FORD CEO JIM FARLEY WILL PERSONALLY RACE A MUSTANG GT4 AT DAYTONA

When you’re the CEO of a company, you tend to stand behind your product. But to what extent? With regard to car companies, you certainly see company chief executives sampling the latest and greatest products available under their umbrella. But to take one racing? That’s exactly what Ford CEO Jim Farley plans to do with a S650 Ford Mustang Dark Horse GT4. And he’s going to do so during next weekend’s inaugural IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge rounds at Daytona International Speedway, as part of the Roar Before the Rolex 24. Along with being a weekend of practice sessions, the Roar serves as the official qualifying session for the 24 Hours of Daytona taking place the following weekend. That’s one way to close out the S550 generation, if we do say.

*Update: Ford has reached out to clarify that CEO Jim Farley will be racing the current, S550-based Mustang GT4. The S650 Mustang Dark Horse GT4 will debut in 2023 during the racing season and will begin competition in 2024.*

Image via Multimatic

Farley, who is already known as a fairly accomplished historic racer with a GT40, will compete in the GSX class with a Multimatic Motorsports-run Ford Mustang GT4, which is comprised entirely of GT4-spec vehicles. And he’ll have his work cut out for him, as the entry list features nine LMP3 cars and 15 GSX entries that will compete in two single-driver races spanning 45-minutes long. Some of those drivers feature FIA Bronze or Silver ratings, while it’s Farley’s IMSA debut.

As well as the Multimatic Ford Mustang GT4 driven by Ford CEO Jim Farley, KohR Motorsports will also field a Mustang GT4 for Bill Griffin. And Frank DePew has the lone Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R in the field, entered by Rebel Rock Racing.

The IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge fires up on Friday, January 20 with a pair of practice sessions, followed by qualifying on the morning of Saturday, January 21. Race 1 gets underway at 2:05 p.m. ET later that day, with Race 2 on Sunday January 22 at 12:20 p.m. ET. The races will be streamed live on Peacock and will be available on IMSA.tv for international viewers.

New S650 Ford Mustang Race Cars On The Way

With the help of various partners Ford Performance, will race the new S650 Mustang Dark Horse all over the world in multiple racing leagues by next year. This includes Australian Supercars, NHRA drag racing, IMSA sports car racing, GT3-class WEC endurance racing, NASCAR, and will even sell customers various turn-key racers of various specifications. And it’s all starting with Farley and the Mustang GT4 at Daytona International Speedway.

Image via Ford.

© Muscle Cars and Trucks