DEARBORN, Feb. 23, 2007 (FCN) -- The Ford Mustang FR500C race car, an important vehicle to the company's growing performance business, swept the first two places in the season-opening Grand-Am Koni Challege Series race at Daytona International Speedway on Jan. 26.

Overall, the special, race-prepared Mustang GTs grabbed four of the top-10 spots and five of the top 11 in the 'Fresh from Florida 200,' a 64-lap event on a 14-turn 3.56-mile road course. Among the competition were cars from BMW, Porsche and Nissan.

"I tell you, we always say that Mustang is America’s beloved muscle car and to be a muscle car, you’ve always got to flex your muscles. And today, we flexed our muscles again in a dominating way," said Jamie Allison, manager, Ford Racing Perfornance Group. "We are excited to see Mustang back on the podium again. We look for a great season ahead."

The FR500C, also known as the 'Boy Racer,' dominated the series when it debuted in 2005, claiming the manufacturer's title and winning five of the 11 races. However, in 2006, with ongoing specs revisions, Ford's Boy Racer made it to Victory Lane just once and finished third among manufacturers. This year, the Mustang GT is off to a fast start.

"What was amazing was how many times the announcer said that Mustang and Ford power in the same breath," said Paul Randle, chief engineer, Mustang. "Watching our cars on the straightaways overpower the rest of the field and pulling away, it was like they were an elastic band. They’d just come out of the corners and pull away, and the power of the car was just so impressive."

The Koni Series Ford GTs will be in action again on April 15 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.