Ford's Lone NOAPS Entry Starts Last at Chicagoland

Cuervo 300 Graphic for Chicagoland’s NOAPS race on July 4, 2026.

When the entry list for this weekend's NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Chicagoland Speedway was released, one statistic immediately stood out.

Among the 38 cars entered, just one carries the Blue Oval.

Veteran driver JJ Yeley will pilot the #38 for RSS Racing, making it the lone Ford in the field. The rest of the grid features mostly Chevrolets and a handful of Toyotas, which is a striking contrast to the fields in NASCAR’s second-tier division.

At Chicagoland, rain and thunderstorms forced NASCAR to cancel Friday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series practice, and officials decided to replace Saturday’s qualifying with the practice session originally scheduled for today. This meant the lineup would be set by NASCAR’s performance metric, with Yeley’s #38 Ford drawing dead last, at 38th. The race’s only Ford will have to race through the entire field to reach victory lane.

It wasn’t long ago that Ford teams were consistent contenders in the NOAPS schedule and developmental ranks, but now that presence has dwindled considerably.

Chevrolet continues to field a deep roster of teams across the NOAPS garage, and Toyota continues to field a handful of teams as well. Ford’s support for the developmental series has been much leaner in the recent years.

Over the past several seasons, Ford’s footprint has shrunk as teams changed manufacturers, reorganized, or left the series altogether. This has led to this July 4th weekend at Chicagoland, where a single Ford carries the manufacturer’s banner. Ford’s last win in the series was Sam Mayer’s win at the Hy-Vee Perks 250 at Iowa Speedway. As for Chicagoland, the last time a ford won a NOAPS race at Chicagoland was actually the last time NASCAR raced there in 2019, when Cole Custer won with Stewart-Haas Racing, which shut down at the end of the 2024 season. Gene Haas transitioned to the Haas Factory Team and Haas Factory Team transitioned to Chevrolet at the beginning of 2026.

Chicagoland has been a site of memorable moments for Ford over the years. Ford teams have celebrated many victories at the 1.5 mile oval, and many drivers who have found success at Chicagoland have continued on to the NASCAR cup series.

Whether this is simply a temporary product of team changes or reflects a broader shift in Ford’s development strategy remains to be seen. Ford remains a championship-caliber manufacturer in the Cup series, but continues to lessen its footprint in NASCAR’s developmental series.

What do you think? Will Ford leave NOAPS and other developmental racing series in the future? Will the reintroduction of Dodge to NASCAR mark the end for Ford in the lower series?