October 10, 1901 - Henry Ford ventured onto the horse track at the Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, with a brand new race car. He defeated Alexander Winton in a 10-lap race on a one-mile oval at the Detroit Driving Club, and won its first ever event. As a result of that win, he gained sufficient financial backing to set up the Henry Ford Company.
Since that debut victory, in over a century of racing, Ford-powered cars have won countless races, rallies and speed record events, and numerous national and world championships. From 1901, when Henry Ford personally won that original race, Ford hasn't forgotten that winning on Sunday can lead to good things.
Milestones include:
1903
Ford 999, driven by Barney Oldfield, laps the Indiana Fairgrounds dirt track at a then-record 60 MPH.
1909
A Ford Model T won the New York to Seattle cross-country race.
1932
Ford introduced the V-8 "flathead" engine, bringing V-8 power into mass production.
1949
Jim Roper, driving a Lincoln, wins the first ever NASCAR Grand National race.
1950
Jimmy Florian drives a Ford-branded car to a NASCAR victory for the first time ever.
1956
Ford tops the NASCAR manufacturer point standings for the first time.
1957
The Automobile Manufacturers Association ban on factory-sponsored racing makes manufacturer racing involvement a "back door" operation until 1962.
1962
Ford begins its "Total Performance" racing program of the 1960's.
1963
Colin Chapman teams with Ford to build rear-engine Indy cars. Jim Clark drives Lotus-Ford to engine's first victory in Milwaukee 200. Tiny Lund scores Ford Racing's first Daytona 500 win.
1964
Ford introduces DOHC V-8 Indy car engine.
1965
Jim Clark scores Ford Racing's first Indy 500 victory. Mario Andretti becomes first Ford-powered driver to win the United States Auto Club championship. Ned Jarrett is first Ford driver to win the NASCAR Grand National title.
1966
Ford Mk II's finish 1-2-3 in 24 Hours of Le Mans.
1967
Ford-Cosworth DFV V-8 engine makes Formula One debut, driven to victory by Jim Clark at the Dutch Grand Prix.
1971
Ford (North America) ends all racing support and involvement.
1976
Al Unser wins Pocono 500, first victory for the Cosworth DFX V-8 engine.
1977
Tom Sneva, driving a McLaren-Cosworth, wins the USAC national championship.
1981
Ford establishes Special Vehicle Operations as its center for all racing activities. The Miller Mustang scores the first two victories in Ford's resurgent program.
1985
Ford Thunderbird driver Bill Elliott wins a record 11 NASCAR superspeedway events, including the Talladega 500 at 186.288 MPH.
1988
Bill Elliott wins the NASCAR Winston Cup championship in a Thunderbird - the first Winston Cup title for a Ford driver since 1969.
1992
Ford re-enters Indy car racing with the new Ford-Cosworth XB engine. Ford wins its tenth NASCAR manufacturer's championship, the first since 1969. Alan Kulwicki wins the Winston Cup title in a Thunderbird.
1993
Nigel Mansell wins the Indy Car PPG Cup and Rookie of the Year, Ford's first driver's title since 1971.
1994
Ford introduces the Zetec R V-8 Formula One engine. Michael Schumacher wins the F-1 World Championship, Ford Racing's first since 1982.
1995
Jacques Villeneuve scores the first Ford Indy 500 victory since 1971.
1997
Ford launches the Taurus NASCAR Winston Cup car for competition in 1998 and beyond.
1998
Ford buys Cosworth Racing, a partner in racing engines for more than 30 years.
1999
Ford purchases the Stewart-Ford Formula One team.
1999
Dale Jarrett's Ford Quality Care team wins the Winston Cup Championship.
2000
Stewart-Ford becomes Jaguar Racing, signaling the entry into F-1.
2001
Ford celebrates its One Hundredth year of racing. John Force wins his fifth consecutive NHRA Funny Car Championship for Ford.
2003
Matt Kenseth wins the last Winston Cup Championship in a Ford Taurus.
2004
Kurt Busch wins the inaugural Nextel Cup Championship, delivering to Ford and owner Jack Roush back-to-back championships. John Force captured his thirteenth championship in the Funny Car class of NHRA.
2005
Roush Racing's entire fleet of Ford Taurus's makes the NASCAR Chase to the Nextel Cup playoff format. The Ford Five drivers Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch make up half of the 10-drivers championship competition. Frank Kimmel won his seventh ARCA championship. Sébastien Bourdais won his second back-to-back CCWS championship.
2006
Ford debuts the Fusion NASCAR Nextel Cup car and Busch Series car at Daytona and ends the season with Greg Biffle's victory in the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. John Force won his fourteenth NHRA Funny Car championship. Frank Kimmel took home his eighth ARCA ReMax championship in a Ford Fusion. Sébastien Bourdais won The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford championship for the third year in a row. The all-new Ford Focus World Rally Car made its racing debut and went on to capture the Manufacturer's Championship with Marcus Grönholm behind the wheel. Jörg Bergmeister and Krohn Racing delivered Ford its first Grand American Rolex Series Daytona Prototype driver championship.
2008
In honor of the fortieth anniversary of the release of the first Ford Cobra Jet Mustang in 1968, Ford Racing introduced the 2008 Cobra Jet Mustang, now available for customers to race in NHRA sportsmen classes during the 2009 season.
2009
Ford Racing and Ford's Special Vehicle Team (SVT) announced that the F-150 SVT Raptor R, the same truck that finished third in class at the forty-first SCORE Tecate Baja 1000, will run in the 2009 "Best In The Desert" race series. The truck will be driven by veteran Ford truck racers and former "Rough Riders" Rob MacCachren and Steve Olliges. The privately funded team will run all five points races for 2009 in the Raptor R to continue testing the durability of the 2010 F-150 SVT Raptor and its production components.
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