Ford sets Veterans Day race and concert at Daytona
Ford will stage its inaugural Proud to Honor Veterans Day Classic on Nov. 11 at Daytona International Speedway, combining Mustang racing with a Zac Brown Band concert and a fundraising platform for military and veteran families. The event is scheduled for Veterans Day at one of the best-known tracks in the country.
Ford is producing the event with NASCAR, Blue Star Families, IMSA and Historic Sportscar Racing. Six teams will each honor one branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. The cars will be Mustang Dark Horse Rs, and the announced Ford Racing driver group includes Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Logan Sargeant, Noah Gragson, Frankie Muniz and Ben Hobson, with more names still to come.
Zac Brown Band will headline the concert portion of the evening. Ford says additional performers will be announced later, as will the television network carrying the race live.
Before tickets went on sale to the public, Ford Philanthropy and its nonprofit partners said 1,000 complimentary tickets would be distributed to eligible military and veteran families connected with those organizations. Public early-bird general admission starts at $110, while a VIP Experience is listed at $305. Veterans and active-duty military can receive a 20 percent discount through GovX after verification, and Ford says Ticketmaster is waiving ticketing fees for the event.
The six teams are intended to represent the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy and Space Force, giving each team an identity beyond a traditional sponsor or car number.
Ford is establishing the Proud to Honor Fund, powered by GlobalGiving, and says money donated to the fund will go to six organizations: Blue Star Families, Camp Southern Ground, Disabled American Veterans, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, Team Rubicon and the Travis Manion Foundation. Ford also says a portion of ticket proceeds will benefit Blue Star Families. The company has not disclosed the percentage of ticket revenue that will be directed to that organization.
Racing shifted from the Daytona beach-road course to the permanent speedway in 1959. The track has since become the annual home of the Daytona 500 and the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
The Mustang Dark Horse R is a track-only racing model. Ford developed it around a 5.0-liter Coyote V8 producing more than 500 horsepower, a Tremec 3160 manual transmission, a Torsen limited-slip differential and competition hardware that includes a safety cage, racing seat, fire-suppression equipment and track-focused suspension and braking components. It was created for the IMSA-sanctioned Mustang Challenge.
Ford first announced the Veterans Day Classic in June aboard the USS Midway in San Diego, where Zac Brown Band performed for a military-focused audience. Zac Brown has supported military and veteran communities for years, including through Camp Southern Ground, the nonprofit he founded.
Several details remain unannounced, including the complete driver lineup, additional musicians and the live broadcast network.
