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Ford F-150 Tremor to pace NASCAR Truck Series this weekend

Ford's bro-tastic F-150 Tremor will be pacing this weekend's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Michigan International Speedway. The Tremor fills a gap in the Ford F-Series lineup that we imagine the NASCAR set have clamored for - a hot-rod pickup truck.
Where the F-150 Raptor is designed to go quick on anything, the Tremor and its 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 are designed to tackle the road. The 365-horsepower and 420-pound-foot EcoBoost is unchanged from the rest of the F-150 line, but it combines the shortest drive ratio with the lightest two-door body, making it a bit of hot rod.
Ford will be offering hot laps with Michigan native Brad Keselowski behind the wheel of the Tremor for fans that arrive in the Irish Hills on August 14. The main showing for the new pickup will be the August 17 race, though, when it'll lead the field at the start of the race and through cautions.

Justin Bell makes a horrible policeman

If you're wondering what type of person makes a good police officer, it seems a racecar driver doesn't. Let us rephrase that: Justin Bell, a racecar driver and the host of Motor Trend's World's Fastest Car Show, recently got behind the wheel of a 5.0-liter Ford Mustang police car with Sergeant Daniel Shrubb, co-founder of DRAGG (Drag Racing Against Gangs and Graffiti), and proved that his high-performance-driving skillset is a bit too aggressive for police duty.
While it's easy to get carried away in a Mustang GT, a patrol car driver must maintain some sort of restraint while pursuing a criminal, so as not to come off as a reckless driver to the public. We'll admit, some pursuit techniques are counter-intuitive to performance driving (stay off the gas in a lane-change exercise?), but Bell's judicious use of the handbrake can't be normal procedure.
Watch "The One With The Ford Mustang 5.0 Police Car" (yes, we caught the Friends reference too) below to see some shenanigans in one of Michigan's finest patrol cars.

Ford idling Michigan Assembly Plant to trim Focus, C-Max supply

Ford will be putting the brakes on production at its Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, MI, idling production during the weeks of October 28 and December 16. Ford is citing the first drop in US sales in 27 months, a 4.2-percent dip in September, as the impetus for trimming their supplies, according to Automotive News.
Ford's deft management of its supplies has been part of its success over the years, and seeing supplies of Focus and C-Max, the two vehicles built at MAP, rise from 58 and 108 days, respectively, to 71 and 122 days over the span of a month was apparently all that was need to justify the trimming. As AN points out, the rule of thumb for many automakers is to maintain a 60-day supply of vehicles.
"Ford has been focused on keeping their pricing in check. Their operating margin is in double digits. Nobody else is there and they're obviously very proud of that," Alan Baum, an auto analyst with Baum & Associates told AN. Keeping the supply chain operating smoothly and not increasing supplies too much is crucial to that healthy profit margin. After all, a large supply lowers prices ,which, in turn, cuts profit. So while this news might not be great for employees at MAP, who now have an extra two weeks of vacation time, it's far from a sign of problems in Dearborn. Quite the opposite, actually.