Ford was started by Henry Ford, the inventor of the modern assembly line that revolutionized the way cars were built and sold worldwide. He built some of the first and finest American cars and changed the way that Americans approached living. That’s not to say that he didn’t have challenges of his own, in particular his rivalry with Scottish immigrant and fellow innovator Alexander Winton, who took his Winton Bicycle Company and turned it into Winton Motor Carriage Company.

Aside from a healthy business competition, Winton and Ford were also competitors on the racetrack. Alexander Winton dominated the racetrack until Ford developed Ford racing parts, and then he became the untouchable one. The famed car that Ford won in was called “Sweepstakes”, beating out Winton in a ten lap race on the Grosse Point, Michigan racetrack.

This was certainly the start of a new legend in American automobile production, and the emergence of a new leader in racing equipage. The 1901 race was only the beginning. In 1903, another Ford car, the Ford 999, broke records by being the first car to break 60 miles per hour on the Indiana Fairgrounds track. The 999 was driven by Barney Oldfield, who went on to become quite a showman and spent most of his life racing in his “Blitzen Benz”. He helped Ford become a household name, and apparently was used as a contemporary point of reference: “Who do you think you are, Barney Oldfield?”

1932 saw massive innovation in the field of automobile racing, and of course, Ford was at the very heart of it. In 1932 Ford introduced the V-8 flathead engine that made V-8 power more common and accessible. They marketed the new engine to the “everyman” looking for power in everyday life, but racing was no exception. Ford racing parts took a massive leap forward with this formidable engine and four short years later in 1936 a Ford Anglia won the Monte Carlo rally, driven by Ionel Zamfirescu.

Currently, Ford vehicles are used by many different racing teams. Roush Racing has used only Ford vehicles since its inception, most notably racing the Thunderbird, Taurus, and currently racing the Ford Fusion and the Ford F-150. Triple Eight Race Engineering races a UK Ford FG Falcon, and John Force’s team has been a Ford team since the late nineties. Obviously, Ford Racing parts still have a dominant stance in international racing competitions over fairly successful vehicles such as Mitsubishi cars.

Ford Racing parts have set the industry standard from the start. No other company has the proven track record that Ford does. Ford started the American car industry and will continue to raise the bar not only on the streets of America, but also on the race track, speeding their way into the history books once again. It’s true that you can look to the past to see where a company is going. For Ford, the past dictates that the future will be full of innovation and industry domination.