Penske Racing has announced that it will join Ford Racing as part of a multi-year agreement that will begin with the 2013 NASCAR season. Penske's teams will compete with Ford Fusions in the Sprint Cup Series and with Ford Mustangs in the Nationwide Series, beginning next season. 

Penske has run Dodge products in NASCAR since 2003, during which it scored 48 wins (26 Cup Series and 22 Nationwide Series), 72 pole positions (50 Cup Series and 22 Nationwide Series) and one series championship (the 2010 Nationwide Series title). It ran Ford products prior to that, in 1976 and '77 and again from 1994-2002.

“Penske Racing has had and continues to have a terrific relationship with Dodge and we thank them for their partnership and their support over the past 10 years,” said Roger Penske. “Our organizations have experienced many great memories together and our teams are committed to produce wins and championships with Dodge this season.

"The timing of this announcement with Ford is obviously very important due to the implementation of the new 2013 NASCAR Ford Fusion, which we will compete with next year at Daytona. With only a year to go, we needed to plan for the future and make important commitments to our sponsors, drivers, crews and employees. We appreciate the long-term commitment that Ford has made to Penske Racing and for its continued support of the sport.”

Penske indicated his team's in-house engine program was likely to continue, but that there could be some crossover with Ford's top NASCAR engine builder, Roush Yates.

"From an engine perspective, we have a commitment to our people at the engine shop," Penske noted " We've got a big investment in dynos and other things, so this is something that we'll take a good look at, but what I like about it is we'll be able to benchmark our capabilities at Penske Engines versus the best in the business at Roush Yates.”

Penske currently fields Brad Keselowski and AJ Allmendinger in the Cup Series and has two full-time entries in the Nationwide Series – one shared by Keselowski and Parker Kligerman and another driven by Sam Hornish Jr.

Penske's IndyCar program, meanwhile, fields cars powered by engines from Ford's arch-rival Chevrolet.