Editing Ford Mustang (section)

== Racing ==
{{More citations needed section|date=April 2008}}

The Mustang made its first public appearance on a racetrack as [[pace car]] for the [[1964 Indianapolis 500]].<ref name="fordpr"/>

The same year, Mustangs won first and second in class at the [[Tour de France Automobile|Tour de France]] international rally.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.automobilemag.com/news/the-1965-ford-mustang-that-won-tour-de-france-automobile/ |title=When the 1965 Ford Mustang Won the Tour de France Automobile |last=Drinnon |first=Dale |date=October 16, 2014 |website=Automobile Magazine |access-date=March 23, 2019 |archive-date=March 23, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190323143222/https://www.automobilemag.com/news/the-1965-ford-mustang-that-won-tour-de-france-automobile/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1969, modified versions of the 428 [[Mustang Mach 1|Mach 1]], [[Boss 429]] and [[Boss 302 Mustang|Boss 302]] took 295 [[United States Auto Club]]-certified records at [[Bonneville Salt Flats]]. The outing included a 24-hour run on a {{convert|10|mi|km|adj=on}} course at an average speed of {{cvt|157|mph|km/h}}. Drivers were [[Mickey Thompson]], [[Danny Ongais]], Ray Brock, and [[Robert K. Ottum|Bob Ottum]].<ref name="fordpr"/>

=== Drag racing ===
The car's American competition debut, also in 1964, was in [[drag racing]], where private individuals and dealer-sponsored teams campaigned Mustangs powered by {{cvt|427|CID|L|1}} V8s.

In late 1964, Ford contracted [[Holman & Moody]] to prepare ten 427-powered Mustangs to contest the [[National Hot Rod Association]]'s (NHRA) A/Factory Experimental class in the 1965 drag racing season. Five of these special Mustangs made their competition debut at the 1965 NHRA Winternationals, where they qualified in the factory stock eliminator class. The car driven by [[Bill Lawton]] won the class.<ref>{{cite web|last=Morris |first=Charlie |url= http://www.cartechbooks.com/vstore/showdetl.cfm?st=0&st2=0&st3=0&CATID=21&Product_ID=2553&DID=6 |title=Ford's 1965 Factory Experimental Mustangs |work=Car Tech |year=2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110911210046/http://www.cartechbooks.com/vstore/showdetl.cfm?st=0&st2=0&st3=0&CATID=21&Product_ID=2553&DID=6 |archive-date=September 11, 2011 |access-date=January 2, 2016}}</ref>

A decade later [[Bob Glidden]] won the Mustang's first NHRA [[pro stock]] title.

Rickie Smith's [[Motorcraft]] Mustang won the [[International Hot Rod Association]] pro stock world championship.

In 2002 [[John Force]] broke his own NHRA drag racing record by winning his 12th national championship in his Ford Mustang [[funny car]]; Force beat that record again in 2006, becoming the first-ever 14-time champion, driving a Mustang.<ref name="fordpr"/>

=== Circuit racing ===
Early Mustangs also proved successful in road racing. The GT 350 R, the race version of the [[Shelby Mustang|Shelby GT 350]], won five of the [[Sports Car Club of America]]'s (SCCA) six divisions in 1965. Drivers were Jerry Titus, Bob Johnson and [[Mark Donohue]], and Titus won the (SCCA) B-Production national championship. The GT 350s won the B-Production title again in 1966 and 1967. They also won the 1966 manufacturers' championship in the inaugural SCCA [[Trans-Am series]], and repeated the win the following year.<ref name="fordpr"/>

In 1970, Mustang won the [[SCCA]] series manufacturers' championship again, with [[Parnelli Jones]] and [[George Follmer]] driving for car owner/builder [[Bud Moore (racing driver)|Bud Moore]] and crew chief Lanky Foushee. Jones won the "unofficial" drivers' title.

In 1975 Ron Smaldone's Mustang became the first-ever American car to win the Showroom Stock national championship in SCCA road racing.

