Ford locks in Mustang Challenge race schedule, tracks, prizes
Wanna race?
Ford has finalized the 10-race 2024 Mustang Challenge season schedule, adding the most iconic racetrack in America for the finale: The road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. There is also a date change for the races at Watkins Glen International.
The series revives the Mustang Challenge series, which held its final event on September 12, 2010, after three seasons of competition. The older version was formed through a partnership between Miller Motorsports Park in Utah and Ford Racing, fielding identically prepared Ford Mustangs, and sanctioned by Grand Am, which later became the sanctioning body for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
The new Mustang Challenge series will use identically prepared Mustang Dark Horse R models, available at a turn-key starting price of $145,000. The engine, transmission, and differential will be based on those of the street-legal Dark Horse R. The race version be fitted with Multimatic DSSV spool-valve dampers and adjustable sway bars, as well as Brembo brakes. The race car will use the Dark Horse’s 5.0-liter V-8 and a Tremec six-speed manual transmission.
Spares packages will be available. Having raced in the old Mustang Challenge series, I can testify that they’ll be needed. You’ll also be able to buy up to three sets of Michelin 295/30R19 race tires per weekend. Ford Performance and Michelin will also have personnel onsite at each race weekend, and parts will be available at the track.
While it may be a spec series, meaning all cars are alike, Mustang Challenge is a professional affair, with a purse of $40,000 for the season winner. Alternatively, the winner can choose a $100,000 scholarship to move up into a Mustang GT3 or GT4 ride for 2025. There will also be a “Dark Horse Legends” class for drivers aged 45 and up.
For each race, prize money will be awarded to first, second, and third places.
The Mustang Challenge format is two 45-minute races per weekend, plus practice and qualifying. The first three races will be sanctioned by IMSA, which produces the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona. The kickoff is June 6–9, 2024, at Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course, followed by June 20–23 at Watkins Glen International, with the final IMSA race at Road America August 2–4.
Race weekend four will be at Circuit of the Americas August 31–September 1, hosted by the FIA WEC. And the finale, at Indy, will be October 4–6, in conjunction with the SRO season finale.
More information on the series is available here.
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