DEARBORN, Sept. 5, 2006 - When you buy a well-engineered performance car, driving on public roads can sometimes feel, well, constricting. Fact is, there's no legal or safe way to really open it up. That's why track time for people who love to exercise their cars is golden.

For Ford Focus owners, there's now a place to race safely, legally - and fast. Earlier this year, the Ford Racing Performance Group (FRPG) partnered with the National Auto Sports Association (NASA) to create the Ford Focus Spec racing class for the 2006 season. Regions hosting races are the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, Florida, Ohio-Indiana, Southeast, Midwest, Texas, Rocky Mountain, Arizona, northern California and southern California.

"The Focus Spec class is designed to showcase Focus performance parts and to provide an entry-level competitive racing environment that is affordable," says FRPG Focus Program Manager Andy Slankard. "I was the program manager on the 2002 SVT Focus. Since our first prototypes on the program, the racers on our team always wished we could have 20 SVT Foci on the track at the same time. Now that can happen. Focus is very fun and forgiving to drive at the limit."

The Focus won Car and Driver's 10 Best award four years in a row because it has world-class dynamics, and its "fun to drive" factor is best in class, Slankard says. And with more than 2 million Focus sales in the United States, plenty of used Focus cars are ready for competing with Ford Racing Performance Parts.

The Ford Racing NASA Spec Focus class is open to all model years and trim levels of Ford Focus cars, including the SVT Focus and vehicles equipped with the 2.3-liter engine. The race series is designed to highlight the high-performance potential behind the Ford Focus platform, as Spec Focus racers typically modify the suspension, brakes, engine, tires and wheels with Ford Racing Performance Parts. The cost to get a conventional Focus ready to race typically ranges from $6,000 to $10,000. Parts allowances and restrictions equalize the field based on different model combinations.

Class payouts include $500 to each regional champion in all National Auto Sports Association regions with starting grids of three or more Spec Focus competitors. The class will pay $1,000 to the winner of the NASA Championships at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Sept. 17.

Slankard says that so far, he's learned that Focus race cars are very durable and easy to drive at the limit.

"The competition has been very close - fender to fender - and drivers with skill are prevailing," he says.

Having launched the series midway through the year, about six or seven cars compete every weekend. Slankard says he gets inquiries from more people who want to race every week.

"It will take a while to gain some traction, but the series is growing," he says. "So far this year, Brett Mars has won most of the races. He is a Ford dealer from Pittsburg who, after campaigning a Mazda3, has really enjoyed driving the Spec Focus."

Recent success with the Ford Racing FR500C Mustang program helped kick-start the Focus Spec class.

"We wanted to be involved in Focus motorsports at the racer's level, similar to what we had accomplished with the FR500C," says Jamie Allison, Ford Racing Performance Group manager. "NASA was able to provide us the ideal venue to showcase the inherent racing capability of the Focus and allow us to showcase performance parts offerings."

For more information on the Spec Focus series, visit specfocus.drivenasa.com. Registration for the Ford Racing NASA Spec Focus class is available at www.FordRacingParts.com.