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NASCAR is going electric with Ford F-150 Lightning pace truck at Martinsville
By Gary Gastelu
Published April 05, 2022
NASCAR is going from white lightning to Lightning.
The Ford F-150 Lightning will serve as the pace car for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway on April 9, which is being reduced from 500 laps to 400 laps this year. (Ford)
The Ford F-150 Lighting will become the first electric pickup to pace a NASCAR Cup Series race this weekend when it leads the pack around Martinsville Speedway under the lights on Saturday night, April. 9.
The all-wheel-drive 563 horsepower truck should have no problem keeping the pace at 35 mph and could even cover the 400-lap, 210-mile distance of the race at that speed without recharging thanks to its 320-mile extended range battery pack. Even the standard pack's 230-mile rating would cover it.
Ford F-150 Lightning deliveries are scheduled to begin this spring. (Ford)
Electric Ford's have been on track before, with the Mustang Mach-E doing pace car duty at Talladega last year and the since-discontinued Ford Focus Electric at Richmond way back in 2012.
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The Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on FS1 and the Fox Sports app.
https://www.foxnews.com/auto/nascar-electric-ford-f-150-lightning-pace-martinsville