New 2013 F-150 FX4 to Serve as Pace Truck for Michigan NASCAR Sprint Cup Race

Ford Motor Company will introduce the latest version of the F-150, part of America’sbest-selling truck lineup, on Sunday when Ford’s President of The Americas MarkFields leads the field to green for Michigan International Speedway’s NASCARSprint Cup series race in the new 2013 F-150.

“Like our hardworking customers, Ford iscommitted to continuous improvement and getting the job done right with ourindustry-leading trucks,” Fields said. “So many of our truck customers are racefans that it makes perfect sense to show our new 2013 F-150 FX4 model for thefirst time at the track.”

Fields will serve as pace car driver for thesecond straight June race at MIS, after leading the field to the green flag ina 2012 Focus last year.

The F-Series line of trucks has led the wayas the best-selling line of pickups in America for 35 straight years, and oneof those who has helped keep that streak intact is NASCAR Sprint Cup pointsleader Greg Biffle, who drives an F-150 as his personal vehicle.

“It is going to be really neat to seethat new F-150 leading the field at MIS this year,” Biffle said. “Iam a huge truck guy and the F-series has never ceased to impress me over theyears. I think this 2013 model continues that trend and I know NASCAR fans aregoing to be really impressed when they see it leading the way Sunday.”

The 2013 F-150 also boasts best-in-class fuel economy and capability. From thepowerful and efficient 3.5-liter EcoBoost® engine to the mighty6.2-liter V8, the most powerful eight-cylinder engine in the segment, F-150offers an engine to meet the needs of every customer. Each engine across theF-150 lineup is mated to a fuel-saving electronic six-speed automatictransmission with tow/haul mode.  

Also available with the six-speedtransmission is SelectShift™ capability, standard with FX4 and above.SelectShift™ provides progressive range select and manual shift mode, allowingcustomers the convenience of an automatic transmission for routine operationcombined with the ability to select and lock gears.

Whatrace fans are most likely to notice as the 2013 F-150 FX4 circles the track isthe bold new grille with newly available HID projector headlamps that combinesfresh design with instantly recognizable F-Series cues. Also new for the latestFX4 model is standard hill descent control proven in the Ford F-150 SVT Raptorand standard SYNC with MyFord, a 4.2-inch multi-function information display thatprovides enhanced displays of audio and climate-control functions.

The2013 F-150 FX4 is also available with SYNC with MyFord Touch, which includes anall-new, large 8-inch LCD color touch screen mounted in the center stack. Thispackage adds a media hub with two USB ports, an SD card reader and audio/videoinput jacks.

“We are proud to continue what is becoming atradition of highlighting our new products to NASCAR race fans across thecountry,” said Jamie Allison, director, Ford Racing. “Just like last yearwhen we showcased Focus and two years ago with Fiesta, we’re using thisMichigan race as a platform to promote another one of the outstanding productsin the Ford lineup.”

Ford has been at the forefront of using itsNASCAR pace car program to highlight its extensive line of new cars, trucks andsport utility vehicles. This includes being the first company to have anall-electric pace car with the Fusion Electric earlier this year in Richmond.Ford also was first to use a Hybrid pace car to start a NASCAR race when theFusion Hybrid led the field to green for the Ford 400 at Homestead-MiamiSpeedway in 2008. In addition, the Taurus SHO, Mustang GT 5.0L V-8 and2011 Explorer SUV have served as pace vehicles over the last two years.

Ford Racing PR