Penske Ford NASCAR set for Surfers Paradise demo at Gold Coast 600
Supercars frontrunner Scott McLaughlin is set to demonstrate a race-winning Penske NASCAR Ford on the streets of Surfers Paradise this weekend, as part of the Gold Coast 600
McLaughlin will drive the Ford Fusion that Joey Logano took to victory at the NASCAR All-Star race in 2016 in a special run on the Australian street circuit.
The NASCAR Fusion car already resides on the Gold Coast, having been shipped to DJR Team Penske's Yatala workshop to go on display in the team's museum.
The car has a number of significant links to the Australian arm of the Penske racing empire, sharing a manufacturer in Ford, and a major backer in Shell.
The NASCAR demo will bring the US flavour back to an event still colloquially referred to as Indy, thanks to its long association with American open-wheel racing.
It also comes amid a burgeoning relationship between NASCAR and Supercars, the American series' executive vice president Steve O'Donnell and vice president of innovation and racing development John Probst having travelled down under for the Tailem Bend Supercars round back in August.
That has led to speculation that NASCAR could stage a showcase race on the Gold Coast as soon as next year.
It would not be the first American-style stock car race in Surfers Paradise, a local version known as AUSCAR having run on the Indy support card in the mid-1990s.
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About this article
| Series | Supercars |
| Teams | Team Penske |
| Author | Andrew van Leeuwen |
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