Ford Racing is continuing to launch its assault on all forms of motorsport with the upcoming launch of the 2010 Boss 302R Mustang to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the original Boss 302's 1970 Trans-Am championship. No photos of the car have been released quite yet, but we do have plenty of information thanks to a leaked letter to Ford dealers. Like the FR500S, FR500C, FR500CJ and other Mustangs available from the Ford Racing Performance Parts catalog, the Boss 302R is for off-road use only and will be built in very limited quantities. Just 50 are planned for production at a starting cost of $79,000.
Two versions of the 302R will be available, with the base package designed to compete in various SCCA and NASA classes and the upgraded version built to Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series specifications. The base Boss 302R includes a 5.0-liter four-valve V8 pushing out an estimated 400 horsepower as well as a six-speed transmission, race-spec suspension, brakes and tires, and safety equipment including a roll cage and race seats with safety harnesses. The Grand-Am spec version also gets a sealed high-output race engine, seam-welded body, racing fuel cell, a data acquisition system and more for a cost of $129,000.
Ford Racing is currently taking orders, and judging by sales of their other competition Mustangs you will need to order immediately if you want to get your hands on one. Follow the jump for more information and detailed specifications of the 2010 Ford Racing Boss 302R.
Hold on to your butts, people. Ford Racing and Roush Fenway Racing have unveiled their new stock car based on the poniest of pony cars. Prior to this, Ford teams in NASCAR have driven Fusions. Well, all right, none of them were actual Fusions or will be actual Mustangs. Rather, they'll be normal stock cars like everyone else in NASCAR drives that are covered with enough stickers and fake grilles to make you think that you might be looking at a Mustang from the stands. Man, "stock car" has really become a contradiction in terms.
Now you won't see Mustangs turning left next week in Charlotte at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The new car will compete in four races next year and only in the Nationwide Series, not the Sprint Cup. As such, it won't be based on the Car of Tomorrow platform that the Sprint Cup series uses, but rather the newer, different Car of Tomorrow platform designed specifically for the Nationwide Series. This first new Mustang to race in the Nationwide Series will be the No. 16 Con-way Freight Mustang driven by Colin Braun for Roush Fenway Racing. Is it enough to make us love NASCAR? Not quite, but if we had to race a bathtub on wheels, we'd pick this one.
It's been a busy year for Hurst Performance Vehicles. They launched their limited-edition Dodge Challenger at SEMA last November, followed by the 50th Anniversary Dodge Viper, and most recently, they announced the addition of the Pontiac G8 to their lineup. Come mid-September, though, you can add one more to that list. Hurst and BFGoodrich tires have teamed up to create a one-off 2010 Mustang GT Convertible that will serve as the pace car for the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge race at Miller Motorsports Park on September 19. Afterward, the car will attend various events including SEMA, and will eventually be auctioned off for charity at the start of 2010.
Following the same themes as other Hurst vehicles, the Mustang has a spec sheet that reads nearly identical to the Challenger. The exterior gets a white and gold paint scheme accented by Hurst 20-inch forged wheels wrapped in BFGoodrich KDW tires. A supercharger lies underneath the hood (although it's a Roush roots-type rather than a Vortech centrifugal blower), that pushes the 4.6-liter V8 to 435 horsepower and 400 lb-ft torque. Eibach suspension components, a Magnaflow exhaust system, Hurst CompetitionPlus short throw shifter, and Katzkin leather interior round out the list of modifications.
As the saying goes, records are meant to be broken. For Vaughn Gittin Jr., that record was the world's longest drift. This past December, Gittin and 0-60 Magazine took a road trip across the United States in a 2010 Ford Mustang GT that also included a stop at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to break the record. The previous milestone was 4,137 feet, but Gittin believed he could surpass that and went about seeing how long his set of Falken Azenis ST-155 tires could withstand constant opposite lock. As it turns out, they lasted a little over two minutes before completely running out of tread, resulting in a run of 6,285 feet, or 1.19 miles. While the results are still pending with Guinness, we'll go ahead and crown Gittin as the record holder. Hit the jump to watch the video.
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Ford's FR500 Mustang turnkey racecars are off to a great start in 2009. The FR500C took two of the three top spots in the Grand-Am Koni Challenge opener at Daytona, and this week at the NHRA Winternationals the FR500CJ Cobra Jet captured a debut win in the AA Stock Eliminator class. The win didn't come without its challenges, though, as rain delayed the competition for several days and made for an inconsistent racetrack. The victory seemed to be fated, however, what with the original Cobra Jet also winning its debut back in 1968 at the Winternationals with legendary racer Al Joneic behind the wheel.
