CRMC

P.O. Box 481883

Charlotte, NC 28269

Pony Express March 2016

GT350R-C Wins at Daytona www.racing.ford.com

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida -- Kicking off a weekend looking to make history, Ford Performance cele-brated a fast start to the 2016 IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge championship with a victory at Daytona International Speedway on Friday January 29th. It was a 1-2 result for Ford Performance as the Ro-lex 24 at Daytona event weekend started with champagne showers. The No. 15 Multimatic Ford Shelby GT350R-C of Scott Maxwell and Billy Johnson took a commanding win in the Daytona event on Friday after leading a race-high 29 laps, with the fellow Ford machine of young Paul Holton and Pierre Kleinubing coming home in second place with the No. 76 AERO Advanced Paint Technol-ogy / Children's Tumor Foundation / Spyder Active Sports entry.The win is the third IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge victory for the Ford Shelby GT350R-C since making a dramatic debut midway through the 2015 season.

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Carolina Regional Mustang Club Page 2 March 2016

Starting from the front row for the two-hour, 30-minute race, the No. 15 Multimatic entry driven by Maxwell lined up directly ahead of the second row-starting No. 76 AERO Advanced Paint Technology/Children’s Tumor Foundation/Spyder Active Sports with Holton behind the wheel. Maxwell raced in podium position through every lap of his 26-lap stint before turning the car over to Johnson as he took on four tires and fuel. Johnson remained the top-two for the remainder of the race, battling it out with the No. 13 driven by Matt Plumb. A long pit stop for four tires and fuel for the No. 15 on Lap 47 allowed for Plumb to take the lead but not for long. Stealing the show from the pole qualifying team, the No. 15 Multimatic entry driven by Johnson was able to edge out Plumb with 30 minutes to go after chasing him down for several laps. But the race for the win was-n’t over just yet. Holton opened the race and pushed the Mustang Ford Shelby GT350R-C through the first half, with Kleinubing taking control through the final laps. He pushed all the way to the finish, coming up just over two seconds short of the win but still earning Ford a 1-2 finish. “It was my first race in this car, and it’s a very different car to drive, for me,” Holton said. “I’ve driven both ST and GT cars, but nothing with that kind of torque and that small of a tire. The Continental Tires are really good. We had a really green track because it was raining all week and this was the first dry day. I didn’t have a single dry lap going into that race, so as we went on, the track got grippier and grippier and then greasier and greasier, so it was quite a handful! The car changed a lot. The track changed a lot over the course of the race, but the car is awesome. I can’t give the Mustang enough praise. It’s going to be a really good car for the (Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge championship) this year.” After playing a key role in developing and winning with the Ford Performance Shelby GT350R-C in 2015, Johnson was ecstatic to open the year with a checkered-flag run and lead the Ford 1-2. “It was great to see two Ford Performance Shelby GT350R-Cs on the podium after all the hard work every-one’s done getting the car to where it’s at,” Johnson said. “It’s the first time the car’s competed at Daytona and we’re really happy to be in victory lane with the car and a 1-2 finish for the GT350R-C. Scott (Maxwell) did a fantastic job on the first stint and I just can’t thank him and the team enough for all the hard work and good job they do.”

Smoke-in Ford Ford Performance announced Stewart-Haas Racing will switch to Ford as its auto manufacturer partner starting with the 2017 NASCAR season. The multiyear agreement means that, beginning with Daytona Speedweeks in February 2017, the four-car Stewart-Haas Racing team will race the Ford Fusion with Ford engines prepared by Roush Yates Engines. “We are thrilled to be able to add a championship-level team like Stewart-Haas Racing to our Ford NASCAR program,” said Raj Nair, executive vice president and Chief Technical Officer, Ford Motor Company. “Tony Stewart and Gene Haas have the same passion for winning that we do, and bring a strong stable of drivers and personnel that fit into what we’re trying to do in the sport.” “We have said very clearly that we are not in NASCAR just to race, but to win races and championships,” said Dave Pericak, global director, Ford Performance. “We believe the addition of Stewart-Haas Racing in 2017 will give our program a major boost in terms of being in contention for both drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships every year. “We believe that our NASCAR engineering experience and tools match up very well with the expertise and per-sonnel that Stewart-Haas Racing has in house right now, and that we will both benefit from this partnership going for-ward.” Stewart-Haas Racing will join a Ford NASCAR lineup for 2017 that includes Team Penske, Roush Fenway Racing, Wood Brothers Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports and Front Row Motorsports. Roush Yates Engines is Ford’s technical part-ner for NASCAR race engines.

