The recently completed NASCAR off-season was anything but for crew chief Donnie Wingo and his No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion team.

The change to a radically different Ford Fusion has kept Wingo and his Wood Brothers crew especially busy, even during the weeks of Christmas and New Year’s, when teams typically take a few days off.

“For the first time in a long time I didn’t take a vacation,” Wingo said. “We didn’t even take the whole week of Christmas off.”

“This is by far the most change we’ve ever had from one season to the next.”

With NASCAR officials being extra careful with their specifications for the new cars, crew chiefs like Wingo found themselves working right up to the last minute before loading their cars for this week’s Preseason Thunder test sessions at Daytona International Speedway.

“NASCAR wants to get it right the first time with this new car,” Wingo said, adding that teams can either speculate what NASCAR will do and make changes to their cars or wait for the final rules to be released. He’s among those waiting for the final specs rather than guessing wrong on the rules. “You’ll stay behind if you’re constantly having to re-do things.”

It was just this week that the No. 21 Ford Fusion saw its first wind-tunnel test, one that answered few questions for now because it’s a totally new car.

“There’s really nothing to compare it to,” Wingo said.

For the Daytona test, Wingo and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team have taken the chassis they raced at Talladega Superspeedway last fall and made the necessary changes, including the installation of the new 2013 Ford Fusion body, one that more closely resembles those on the Fusions in dealers’ showrooms.

“The new bodies are going to appeal to the fans, especially those who are loyal to a certain manufacturer,” Wingo said.

How the cars perform on the race track will be determined in large part this week at Daytona.

“The car has less drag, but it also has less downforce – front, rear, and overall,” he said.  Since NASCAR is adding even more body templates this year, there’s very little that teams can do to affect the aerodynamic characteristics of their cars.

It should be fairly evident early on in the test as to which cars have the advantage heading into Speedweeks.

“You’ll know how you stack up after the first three hours of the test,” he said.

Wingo said he’ll have his driver Trevor Bayne focus initially on single-car runs, but he does plan to do some drafting before the test ends on Saturday. Only after some drafting practice will drivers and teams know whether the tandem-style racing that has been commonplace at Daytona and Talladega in recent years will be feasible with the new cars.

Bayne and the team have been successful at that style of racing as evidenced by their win in the 2011 Daytona 500, but that may not be a viable option this time around.

“It’s pretty hard to tell at this point,” Wingo said. “I’m not sure how the bumpers are going to line up, and the front ends are different for each manufacturer.”

There’s also the additional factor of the cars having less downforce.

“We don’t know how well these cars will push,” he said. “But I’m sure people will be playing around with it.”  

Qualifying for the season-opening Daytona 500 is set for Sunday, Feb. 17, at 1:05 p.m. Eastern Time, and the Great American Race is scheduled for Feb. 24 at 1:20 p.m.

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Trevor Bayne, the Wood Brothers, and the rest of the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane crew left the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway not particularly pleased with their 23rd-place finish, but very happy about the speed the No. 21 Ford Fusion showed in the race. 

Bayne qualified 20th but ran better than that for much of the afternoon. His quest for speed came at a price though, as he made contact with the wall and the resulting damage kept him from getting the finish he’d hoped for. 

“I am four-for-four with races here at hitting the wall and cutting tires,” Bayne said. “We were really fast every single time. We were one of the fastest cars here in both Nationwide and Cup races and that isprobably the reason, because I am using up every bit of race track that I can to get that speed.” 

“The problem is there is a lot of risk with that, and I found it more than once. At the end we were still in position and we cut a right rear tire because of the damage, and we couldn’t recover from that.” 

“I think we had a top-10 type day going. We never had the track position but we were as fast as the leaders.”

Team co-owner Eddie Wood said he’s happy to be patient with and supportive of a driver who will push a car to its limits, even when he exceeds those limits at times. And he said he’s even more proud of Donnie Wingo, and the entire Motorcraft/Quick Lane crew that prepared the No. 21 Ford Fusion.

“We had a really fast car,” Wood said. “We just kept getting into the wall.” 

Both driver and team owner left the Sprint Cup finale feeling good about the progress they’ve made this year and about the prospects for the future. 

