Shortly after the conclusion of the Craftsman Truck Series Window World 250 on Saturday (May 18), a new racecar took to the track at North Wilkesboro Speedway. If you weren’t watching, you would’ve missed it, because you certainly couldn’t hear it.
David Ragan was the driver behind the wheel of the Ford Mach E, Ford Performance’s all-electric NASCAR Cup Series Prototype. So what IS the car itself, and how does it work? What are the plans for the car in the future? According to Ragan, while the visual of the car may be different, the car is actually very similar to the ones that currently race on Sunday’s in the Cup Series.
“It’s a full electric vehicle,” Ragan told Frontstretch. “Over 1,000 horsepower, it’s on the same chassis and it has the same suspension parts and pieces as the current Cup car, the current Gen 7 car. It feels really similar from a handling and a driving perspective, obviously not having an engine, and it’s really quiet. It’s got a tremendous amount of torque and power.
“It’s an all wheel drive car, so two electric motors in the rear, one electric motor in the front. There’s a lot of bells and whistles, a lot of functions that I can do inside the racecar as far as switching from different power curves and different regeneration possibilities, and obviously adjusting some of the rear wheel drive and front wheel drive torque split.”
It’s interesting that the car is so closely related to the Cup Series car because the two don’t look all that similar. While the current Cup car looks a lot closer to the modern sedan, this car is more the style of a hatchback, so what’s with the new look? It’s certainly something to get used to, but also a trait that Ragan enjoys about the car.
“The racecar looks really cool,” Ragan said. “I drive a Mach E as my daily driver and I’ve fallen in love with that car around town, doing what I need to do as a husband and a dad of a couple of kids. It’s neat to have the prototype here, Ford and NASCAR and the other OEM’s have developed what that might look like down the road. I think we’ve just really scratched the surface for the look, the potential and the performance of what an EV racecar would look like.”
Now, it’s all fun and games to come and test one race car by itself, no matter what the platform of the car is. But somewhere there has to be an end goal. Is it creating a new series, or possibly making changes to one of the three national series that already compete in the sport? For now, Ragan says this is all fun, but it certainly builds a platform for future evolution.
.@DavidRagan making a lap around North Wilkesboro in the Ford Mach E. pic.twitter.com/X4s5xHa9ib
— Chase Folsom (@cfolsom_racing) May 18, 2025
“I think for the time being, it’s just going to be a demonstrator to have some fun, educate the race fans and kind of learn what technologies are out there,” Ragan said. “I think NASCAR has made it really clear that nothing is gonna change in the NASCAR divisions in the next several years.
“But you know,, as the world around us changes, motorsports will eventually evolve. I don’t know if that’s a five- or 10- or 15-year runway. But I guarantee you in the next five or 10 years, our parking lots are going to look a lot different for what the race fans are driving. … I love racecars, I love going fast and this is just another option for stuff out there. I think the race fans, they enjoy seeing cars that are fast and cool, and look a little different.
“I’m glad they chose the crossover utility vehicle body style. I think that’s a really good looking car, so each OEM has kind of got their own style for what they envision.”
One piece that stands out is the car being all wheel drive, which is something we’ve not seen in NASCAR before. How much different is it from the drivers seat and what possibilities does that open up? Ragan shared his thoughts.
“Yeah, it is a lot different to drive,” Ragan said. “It obviously has a lot of power, but it has a lot of adjustability. So I think depending on the type of track, maybe your driving style, what kind of power level that you’re racing at, there’s just a lot of adjustability there.”
While on track, Ragan made a few laps before performing the quietest burnout in the history of North Wilkesboro down the front straightaway. This got some cheers from the crowd that were obviously much louder than the burnout itself.
“I was going to try to do an all wheel drive burnout, but it was a little hard to handle,” Ragan said. “You’ve got an inside wall and an outside wall here at North Wilkesboro, so I didn’t have too much wiggle room, and we don’t need to scratch this car up any. I shifted to rear wheel drive and you know with over 1,000 horsepower it’ll burn the rear tires off.”
Obviously this is just a test run, and any concept of racing multiple of these cars on track is many years down the road. Still, the idea of electric vehicles racing in NASCAR is a unique one. Does it need to replace anything we currently have? Probably not. But if each team had one and wanted to field a driver, maybe their reserve driver in a mini series, the potential is certainly there.
Who knows, maybe we could bring NASCAR to an entirely new audience and race in more stadiums with these cars, or areas that are sensitive to noise. Maybe this could even save Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway since the residents clearly don’t like loud noises at their local racetrack.
Chase began working with Frontstretch in the spring of 2023 as a news writer, while also helping fill in for other columns as needed. Chase is now the main writer and reporter for Frontstretch.com’s CARS Tour coverage, a role which began late in 2023. Aside from racing, some of Chase’s other hobbies include time in the outdoors hunting and fishing, and keeping up with all things Philadelphia sports related.