Mustangs competed in the [[International Motor Sports Association|IMSA]] GTO class, with wins in 1984 and 1985. In 1985 [[John Jones (racing driver)|John Jones]] won the 1985 GTO drivers' championship; [[Wally Dallenbach Jr.]], John Jones and [[Doc Bundy]] won the GTO class at the [[Daytona 24 Hours]]; and Ford won its first manufacturers' championship in road racing since 1970. Three class wins went to Lynn St. James, the first woman to win in the series.

1986 brought eight more GTO wins and another manufacturers' title. [[Scott Pruett]] won the drivers' championship. The GT Endurance Championship also went to Ford.

In 1987 [[Saleen Autosport|Saleen Autosport Mustangs]] driven by [[Steve Saleen]] and [[Rick Titus (journalist)|Rick Titus]] won the SCCA Escort Endurance SSGT championship, and in [[International Motor Sports Association]] (IMSA) racing a Mustang again won the GTO class in the [[Daytona 24 Hours]]. In 1989, the Mustang won Ford its first Trans-Am manufacturers' title since 1970, with [[Dorsey Schroeder]] winning the drivers' championship.<ref>Mustang 5.0 and 4.6, 1979–1998 By Matthew L. Stone</ref>

In 1997, [[Tommy Kendall]]'s Roush-prepared Mustang won a record 11 consecutive races in Trans-Am to secure his third straight driver's championship.

Mustangs compete in the [[SCCA World Challenge]], with [[Brandon Davis (racing driver)|Brandon Davis]] winning the 2009 GT driver's championship. Mustangs competed in the now-defunct [[Grand-Am Road Racing]] Ford Racing Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup series.

Ford won championships in the [[Grand-Am Road Racing]] [[Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge]] for the 2005, 2008, and 2009 seasons with the Mustang FR500C and GT models. In 2004, [[Ford Racing]] retained [[Multimatic Motorsports]] to design, engineer, build and race the Mustang FR500C turn-key race car. In 2005, [[Scott Maxwell]] and [[David Empringham]] took the driver's title. In 2010, the next-generation Mustang race car was known as the Boss 302R. It took its maiden victory at [[Barber Motorsports Park]] in early 2011, with drivers [[Scott Maxwell]] and [[Joe Foster (racing driver)|Joe Foster]].

In 2012, [[Jack Roush|Jack Roush Jr]] and [[Billy Johnson (racing driver)|Billy Johnson]] won the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race at the [[Daytona International Speedway]] opening race of the 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona weekend in a [[Boss 302 Mustang|Mustang Boss 302R]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.themustangnews.com/content/2012/01/roush-wins-at-daytona-grand-am-opener/ |title=Grand Am won by Mustang |website=themustangnews.com |date=January 30, 2012 |access-date=June 6, 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151022023023/http://www.themustangnews.com/content/2012/01/roush-wins-at-daytona-grand-am-opener/ |archive-date=October 22, 2015 }}</ref>

In 2016, Multimatic Motorsports won the [[IMSA (racing)|IMSA]] CTSCC drivers' and manufacturers' titles with the S550-based Shelby GT350R-C, driven by [[Scott Maxwell]] and [[Billy Johnson (racing driver)|Billy Johnson]].<ref>{{cite press release |url= http://performance.ford.com/series/road-racing/news/articles/2016/09/ford-shelby-gt350r-c--ford-earn-continental-tire-sportscar-chall.html |title=Ford Shelby GT350R-C, Ford Earn Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Championships |website=performance.ford.com |access-date=August 11, 2017 |archive-date=August 12, 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170812022821/http://performance.ford.com/series/road-racing/news/articles/2016/09/ford-shelby-gt350r-c--ford-earn-continental-tire-sportscar-chall.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

