Ford CEO Jim Farley goes racing at Daytona, finishes 7th in Rolex 24 undercard
DAYTONA BEACH — In the predawn hours of Monday morning, the CEO of the Ford Motor Company was in his Detroit office, talking by phone with Ford’s Chinese battery factory partners.
Pretty heady stuff for Jim Farley, who over the weekend was just another humble race-car driver at Daytona International Speedway.
Farley, a longtime race enthusiast who has dabbled in vintage-car racing, competed Saturday and Sunday in IMSA’s newest circuit, the VP SportsCar Challenge, which will run doubleheaders on six different race weekends this year.
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Farley finished 12th in the 15-car GSX Class on Saturday and seventh on Sunday — in a Mustang, of course.
This was no afternoon cruise in a vintage sports-car, surrounded by the proverbial “gentlemen racers.”
“It’s more competitive. I like it a lot more. It's a lot different,” a sweat-soaked Farley said Sunday after climbing from his No. 98 Mustang.
How different?
“It’s the difference between a professional prize fight and a golf match at the country club. That’s what it’s like,” he said. “People are just trying to do well. They have other people invested in them and they have a lot to prove.”
Farley’s “people” were a little different than those surrounding the garage’s other cars at the end of Sunday’s race. His glad-handers included NASCAR CEO Jim France and vice chairman Mike Helton, as well as Len and Eddie Wood from Wood Brothers Racing.
"He did a great job today," Eddie Wood said.
Another longtime Ford partner, Roger Penske, wasn’t in Farley’s garage stall — he’s overseeing his own race team this week — but was certainly paying attention.
“It’s so good that he’s interested,” Penske told the Associated Press. “It’s good for Ford because he understands what motorsports means to the company.”
Though Farley obviously knows industry folks in high places, he said he insists on keeping his racing interest apart from his CEO role, which explains why he says future racing efforts will depend on the budget — in that, he’s like the vast majority of racers.
“It’s church and state,” he said. “That’s Ford and this is Jim Farley. My CEO is my wife, Lia — she approves all the budgets.
“I’ve always had the fever, it’s just a matter of money. I’ll do as many as I can afford.”
He has, however, committed to the next stop on the VP Challenge schedule, at Sebring in March.
“I’ll be there,” he said.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Ford CEO Jim Farley races at Daytona on Rolex 24 test weekend
