CONCORD, N.C. (March 31, 2015) – Five of the most powerful muscle cars ever produced will assemble for a special Modern Muscle exhibit at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s April 9-12 AutoFair. Scheduled to appear is a Shelby GT350R Mustang that Ford Motor Co. will unleash later this year.
To highlight this latest wave of super-performance American cars, AutoFair’s Nationwide Showcase Pavilion will also be home to Ford’s 2015 Mustang GT, Chevrolet’s 2015 Corvette Z06 and 2014 Camaro Z/28 and Dodge’s 2015 Challenger Hellcat. Be warned: this handful of “Big Three” machines produces a combined 2,800 horsepower!
The defining characteristic of the muscle cars that ruled the roads in the 1960s was the ability to drive them on the street and win races with them on the dragstrip or road course. No car maintained this dual personality better than Carroll Shelby’s 1965 GT350 Competition Model a stripped-down, brutally fast Mustang built for Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) competition. Fifty-one years later, the legend returns with the Shelby GT350R, aided in its competition mission by a 5.2-liter DOHC V-8 that cranks out more than 500 horsepower and features the first flat-plane crankshaft in a Ford production V-8 engine.
The new GT350R-model comes with lightweight carbon fiber wheels, making Ford the first major automaker to introduce this innovative wheel technology. The rims decrease unsprung weight by 13 pounds and offer higher levels of stiffness than equivalent aluminum wheels. Other performance enhancements include a lower ride height than the GT350 on which it is based, revised spring rates, and recalibrated MagneRide dampers in the suspension, plus weight reduction through deletion of the rear seat and even the ability to delete air conditioning and the stereo system. Keeping the beast planted on pavement at race speeds is a revised front splitter to maximize downforce, an aggressive diffuser and a high-efficiency carbon fiber rear wing that moves the vehicle’s center of pressure rearward. In short, it is simply the most track-ready road-going Mustang ever!
Chevrolet brings an impressive pair of contenders to the street fight, with its Corvette Z06 and Camaro Z/28—two notorious performance packages born in the 1960s. Chevy made a splash last year with the introduction of its seventh-generation Corvette, a ground-hugging rocket that, in “base” Stingray form that can reach 60 mph in 3.8 seconds on its way to a top speed of 181. The new-for-2015 Z06 has a supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 that cranks out 650 horsepower, blows through zero-to-60 in an astonishing 2.8 seconds and boasts an estimated top speed of 186 mph. If the two-seater Corvette isn’t spacious enough, the recently introduced Camaro Z/28 comes with a 505-horsepower 7.0-liter V-8, built-in SCCA race champion heritage, competition-grade brakes and suspension and room for two small adults in back.
Dodge already had a spectacular performer in its lineup with the Challenger SRT 392—a 485-horsepower beast that can burn up a set of rear tires in nothing flat. For 2015, it has injected its Challenger with steroids to produce the most powerful four-seater musclecar ever. The SRT Hellcat cranks out 707 horsepower from a supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V-8, reaches 60 miles an hour in 3.7 seconds and tops out at a hair under 200 miles an hour.
See these cars and more than two dozen other feature vehicles in the Nationwide Showcase Pavilion. The AutoFair features more than 50 car club displays and more than 10,000 vendor spaces offering an array of automotive parts and memorabilia. More than 1,500 collectible vehicles of all makes and models will be available for sale in the car corral that rings the 1.5-mile superspeedway. In addition, up to 200 cars will be auctioned by Dealer Auctions Inc. and kids can enjoy face-painting, bounce houses, and other games and entertainment in the Play Zone.
Hours for the April 9-12 AutoFair are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday through Saturday, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday. Tickets are $11 per day, including tax, and children 13 and under are admitted free when accompanied by an adult. Fans who buy three tickets get the fourth day free. Parking for the event is $5.
To purchase tickets, call the Charlotte Motor Speedway ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS (3267), or visit our website. Keep up with all the latest news from the speedway on Facebook or Twitter.
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About Charlotte Motor Speedway
For more than 50 years, Charlotte Motor Speedway has set the standard for motorsports entertainment for fans of all ages.
Charlotte Motor Speedway is the only race vacation destination where fans can immerse themselves in the heart of NASCAR country. Visitors can attend one-of-a-kind race spectacles such as the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, the Coca-Cola 600 and the Bank of America 500; take behind-the-scenes speedway and race shop tours; explore the NASCAR Hall of Fame; and drive an 800-horsepower stock car.
Through every event and every decade, Charlotte Motor Speedway puts FANS FIRST with a never-ending commitment to enhance the fan experience. That tradition continues with unmatched value through affordable season tickets, unparalleled prerace entertainment and more opportunities for fans to see their favorite drivers.
About Nationwide
Nationwide, a Fortune 100 company based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the U.S. and is rated A+ by both A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s. The company provides a full range of insurance and financial services, including auto, commercial, homeowners, farm and life insurance; public and private sector retirement plans, annuities and mutual funds; banking and mortgages; pet, motorcycle and boat insurance. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com.