stangg172004

The Ford Mustang and sports car racing. The two have gone hand-in-hand since the car’s debut in 1964, and the latest version of Ford’s "pony car" will soon be returning to the track in the Grand-Am Cup Series.


Today, Ford Racing and the Grand American Road Racing Series announce that Ford Racing's 2005 Mustang GT race car has been homologated to compete in the GS Class of Grand-Am Cup. The Ford Racing Mustang GT race car is based off the all-new 2005 Mustang GT that recently hit showroom floors at Ford dealerships around the country.

"We're excited about expanding our road racing efforts in the Grand American Series with the addition of our race-prepared Mustang GT," said Dan Davis, director of Ford Racing Technology. "The 2005 Mustang and our 5.0-liter Cammer ‘R50’ V-8 make the perfect combination to extend Ford's rich sports car racing heritage."



As announced at the Specialty Equipment Manufacturer's Association (SEMA) Show in November 2004, Ford Racing Performance Parts (FRPP) has become the one-stop shop for all the racing needs of the Mustang enthusiast. FRPP will offer the race-prepared Mustang GT in Grand-Am Cup specification, as well as all the racing components necessary for race team support and for those enthusiasts interested in enhancing their own Mustangs.

FRPP also offers a 2005 Mustang "body-in-white" for those enthusiasts looking to build their own race cars. Using the FRPP catalog of performance equipment, the "do-it-yourself" builder has a choice of crate engines, from pushrod to modular V-8s, and driveline components to help build a car for a variety of racing series, including drag racing.

"Our goal with this competition program for the new Mustang is to capitalize on our performance parts program and the Mustang's successful history in road racing," continued Davis. "The 5.0-liter Cammer engine family represents the future of Ford Racing Performance Parts, and this program could help solidify the Cammer as the performance crate engine of choice. As well, this competition program will spur the development of performance parts for the new Mustang, and possibly more programs for competition in other racing series."

The ‘R50’, the race version of the Cammer V-8, as found in the Mustang GT racer, is an evolution of the all-aluminum Cammer ‘T50’ crate engine, which is currently available from Ford Racing Performance Parts. The ‘R50’ racing version features many enhancements for road racing highlighted by new cylinder heads, from the Ford GT supercar program, and a unique intake manifold. The Cammer V-8 is based on Ford's family of modular V-8 engines; including the 4.6L DOHC supercharged V-8 as found in the SVT Mustang Cobra.

"Ford Racing’s grassroots motorsports efforts have been extremely successful in providing opportunities to go racing at a good value," continued Davis. "We've worked closely with Grand-Am to ensure that the Mustang GT will not only be competitive, but will also offer racers a durable, reliable, and affordable package to go racing in Grand-Am Cup."

The debut race for the new Ford Racing Mustang GT race car will be the Grand-Am Cup Daytona 200 on Friday, February 4 at Daytona International Speedway.

Ford Racing currently supplies the 5.0-liter Cammer ‘DP’ V-8 engine, developed by Robert Yates Racing, to competitors in the Daytona Prototype class of the Grand American Rolex Series. Recently, Ford Racing announced an all-star NASCAR Nextel Cup driver line-up for the Crown Royal Ford Multimatic Daytona Prototype race car competing in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, including 2004 Nextel Cup Series Champion Kurt Busch, 2003 Nextel Cup Series Champion Matt Kenseth, and former NASCAR Busch and Craftsman Truck Series Champion Greg Biffle.
(stangnet.com)

DownUnder

Mustang GT wins at Daytona



With less than one day's experience behind the wheel of his new Ford Racing Mustang GT race car, car owner and driver Tom Nastasi, with co-driver Ian James, claims victory in the opening race of the 2005 Grand-Am Cup season at Daytona International Speedway. The win marks the first race and first win for Ford Racing's Mustang GT race car built off the new 2005 Mustang GT that is currently available in Ford dealerships.

• Ford Racing Mustang GT race cars finish 1-2 in Grand-Am Cup 200 at Daytona International Speedway.
• Blackforest Motorsports Group claims victory with "just out-of-the-box" race car.
• Ford Racing's 5.0-liter Cammer 'R50' V-8 powers the Mustang GT race car.

"The car is awesome," said Tom Nastasi, owner of the #5 Ford Racing Mustang GT run by Blackforest Motorsports. "It was delivered to me on Wednesday, and the race was Friday. I was only able to put practice laps on the car, and didn't make any changes. It was that good right out-of-the box."

Ford Racing's factory effort, a two-car team run by Multimatic Motorsports, finished in 2nd and 9th place. Two other Ford Racing Mustang GT race cars were campaigned, with 11th place captured by the # 37 JBS Motorsports car with drivers Jim and Bret Seafuse, and 22nd place by the #10 Champion Motorsports car with drivers Brad Lehmann and BJ Zacharias.

"When we started this program our goal was to build and sell identical Mustangs that people could win with and I think we proved that here at Daytona," said Dan Davis, Director of Ford Racing Technology. "I'm thrilled that Blackforest Motorsports, one of our first customers, won the season-opening Grand-Am Cup race in one of these cars. It just goes to show that these new Mustangs are very competitive and they give their owners a legitimate shot to win. It wasn't the fastest car on the track, but it won, and this is a great way to kick off Speedweeks for Ford in Daytona."

The race wasn't without excitement right down to the finish when the #5 Blackforest Motorsports car was being chased down by the #55 Multimatic factory team. Ian James drove the first stint in the #5 Ford Racing Mustang and made the brilliant call to just take on gas, and no new tires, during their only pit stop and driver change in the race.



"The engine started to stumble coming down the final stretch, and actually ran out of gas just as we crossed the finish line," said Nastasi. "The team had to push the car into Victory Lane."

"It's a testament to how good this race car is and the development that went into it that we could run the whole race on one set of tires, and win."



The Ford Racing Mustang GT was developed by Ford Racing Performance Parts, in conjunction with Multimatic Motorsports, and will be sold as a complete "ready-to-race" package for the Grand-Am Cup Series.

"We couldn't have asked for a better start for our Mustang competition program," said Primo Goffi, Program Manager, Ford Racing Performance Parts. "We're extremely happy with the results of the Grand-Am Cup 200 here at Daytona, especially for our customer teams."

For more information about the Ford Racing Mustang GT, or any of the Ford Racing Performance Parts catalogs of hardware, visit www.fordracingparts.com .



The race-prepared Mustang GT in full Grand-Am Cup-spec, as well as the 'R50' Cammer V8 and the 2005 Mustang "body-in-white", are available through Ford Racing Performance Parts. Teams interested in racing the Mustang GT in Grand-Am Cup competition should contact the Ford Racing Technical Hotline at: 586-468-1356.

For more information on Ford Racing Performance Parts, please visit: www.fordracingparts.com


- Stangnet.com

stangg172004

X!

mantis23

Very cool.

CLovis

DownUnder

^^^Nice pic!

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Hmm...talk about flashback...

Can you imagine what it'll look like when they bring back a retro Camaro?

Billiam

If I recall my racing history correctly, Ford never really sank that much factory effort into the Mustang. Wasn't their sportscar racing success primarily with Shelby's Cobras and the GT40? Both of which seemed to be aimed squarely at Ferrari and not Chevrolet. Well, at least the Cobras were. Shelby really disliked Enzo.