Ever since Jimmy Florian won the company's first Grand National event in 1950 and created a stir in victory lane by emerging from his car shirtless, Ford has been leading the way as one of the sport's most competitive and successful manufacturers.

Entering the 2007 NASCAR season, Ford had amassed 576 all-time series wins. While that may only be a number to some, there are some rather impressive achievements that come along with that many victories.

Ned Jarrett won Ford Motor Company's first top NASCAR Championship as the NASCAR Grand National Series Champion in 1965 and watched proudly more than 30 years later as his son, Dale, achieved NASCAR's top honor as the Winston Cup Champion in 1999. In between, David Pearson won back-to-back crowns in 1968 and 1969 while Bill Elliott (1988) and the late Alan Kulwicki (1992) also captured the sport's top prize.

Other milestone achievements include: Red Byron winning the very first NASCAR-sanctioned race, driving a modified Ford on the beach course of Daytona Beach, Fla., on Feb. 14, 1948; Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson winning 13 races apiece as Ford won 48 of 55 races overall in 1965; Mario Andretti winning the 1967 Daytona 500; Bill Elliott becoming the first driver to win the coveted "Winston Million" in 1985 by capturing the Daytona 500, Talladega 500 and Southern 500; Jeff Burton registering Ford Motor Company's 500th win at Las Vegas on March 5, 2000; and Dale Jarrett winning at Rockingham, N.C., to clinch Ford Motor Company's 14th manufacturer's championship on Oct. 22, 2000.

The Ford record book is filled with some of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history. Ned Jarrett won 43 career races from 1959-65 and ranks first on the all-time Ford win list with 43 while Bill Elliott is second with 40. Mark Martin is third on that list having registered all 34 of his NASCAR Winston Cup victories in a Ford. Other legendary drivers who spent part or all of their careers in a Ford include: Fireball Roberts, Curtis Turner, Dan Gurney, Buddy Baker, Cale Yarborough, Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

As the ‘07 season begins, Ford will sport 9 full-time teams in NASCAR's top division. The multi-car teams of Robert Yates and Jack Roush have combined to win more than 126 races since 1988 and are among the favorites to win the series championship year-in and year-out.

And while those teams have had success the last two decades, no Ford team can match the record of consistency and excellence of the Wood Brothers, who have won 97 career NASCAR Winston Cup races with some of the sport's greatest drivers. Brothers Glen and Leonard Wood started racing Ford products in their hometown of Stuart, Va., in 1953, and were so successful that it became the family business. Glen's sons, Eddie and Len, have taken the day-to-day operation of the single-car team.