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Carolina Regional Mustang Club Page 3 March 2016

Our regular December meeting did triple duty this year, as both meeting and feeding (more than usual) and drooling! The festivities this year were held in a new (lo, hard to find) location called the Autobarn in Concord, NC.

The Autobarn was a bit more than a barn, it was a former plant whose interior is filled with beautifully restored or modified cars of more sorts than you may have thought possible. A Foose Lincoln here, a rare Mustang Cobra there, it was almost enough to make you salivate…

But we digest…er, digress from the main event of the eating…ah meeting, the Christmas Feast. Another and maybe more compelling reason to salivate.

Those in attendance added their own special dishes to add to the CRMC ham (actually Mark Young was not there…ba-da-bing). There was no shortage of food, that’s for sure.

As is tradition, the Christmas feast was topped off with many participants choosing, or stealing, gifts. This year’s first recipient was David Burdecki, it would not be his last! In fact, poor David was the victim of no less than five (count `em, 5) steals. He must have thought he was in Whoville and the Grinch was zeroed on him! Strategy for next year David, if someone steals from you, don’t open another NEW gift, steal one that’s already opened! Also, for all those who stole from Dave, he reminded me that payback is a Bi…oops. Family newsletter. Let’s just say Dave has a good memory. I Hope all had a Merry Christmas! And next year, we promise a better map!

Merry Mustang Christmas

By Michael Shorkey

Christmas Cruising By Michael Shorkey

For the 25th year, the annual Waxhaw Christmas parade was led by a posse of polished Mustangs from CRMC. The parade featured 23 Mustangs and one very spiffy AC Cobra, whom we honor for its brotherhood to our Shelby Mustangs.

As usual, the lead Mustangs came from the ranks of the convertible owners who carried the town officials and their families, in-cluding its new mayor Stephen Maher.

The Waxhaw Christmas parade had a turnout nearly equal to the July 4th edition, lining the route with an estimated 15,000 people. The weather was truly perfect for convertibles with temps exceeding 70 degrees. Christmas in shorts and t-shirts!

CRMC filled another civic role that sunny Sunday, providing updates to the crowd along the route to the latest score for the Pan-thers vs. Falcons game taking place some 20 miles north. We were only too pleased to repeat the scores as the romp continued. Afterwards, as is tradition we enjoyed a group lunch at Hickory Tavern. Won’t you join us for the parade next year?

Pony Express

Carolina Regional Mustang Club Page 4 March 2016

CRMC Officers

President

Mark Young

Vice President

Woody Woodruff

Secretary

Vicci Brown

Treasurer

Steve Hartung

Regional Director

Mike Williams

Past President

Karen Demers

BOD at Large

Mark Hunter

Ray Michue

Jim Brooks

Gary Travis

Barry Stone

CRMC is a

Regional Club of

Mustang Club

of America

www.mustang.org

CRMC

Charter Date

August 24, 1978

The Power of the Pony by Brett Smith

Spring and the car-show season are upon us. AutoFair is only a few weeks away. I hope

everyone got all their winter projects completed and are ready to cruise. I want to start

off this month’s article by saying how great it was to see Ray at our February meeting!

That was very unexpected and exciting. I hope Ray keeps improving and is back to 100%

soon.

The Ford GT and the GT350 Mustangs have already begun their racing season at Day-

tona. The GTs were sidelined with gearbox issues. Issues like that are expected when

teething a brand-new ground up race car. The GT350 had much more success with a 1-2

podium finish to start the year off. The GT350s look like they are a winning combination

of handling and flat-plane 5.2L power. See the article on Page 1 of this edition.

Rumors are everywhere that Ford is planning on revamping its entire SUV lineup. In my

opinion, it is a much-needed revamp. I have to say, the Explorer and Expedition are

both rather long in the tooth. Check out the picture below of a rendering of another

SUV that might be returning after a long absence...the BRONCO!