Not Ranked
Look who got a new Ford GT
I could not have happened to a nicer guy.
NASCAR CHAMPION’S NEW WHEELS
BY TEAM FORD RACING CORRESPONDENT
New York — As part of the Cup awards banquet, held Friday in New York City, Matt Kenseth walked out of the Waldorf-Astoria with a smile and a check for $5,138,640. But it was a presentation earlier in the day that gave Ford Motor Company the opportunity to deliver.
As has been the case since Ford Racing Technology director, Dan Davis took control several years ago, a gift was presented to the NASCAR champion. And using history as a guide it should come as no surprise that Davis presented Kenseth with the keys to one of the finer Ford jewels.
“We like giving champions something that comes from the heart from Ford Racing,” explained Davis. “This is a Ford Racing thing where we tell them not just ‘Way to go’ and clap our hands and send them a nice letter. We do all that and we deliver them something that’s permanent for them winning what is so precious to us and what is so precious to them. What can I give them? I can give them a car of their choice. And I cannot just send them to a dealer and say, ‘Go pick it up.’ We can make it real personal and take it to their doorstep and say, ‘Here you go. Here’s your car.’”
While Davis broke from tradition by making the presentation to Kenseth at a location other than his ‘doorstep’, it was nonetheless personal as Ford Motor Company rolled one of it’s heralded Ford GT coupes next to the championship No 17 Taurus during a photo session in Times Square.
The look on Kenseth’s face when the car made its way into view was, as they say, priceless.
Explaining the choice of car Davis said, “Matt said, ‘Man, I sure like that Ford GT,’ and he’s been on me about that for at least six months or so. Not a whole lot of people know that we give cars to champions so Matt was not thinking, ‘Oh, if I’m champion I get a car.’ He’s not thinking that.”
The Ford GT is indeed one of the finest as a limited production brings back to the street a car ordered by Henry Ford II to give the Oval presence in Le Mans, back in 1963. The new car is decidedly edgy and in very high demand.
“Matt came to me way early and said, ‘Make sure I’m on that list for the Ford GT.’” Davis continued. “He kept on me, ‘Hey Dan, am I still on that list?’ Yeah, you’re on the list. They are very limited, only 1500 a year and the list is really long for people that want them.
“So about six weeks ago I was talking to Matt and he said, ‘I’m still on that list?’ I said, ‘Yeah, yeah, you’re on the list but I’ll tell you what, I have sort of this tradition that says the Winston Cup champion gets to pick any car they like. If you win the championship I’ll deliver a Ford GT to your front door, yours to keep,’ and he said, ‘Really?’ I said, ‘Yeah, really.’
“So about a month ago I just happened to be talking to him and I didn’t want to queer the deal with his championship or anything so I didn’t say anything. He said, ‘Hey Dan, is that deal still on?’ I said, ‘Yeah, the deal’s still on.’ He to said, ‘I’ve been looking forward to that.’”
Davis recalled the hefty 1999 order when Dale Jarrett (NASCAR) and John Force (NHRA) won their respective titles, Davis said in the case of Jarrett’s car, he wanted an XJR convertible and only one thousand a year came into the United States. So that’s actually more rare than the Ford GT. But not only did he pick one the Jag but so did Force. Davis needed to get two of the thousand that came in that year.
“Dale doesn’t know this but I had to pull a lot of strings to get him that car. That wasn’t just about putting the order in. I called the President of Jaguar USA and said, ‘I’ve got to have two cars.’”
Davis then chuckled before adding, “And I paid retail.”
Recalling what it meant to him Jarrett offered, “It was pretty special. I had no idea. It was just one of the things that Ford came up with that year. John Force and I both won our championships.
“Dan gave us the opportunity to pick out any car that Ford Motor Company manufactures and it was a nice treat. I obviously went for a little bit of a sports car and John did the same thing. It was kind of funny. We talked on the phone about what we were going to order. We talked actually when we were in Dearborn as they helped us to celebrate our championship. It was pretty cool.
“It’s those kinds of special things that a lot of people don’t know about that the manufacturers do for the teams and for the drivers. It makes you feel even more special than what they’ve made me feel for our championship.”
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