On July 27, 2023, Ford announced that the 7th Generation Mustang would have its own spec-racing series called Mustang Challenge, sanctioned by the [[IMSA]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gauthier |first=Michael |date=2023-07-27 |title=Whoa, Nellie! Ford Mustang Dark Horse R Introduced For One-Make Racing Series |url=https://www.carscoops.com/2023/07/whoa-nellie-ford-mustang-dark-horse-r-introduced-for-one-make-racing-series/ |access-date=2023-07-28 |website=Carscoops |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-07-27 |title=IMSA-Sanctioned Mustang Challenge Ready to Launch in 2024 |url=https://www.imsa.com/news/2023/07/27/imsa-sanctioned-mustang-challenge-ready-to-launch-in-2024/ |access-date=2023-07-27 |website=IMSA Official Website}}</ref>

=== Stock car racing ===
[[File:Joey Logano 22 Sonoma 2019.jpg|thumb|[[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] replaced the [[Ford Fusion (Americas)|Ford Fusion]] with a Mustang starting in [[2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series|2019]] in the [[NASCAR Cup Series|Cup Series]]]]

[[Dick Trickle]] won 67 short-track oval feature races in 1972, a US national record for wins in a single season.

In 2010 the Ford Mustang became Ford's [[Car of Tomorrow]] for the [[NASCAR Nationwide Series]] with full-time racing of the Mustang beginning in 2011. This opened a new chapter in both the Mustang's history and Ford's history. NASCAR insiders expected to see Mustang racing in [[NASCAR Sprint Cup]] by 2014 (the model's 50th anniversary). The NASCAR vehicles are not based on production models but are a [[silhouette racing car]] with decals that give them a superficial resemblance to road cars. [[Carl Edwards]] won the first-ever race with a NASCAR-prepped Mustang on April 8, 2011, at the [[Texas Motor Speedway]].

Ford Mustangs have also raced in the [[NASCAR Xfinity Series]] since 2010.

Ford Mustangs are driven in the [[NASCAR Whelen Euro Series]] also.

Ford Mustangs have been track-raced in the [[NASCAR Cup Series]] since 2019, replacing the discontinued [[Ford Fusion (Americas)|Ford Fusion]].

=== Drifting ===
Mustangs have competed at the [[Formula Drift]] and [[D1 Grand Prix]] series, most notably by American driver [[Vaughn Gittin Jr.]]

Brazilian Driver [[Diego Higa]] won the Netflix [[Hyperdrive (American TV series)|Hyperdrive]] Series in 2019 in a 2006 Ford Mustang V8.

=== Europe ===
[[File:Davison Supercars Ride Day Aug 2019.jpg|thumb|[[Ford Australia|Ford]] introduced the [[Ford Mustang (sixth generation)|Mustang]] as a replacement for the [[Ford Falcon (FG X)|FG X Falcon]]. ]]

Ford Mustangs compete in the [[FIA GT3 European Championship]], and compete in the [[GT4 European Cup]] and other sports car races such as the [[24 Hours of Spa]]. The [[Marc VDS Racing Team]] was developing the [[Group GT3|GT3 spec]] Mustang since 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkQDF3PCzv0 | archive-url= https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211028/kkQDF3PCzv0 | archive-date=2021-10-28 |title=560hp Ford Mustang |via=YouTube |date=April 12, 2010 |access-date=September 18, 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

=== Australia ===
The Ford Mustang was announced as the replacement for the [[Ford Falcon (FG X)|Ford Falcon FG X]] in the [[2019 Supercars Championship]], which is being contested in [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]]. The Mustang placed first in the first race of the year with [[Scott McLaughlin (racing driver)|Scott McLaughlin]] winning for [[Dick Johnson Racing|DJR Team Penske]].<ref>{{cite web |url= https://superloopadl500.com.au/the_race/raceday_program/343/virgin_australia_supercars_championship/1225/r1#results |title=Virgin Australia Supercars Championship |website=superloopadl500.com.au |location=Australia |date=March 2, 2019 |access-date=March 14, 2019 |archive-date=March 10, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190310072349/https://superloopadl500.com.au/the_race/raceday_program/343/virgin_australia_supercars_championship/1225/r1#results |url-status=live }}</ref>
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