With two rounds left in the 2026 Mustang Challenge North America season, DSC caught up with Ford Racing Global One-Make Series Manager Chris Ward to reflect on the success of the season just over the 2026 halfway point.
In both Dark Horse and Dark Horse Legends, the level of competition has been top-notch, with the drivers’ championships in either category far from wrapped up going into VIRginia International Raceway. Cole Loftsgard has a 120-point lead in Dark Horse over Ford Driver Development Team driver Devin Anderson in second place, and Tom Tait sits in first in Dark Horse Legends with a 130-point lead to Chris Clarke in second. Either of these leads can be cut down dramatically, if not overturned, before the final meeting at Circuit of the Americas two weeks from now.
Since 2024, Mustang Challenge has been an enticing addition to the IMSA support series lineup for young and mature racing talent alike, drawing new entrants nearly every race weekend. The results don’t lie: The success of rookie entrants has been a standout story to follow this season.
Current championship leader Loftsgard made a memorable debut in the season opener at Sebring, sweeping both races and making a statement. His Round 3 Racing teammate this weekend, Oleg Gorshkov, took a page out of his book, taking two wins on his mid-season debut at Watkins Glen.
Ward said, “We’ve got a couple of key contenders in the Dark Horse class that are duking it out weekend after weekend, and some really good battles there, and again in both classes of competition. So yeah, the level of competition – I think that’s what pleased me [reflecting on the season].”
Before the start of this season, two-time series champion Robert Noaker dominated in 2024 and 2025, with a perfect season in his second year. With Noaker now competing in the Michelin Pilot Challenge in a Ford Mustang GT4 (and currently leading that championship going into its race at VIR on Saturday), an opportunity presented itself for new and returning stars alike to prove themselves.
And by far, Loftsgard has been the foremost revelation of the season in his first four races in a Dark Horse R, taking the top step of the podium six of eight rounds.
“To have an all-new star arrive in the championship, I wouldn’t use the word necessarily dominant, but of course, leading the championship and duking it out with our Development Team drivers, Devin Anderson and Will Lucas; I think it’s just great,” said Ward.
“I think it is a testament to the accessibility that a new young driver can arrive in the championship and come up to speed as quickly as Cole has done. He’s done a really, really good job all season.”
The 2026 Mustang Challenge North America grid features two members of the Ford Racing Driver Development Team, the aforementioned Anderson and Lucas. Lucas, competing in Challenge this season after winning the inaugural Mustang Cup USA championship in 2025, is an example of Ford’s development ‘pyramid’ at work.
The passion and commitment to helping young drivers achieve success with the American manufacturer is apparent. Ward added that a major personal goal of his is to see a young driver earn the support of the Blue Oval and prove themselves, developing all the way to the tip of the Ford Racing pyramid.
“The dream for me as someone that has the privilege of running the Development Team programme, is that we meet a young driver – and who knows, hopefully we’ve already met them – and then fast forward five, six, whatever the number of years are down the road, and we stand on the grid together as they climb into our Hypercar and they take the green flag for the Le Mans 24. That would be the realisation of a dream for me, and I know I share that dream with them.”
Look no further than the Mustang Challenge entry list, where Ford CEO Jim Farley has joined in the action as a VIP entry multiple times over the past few seasons, to see the brand’s deep investment in these relatively new one-make series.
“There isn’t another CEO of an automotive brand that competes on the racetrack, so I think that puts him in a unique air,” Ward continued, “and I think it puts us in a unique air that we have the confidence of our leadership that he wants to come out and race with our with our customers, which is just terrific.
“It’s a testament to the backing that we have from the most senior level of leadership in the product, first and foremost, in the competition. It puts an added level of pressure on us as a team to make sure that we’re performing, which is great.
”But first and foremost, Jim’s a competitor. He has done a really good job this year. I think he’s pretty pleased with his driving this year,” Ward smiled.
Back at Watkins Glen, the series announced an exciting new invitational event for Mustang Challenge to take place at Spa-Francorchamps as part of the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa event in 2027. This event will draw competitors from Mustang Challenge, as well as Mustang Cup USA and Australia. It plans to be the brand’s largest one-make event, bigger than the Le Mans Invitational in 2025.
The decision to choose Spa as the host venue came down to the track’s prestige, as well as a consideration of wish fulfillment for Ford’s competitors.
“We are keen to expand the cadence of our global invitational championship and offer our customers a really unique opportunity to come and race with us in some really amazing bucket-list venues, and Spa is up there,” Ward said of the new showcase event. “If you name in Europe the bucket-list tracks, it would be hard to argue against Le Mans, Spa, possibly Nürburgring; who knows what other venues that we might deign to visit in the future coming years.”
“I think it it’s one of the things that we look to to maybe set our championship aside from others, is that we will give this opportunity, be it on an annual or a semiannual or who knows what basis in the future to come – and tick off these bucket list tracks and race with the competitors, not only in their championship in North America, but then also the bringing together of these these categories from around the world.”
The 24 Hours of Spa in itself has a lot of momentum with the global rise in popularity of GT3 racing, and looks to be a great choice for next year’s global invitational event.
“The CrowdStrike Spa 24 Hours event is an incredible event. I had the privilege of being there again this year. Like many sports car events nowadays, it’s gone from strength to strength since the first time I went 15-plus years ago.
“The event is enormous. I think they had another record crowd again this year, and for our customers to be able to compete in that arena under that spotlight at that famed track, I just can’t wait to get there; can’t wait for June ’27 to roll around.”
Images © Ford