“I think we worked the best we have together all year, and that is a very good thing going into 2013,” Bayne said. Wood agreed, and said he also is excited to see this year’s championship-winning team returning to the Ford Racing team next season. 

“I’m happy for Roger Penske and Brad Keselowski and congratulate them on winning the Sprint Cup championship,” Wood said. “Having them on board next year, along with Roush Fenway, and RPM, gives Ford Motor Company a good chance to win the Manufacturer’s Championship, and that’s important to us all.” 

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With their 20th-place qualifying effort on Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Trevor Bayne and his No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion team successfully completed a season of walking a qualifying tight rope with no safety net.

Sixteen times this season, Bayne has left pit road on qualifying day with no assurance that he’d take the green flag in the race, as his team’s partial schedule means it doesn’t have the luxury of a guaranteed starting spot.

For the Ford EcoBoost 400 qualifying session, there was even more pressure than usual. The high-profile, championship-deciding Sprint Cup season finale is sponsored by another member of the same Ford racing family that backs the Wood Brothers team.

“I broke a sweat and it isn’t even hot outside,” Bayne said. “It is a tight field here for making the race this weekend it seems like.”

In addition to the field being so competitive, he had to overcome a bobble or two to post a lap at 172.662 miles per hour.

“Coming through [Turns] Three and Four getting up to speed, I slid up a little bit too much, and I let it float up too high and had to get off the gas and drag the brake and couldn’t get a good run to the green [flag],” he said. “I think that was about two-tenths [of a second per lap.]”

Despite these issues, Bayne didn’t seem too worried about how his Ford Fusion will perform on Sunday.

“I think the car might have it in it for the race though,” he said. “We will have to go race trim tomorrow and see what we have.”

“We are in the show though, and we can race from there for sure.”

The Ford EcoBoost 400 is set to get the green flag just after 3 p.m. on Sunday with TV coverage on ESPN.

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Even though the Wood Brothers race team runs a partial Sprint Cup schedule, the Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway is a race the team eagerly anticipates.

There are the connections with their sponsor, Motorcraft/Quick Lane, and the race’s sponsor, Ford Motor Company. Just being able to participate in one of NASCAR’s showcase events is very mportant.

Assuming Trevor Bayne qualifies for Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400, it’ll mark 16 points-paying race appearances this season for Bayne and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane crew, a stretch that has seen them post four top-10 qualifying efforts and two top-10 race finishes. Sunday’s race also will be the last time Bayne and the Wood Brothers will compete using the current NASCAR version of the Ford Fusion.

Beginning next season, NASCAR’s Ford teams will begin racing a redesigned 2013 Ford Fusion. Fans and drivers can get a sneak peek at how that car will look this weekend as the 2013 Ford Fusion Titanium will serve as the official pace car.

Eddie Wood, co-owner of the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion, said he’s looking for one more good run from his team’s 2012 Ford Fusion then the focus will shift to the 2013 model.

“It’s going to look like the Fusions in the dealers’ showrooms and on the street, and that’s something NASCAR hasn’t had in a while,” Wood said. “There’s going to be lots of identity for Ford Motor Company and for all the other manufacturers.”

Wood said the new cars take NASCAR racing back to a time when fans and competitors paid close attention to every detail of the race cars, such as the shapes of the bodies and the designs created by the manufacturers.

Bayne and the Wood Brothers already have participated in two on-track tests with the 2013 Fusion, at Martinsville Speedway and Kansas Speedway, and Wood said those tests indicate that the new models also have the potential to make NASCAR’s on-track product even more exciting.

“The new car has a lot of adjustability in it, which NASCAR can use to help make the racing better,” he said. “I’m really impressed with its capabilities.”

The downside of bringing out a new car for the Wood Brothers and other race teams is that it’ll mean some long hours at the shop preparing new cars, but Wood said that’s really nothing new.

“It’s normal for race teams to work long hours getting ready for Daytona and the upcoming season,” he said.

Qualifying for the Ford EcoBoost 400 is set for Friday at 6:10 p.m. Eastern Time, and the race is set to get the green flag just after 3 p.m. on Sunday with TV coverage on ESPN.

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