A new chapter of Mustang racing rolled out yesterday at the Roush Fenway Racing headquarters in Concord, North Carolina. Ford Racing teamed up with Roush Fenway Racing to unveil the No. 16 Con-way Freight Mustang Nationwide Series car with driver Colin Braun.

Ford announced in July that Mustang would compete in the NASCAR Nationwide Series beginning in July 2010, with a limited rollout of four races. Ford “leaked” a digital rendition of the car a few months ago and had Mustang enthusiasts abuzz, debating the pro’s and con’s of entering the iconic Ford nameplate in NASCAR. The Mustang will replace the Fusion as Ford’s entry in the Nationwide series. NASCAR’s new Nationwide Car of Tomorrow begins racing at Daytona International Speedway next July and will go full time in 2011. While the Mustang Nationwide car does not have any factory stamped sheet metal, the graphic decal design of the Mustang distinguishes it from cars currently running in NASCAR.

An up-close look at the car reveals Mustang door outlines, door handle decals, license plates, and the GT faux gas cap on the rear of the car. The Nationwide Mustang uses a rear spoiler and a front “lip,” rather than the splitter and rear wing used on Nextel Cup cars.

Today marked the first time that the NASCAR Mustang was seen in public. Several Charlotte area Mustang owners attended the unveiling and were excited to see Ford return to NASCAR with a true V8 powered rear-wheel drive model.

Photo Credit: Ford Racing

Colin Braun, 21, a native of Ovalo, Texas, drove the new Mustang at the reveal and will make the move from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series to a full-time Nationwide program next season. Colin has been part of the Roush-Fenway/Ford Racing driver development program and won the 2008 Truck Series Rookie of the Year award.

Mustang has a storied history in motorsports dating back to 1964, and can claim more than 2,000 professional race wins worldwide. This will be the Mustang’s first entry into the NASCAR series. “This truly marks the start of the next era of Mustang racing,” said Brian Wolfe, director, Ford North America Motorsports. “We fully expect this Mustang, with drivers like Colin behind the wheel, to start to enjoy the kind of success so many other Mustang racing programs have enjoyed throughout the last four decades. Mustang is a proud and historic brand for Ford. This is a car born to race, and NASCAR is the next logical step for its racing pedigree.”

Mustang currently competes professionally in the NHRA Funny Car and Pro Stock divisions and other series like the Grand-Am KONI Challenge, SCCA World Challenge, and the Mustang Challenge Series. In addition to these series, thousands of Mustangs see action by grassroots racers at road courses and drag strips all across America.

Jack Roush was at the reveal and spoke about his longtime association with the Mustang. “I have been a Mustang owner and enthusiast for many years myself so this is an exciting day to see this car racing in NASCAR,” said Roush. “My teams have won several road racing championships over the years in Mustangs, and I look forward to winning more with Colin, Carl (Edwards) and Ricky (Stenhouse, Jr.). With the continued support of Ford and Con-way Freight we plan to give Colin the opportunity for his second Rookie of the Year title in NASCAR, and ultimately a Nationwide Series championship.”

Ford NASCAR Nationwide teams have already started building the Mustang Nationwide Car of Tomorrow for competition next year. We know that Chevrolet will field the Impala SS and Toyota will enter a Camry as their 2010 Nationwide COT. Word on Nationwide COT plans from Dodge is that the Challenger will be ready next year. Let’s hope that in the near future, all Nationwide series cars will be “Pony Cars” from the the big three domestic manufacturers. “It’s been a long project that we’ve worked on, changing the identity of the Nationwide Series, giving us our own look and our own unique competition out on the race track,” said Nationwide Series Director Joe Balash. “We take a big step in that direction with the launch of the Mustang car for the Nationwide series.”