Dave Pericak hopes to leave NASCAR on a high note.
Pericak is stepping down as Ford's Director of Performance. In short, he's the man responsible for the Ford cars running in NASCAR. And with 4 Ford drivers left in the playoffs, he's got a shot to really go out with a bang.
"The championship means a lot to Ford," Pericak told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio's 'Tradin' Paint' and reported by NBC Sports. "We haven't had a championship in a while. I know the teams have recently said to me that they have even more of an incentive now that they know I'm leaving. They want to hand me the championship before I go."
Pericak's tenure in NASCAR has seen some success for the manufacturer. Ford won the 24 Hours of Le Mans GTE Pro in 2016 and the Daytona 500 with Kurt Busch. Ford also has taken seven consecutive wins in Cup restrictor-plate races. The big prize, though, is what Pericak really wants and something Ford hasn't had in over a decade.
"I can tell you guys, rest assured, we are doing everything in our power to make sure that we end up at Ford Championship weekend with more than one driver there and for the ability to win that race," Pericak said.Dave Pericak by Kena Krutsinger credit
Pericak is taking on a new role with the company as the engineering director of Unibody. Basically, he'll be responsible for the engineering on all Ford products that are not trucks.
"Anything that's not on a frame, engineering globally I will be responsible for," Pericak said. "It's a really big job within the company. Several thousand people will report to me. It's the next evolution for me and my career."