped in comparison with the outgoing automotive so that’s one thing which we will additionally probably anticipate from the brand new Cup automotive which ought to have an effect on entrance downforce.

These adjustments will probably include new hood louvers with the intention to steadiness the aerodynamics to suit throughout the field required by NASCAR whereas trying to maximise downforce and extra modification to the rear quarter panels with the intention to carry the entrance and rear downforce steadiness to their desired ratio.

The automotive that was seen testing at Charlotte Motor Speedway immediately appeared to have a 38 decal on the door which probably signifies that Zane Smith and Entrance Row Motorsports have been chosen for this check. We now have reached out to Ford Racing and Entrance Row Motorsports for affirmation and particulars of the automotive seen on the check however haven’t acquired any feedback at the moment.

We reached out to NASCAR to be taught extra particulars concerning the check they usually shared that it’s a “Goodyear check to hone in on the intermediate tire for 2027.” In addition they confirmed that vehicles which are testing are the No. 3 for Chevrolet, No.38 for Ford, and No. 43 for Toyota. This feels like a constructive improvement as it’s more likely to result in the intermediate package deal being tweaked for subsequent yr.

Here is what the street model of the Ford Mustang Darkish Horse SC seems to be like, and under which are some extra pictures from the check: