Heading into the 2025 Playoffs, Ford teams were buzzing with confidence. Ryan Blaney, at the August media day, laid it out: “Early in the year … our pace was just really not where it needed to be … but this year I’ve been really happy with our pace all year. I feel like we’ve had super fast cars.”

Analysts and fans took that as gospel: the Mustang Dark Horse was a force, with Blaney, Joey Logano, and Austin Cindric poised for deep Playoff runs. Ford’s banner waved high on consistency and speed across its top programs, ready to slug it out for the championship. But Talladega’s qualifying round landed like a gut punch. Ford’s expected dominance fizzled, execution stumbled, and Chevy’s Camaro ZL1s stole the show.

McDowell’s moment

Michael McDowell’s pole-winning lap buried the Blue Oval’s

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