[mustang man]

In a recent article in the Indianapolis Star the head of Ford's racing program, Dan Davis, stated that Ford's departure from open-wheel racing after the 2002 CART season could be a long term deal.

Ford has made it clear that they aren't happy with the normally aspirated small block type engines that both CART and the IRL will make mandatory for the teams to use starting next season. Davis said that the new engine specs aren't the main reason Ford is going to concentrate on NASCAR and NHRA.

"For us, it's not about what we're interested in but what our customers are interested in," he said. "Our data says the NHRA is way ahead of CART and the IRL. You look at open-wheel racing and it's way down there. So we're going to put our money where our customers are."

Edit: Quoted from Drag Racing Online.