Ford official denies team orders but admits to asking teams to help each other

Jamie Allison, who oversees Ford’s motorsports program in North America, was on Sirius Satellite Radio’s “Tradin Paint’’ show on Monday afternoon and discussed the issue of if Ford ordered its teams not to work with any other manufacturers at Talladega this past weekend in light of Trevor Bayne leaving Jeff Gordon late in that race and Tony Stewart saying he could not work with David Gilliland because of orders.

Here’s what Allison said to the question of if he or Ford ordered its teams not to work with anyone else:

“We don’t have orders per se. That’s how we work with these teams. These are independent teams that choose an affiliate with us as a manufacturer. We have a lot of respect and mutual agreements. We discuss many strategies. We don’t mandate. We don’t issue orders. I can tell you at the start of the Chase, we reached out to all the Ford teams, I personally did, along with my team and basically said, “Hey, thank you for affiliating with Ford Motor Company. We’re very proud of everybody. Hey, these are special times for us. If an opportunity presents itself where you can help a Ford teammate, just please be aware and try to help out.

“It was just an outreach, a consideration, just be aware that we’re in the Chase and we’re all part of the big Ford family. No orders. None of what you have been reading around this big plan or big orders. It’s none of that. I can tell you guys, it’s been a very, very tough and long and hard-fought season. It’s been on merit. We’ve earned all the wins. I wish we could count the almost-wins. It’s not just in Cup. You look at Nationwide. We have a strong, strong lead with Ricky (Stenhouse Jr.).  We’ve got the manufacturer’s championship that we’re contending with there.

“It’s a strong, strong year. It’s all because of good preparation, good teamwork and a lot of great teams. We just are reaching out and helping the fellow teammates.’’

Steve Newmark, President of Roush Fenway Racing, told SceneDaily.com that “No one at Roush gave a specific instruction to Trevor about what he had to do in that situation. Everyone in the sport expects teammates to assist each other but in that situation it’s a free-for-all.’’

After the race, Bayne went and talked to Gordon about what happened at the end and after they had agreed to work together and then how Bayne went with teammate Matt Kenseth.

Bayne wrote on Twitter after the race about his frustrations with not being able to choose his drafting partner and stated in a tweet _ since removed _ that “I would have rather pulled over and finished last than tell (Gordon) I would work with him and then be strong-armed into bailing.’’

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