Ford has now announced the cars, the colors, the concert, the cable channel and the charity fund for its Veterans Day Classic at Daytona. What it hasn't announced, at least in the material it has published so far, is how long the race runs or how a winner gets picked. That gap is the story, and it's why the lineup tells you more than the poster does.
The event is set for Wednesday, Nov. 11, at Daytona International Speedway, three days after the Cup Series finale at Homestead (here's how that November calendar stacks up). Ford is running it in collaboration with NASCAR, Blue Star Families, IMSA and HSR, according to Ford's own announcement. Twelve Ford Racing drivers will split into six teams, one for each branch of the U.S. military, all in Mustang Dark Horse R race cars.
Think about what that means. In a normal NASCAR weekend, Ford's pitch to its fans is simple: beat Chevrolet and Toyota. Here there is **** ody to beat. Every driver, every car and every logo on the grid is Ford, so the manufacturer has to build the stakes from scratch. Its answer is the military branch as team identity, and Ford says the teams are racing for bragging rights.
That is a smart device and a fragile one. A one-make race can't borrow rivalry from the paddock. It has to earn it in two hours of television, which is why the details Ford hasn't filled in matter more than usual.
Ford's lineup pairs the drivers like this: Army gets Joey Hand and Brad Keselowski, the Marine Corps gets Ryan Blaney and Ben Hobson, the Navy gets Logan Sargeant and Ryan Preece, the Air Force gets Frankie Muniz and Austin Cindric, the **** e Force gets Noah Gragson and Layne Riggs, and the Coast Guard gets Joey Logano and Ty Majeski.

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