Most of our time at Barrett-Jackson is spent inside the auction tent, but there are plenty of interesting activities going on outside, as well. In recent years, Ford Racing and Falken have brought out their drift Mustang that competes in the Formula Drift series, with Vaughn Gittin Jr. wowing auction spectators with his precise car control and tire-shredding power slides. This year, Falken brought out the 2010 version of the car (now in full Falken livery) that made its debut in Santa Monica alongside the production car back in November. Anyone at the auction could register for a chance to get a ride in the car, and Gittin Jr. gave quite a few white-knuckle rides while we were watching. Most people thoroughly enjoyed it and stepped out of the car with a huge grin, although the expressions on many of the passengers as the car swung sideways within inches of a concrete barrier was nothing short of hilarious.
As the skies finally cleared this morning, us hacks finally managed to get in a single practice run here at Milan Dragway for the Ford Racing Invitational. Ford invited some media out to race race some Mustangs as part of the NMRA Ford Nationals weekend. In my first-ever run on a dragstrip, I managed to not embarrass myself and get decent time in my Shelby GT500. My reaction time was a bit on the slow side at 0.6149s as I was seeing the tree for the first time. Once I hooked up, the car flew down the strip before I backed off just a bit too soon, not knowing where the finish line was. I still ended up with 12.8692 ET at 106.56. At the 1,000 ft mark I was at 103.70mph and 10.875 sec. Now that I know where I'm going hopefully I can do a little better this afternoon. Oh, the guy in the orange convertible? Ehh, not so fast, better luck next time.
We're here at Milan Dragway for the 2nd annual Ford Racing invitational and just like the guys at Indy, drag racers don't run in the rain. Ford invites the a bunch of Michigan-based media out to Milan during NMRA weekend so that we can try out our quarter-mile skills in a bunch of Mustangs. Since this is bracket racing, where the goal is to be consistent from run to run rather than just fast, we have 17 different Mustangs here including GT500s, GT500KRs, Roush machines and others with assorted Ford Racing parts. We were all assigned cars randomly and I drew this GT500 that serves as the Pace Car at the Homestead, FL track. After rains yesterday morning and early afternoon it finally let up just before 3:00 PM when practice sessions were due to start. When it was finally our turn to hit the track, we headed out to the staging lanes and waited. Before we got to the line, though, it started raining again and it didn't look like it was going to let up any time soon. The weather is supposed to be clear today, so hopefully I'll get my chance to defend the honor of Autoblog.
Just as civilian Ford Falcon drivers have a new ride in which to roll, the racers who pilot the competition version of the sedan in Australia's V8 Supercar series now have an FG Falcon to call their own. The FG01 V8 Supercar will be officially unveiled at this weekend's race in Melbourne, where it'll entertain with some demo laps and then reside in the pits. According to Ford, the race car was designed to maximize driver safety while minimizing teams' operating, maintenance, and repair costs. Best of all, unlike the "stock" cars run in our various NASCAR series, Australia's V8 supercars actually bear more than a passing resemblance to their production counterparts -- four doors and all. There's no mistaking the fact that this car is derived from the Falcon XR8. Plus, it has a Giant Effing Wing that makes the apparatus hung off of some Pikes Peak hillclimb cars look like the ducktail on a '73 Carrera RS. Awesome. The FG01 will go into battle against its Holden counterparts next season.
Nineteen Ford Racing FR500S Mustangs are now in the hands of their owners. In case you've forgotten, the Mustang FR500S is the $75,000, 325-horsepower racing car introduced at SEMA and offered directly to customers by Ford for use in the new single-make Ford Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup series. Starting this May at Road Atlanta, a series of eight Challenge races will take place in support of larger Grand-Am, HSR and NASCAR regional events, culminating with a September doubleheader at Miller Motorsports Park, for which the series and trophy are named.
Last weekend, the FR500S owners made a pilgrimage to the racetrack in Salt Lake City, UT where they attended performance driving school, participated in seminars about the series, and, most importantly, took delivery of their racers. Kudos to the pair of drivers who strayed from the norm, opting for black and red cars instead of the white chosen by everyone else. Once all the talking ended, the group headed out to the track for open practice sessions in their cars. May's not that far off, and the next time this group of racers gets together, they'll be competing for championship points.
