Quite some time has passed since Ford made the decision to bring the first turbocharged engine to Grand-Am's Daytona Prototype class. With next week's expected revealing of the final-spec EcoBoost V6 and the custom bodywork it will live within, Ford's Jamie Allison brought RACER up to date on the project.

“This is a long time coming,” said the Blue Oval's director of racing. “We've been preparing a brand-new body that carries a lot of the Ford brand identity and cues – especially in the nose and the tail of the car. That's keeping with the spirit of what the series is trying to do with the Daytona Prototypes. And then we have the story around our EcoBoost engine.

It's a production technology that's right for the times, so we're switching from the 5-liter V8 to the 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 EcoBoost in our DPs. The entire premise for the EcoBoost is to demonstrate endurance and efficiency in the new united series.”

The Roush Yates-built EcoBoost turbo started life as a P2 engine, and has since undergone a host of changes to suit the unique requirements found within the DP class. Outright power is limited by the series' technical staff – something in the 600hp range for BMW, Chevrolet and Ford – but the biggest requirement is found in the need to match mandated power and torque curves.

Grand-Am's requirement of production-based DP engines has allowed the Roush Yates team to retain a high percentage of stock parts from the EcoBoost, which Allison takes great pride in mentioning.

“Seventy percent of the production engine remains in the race engine,” he confirmed. “It obviously has a production block, production heads, certainly new turbos, fueling system, crank and rods. All of that has been done under the capable hands of Roush Yates, and about six weeks ago, we ran over 24 hours on our transient dyno here at Ford to prepare for the [Daytona] 24.

Complaints about a lack of torque and overall development for the Ford V8 – possibly due to Roush Yates' attention being shifted to the EcoBoost motor – made the rounds in the Grand-Am paddock for most of the season, and with Michael Shank Racing's two-car team left to fly the flag for Ford, Allison finds himself needing to secure more teams in 2014 to justify the effort and expense involved with the EcoBoost program.

Provided the twin-turbo V6 is a match for the V8s, it's unlikely Ford will be able to add a second or third team to its roster until owners and drivers see the EcoBoost run in anger at the upcoming tests.

"It's a conscious effort by Ford to develop the EcoBoost technology," he says, "and bring it to the United SportsCar series. It's important to support the series, and the association with the ACO, either in GTE or P2, which is what this engine was originally intended for, and to have a global association with them and to have a global application is very important to us.

The Blue Oval took the wraps off its brand-specific bodywork, primarily featuring a revised nose and other aero developments from the Gen-3 Riley bodywork, which had been used in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series since 2012.

“Ford Motor Company has taken today’s Daytona Prototype and injected into it unique Ford attributes and unique Ford design characteristics,” said Jamie Allison, director, Ford Racing.

Michael Shank Racing will be the first team to utilize the direct injected 3.5-liter V6 twin-turbo powerplant, with the team also set to undertake a record-breaking run next week at Daytona International Speedway.

The 2012 Rolex 24-winning team, along with Ford Racing and Continental Tire, have teamed up to attempt to break Bill Elliott’s 210.364 mph lap record around the 2.5-mile oval, set in 1987.

Weather permitting, the EcoBoost-powered DP, running specially designed Continental Tires, will take to the Daytona high banks on Oct. 9 for the run. Colin Braun will handle driving duties.