2010 Unleashed Grants Grudge Race to Student/Teacher

First it was Vaughn Gittin Jr. unleashing his 2010 Mustang GT around the famous drift circuits in Japan. Now the 2010 Mustang Unleashed campaign has granted another high performance dream and it involved two identically prepared 2010 Mustang’s for an all-out match race down the quarter mile.

The most recent winner was 18-year-old Derek Murrell who lives in Lake Mary, Florida. Derek’s Mustang Unleashed dream involved drag racing his high school auto shop teacher, Bill “Mister Rosey” Rosenblum in a new 2010 Ford Mustang GT.


Photo Credit:Ford Racing PINKS Rich Christensen and Bob Glidden were on hand to “school” Derek and Bill before the race.

Mr. Rosenblum is a local central Florida bracket racer and was a big influence on Derek and his passion for cars. During class, Mr. Rosenblum would often brag about his racing skills and it was Derek’s dream to race his teacher/mentor at the drag strip. Derek penned a racing themed essay and submitted it to Ford’s 2010 Mustang Unleashed site. To Derek’s suprise he was selected by Ford as one of the winners and arrangements were made to build and test the Mustangs for a race.

To stage the surprise, Ford made contact with the arm-drop king, Rich Christensen from PINKS and arranged to have Derek and Mr. Rosenblum meet for a match race at last weekends PINKS All Out event at Maryland International Raceway. Mr. Rosenblum was “invited” to MIR to participate in a drag race event but he had no idea he would be racing Derek or that Ford drag racing legend and Mr. Rosenblum’s idol Bob Glidden would be coaching both drivers.

Once the stage and actors were set, Ford worked with Jason Schembri at Ford Racing and Livernois Motorsports to build two awesome 10 second capable Mustangs. NMRA racer and Livernois Motorsport’s Dan Millen and crew built and tested the two 2010 Mustnags and coached Derek and Bill how to drive a 10-second car. After sorting through stock block durability issues and transmission set-ups, the cars were built in record time and testing began.


Dan Millen helped shakedown the 2010 Mustang at Milan and taught Derek and Jim how to drive a 10 second Mustang.

At Milan Dragway, Dan Millen took time out of his own busy schedule racing his Pro Outlaw 10.5 Mustang to tutor Derek and Bill on how to race the cars and get him acclimated to burnouts and staging the car. The Livernois crew knew the cars were fast as they had ran a 10.88 @ 125 mph during testing.

Once at Maryland International Raceway, Ford revealed Derek’s grudge race dream to Mr. Rosenblum and unveiled the pair of highly modified 2010 Mustang GT’s. Derek’s Mustang was a Kona Blue GT while Mr. Rosenblum’s was a Red Candy Metallic GT. Under the hood of the Mustangs was a Ford Racing 4.6-liter Aluminator engine with a Whipple supercharger producing over 500 rear wheel horsepower. Other racing goodies included Ford Racing long tube headers, drag prepped Ford C4 transmission, Cobra Jet suspension kit, Cobra Jet wheels/racing slicks and a Team-Z Motorsports custom 6-point roll cage.


Photo Credit: Livernois Motorsports A 500+ horsepower supercharged 4.6 liter 3-valve powered both 2010 Mustangs

Once at MIR, Bob Glidden was on hand to coach the drivers on how to get the Mustangs down the track. Derek and Mr. Rosenblum faced off for round 1 of Derek’s Mustang Unleashed dream. In the first run, Mr. Rosenblum over revved the engine and threw a blower belt handing Derek his first win. After repairs were made, the two lined up again and made a side-by-side 11 second pass with Derek again scoring the win. In the best PINKS two-out-of-three format, Derek had finally fulfilled his dream of racing a 2010 Mustang and beating his teacher.

For all Mustang fans, it shows that the S197 Mustang is a very versatile car performing on the drift tracks of Japan to 1320 at Maryland International Raceway. It doesn’t take much to make it perform above and beyond most pony cars currently on the market.

Here is a complete list of performance parts found on both Livernois Motorsports/Ford Racing prepped Mustang GTs. The combination of 500 horsepower and Cobra Jet suspension makes this Mustang a 10-second car yet very streetable.

2010 Mustang GT Unleashed Modifications:

Engine

  • Ford Racing 4.6L Aluminator 3-valve SOHC V8
  • Ford Racing / Whipple 500 HP Supercharger Kit
  • Livernois Motorsports Stage 3 CNC Cylinder Heads
  • Ford Racing Hot Rod Camshafts
  • Ford Racing Blue Coated Cam Covers
  • Cometic MLS Head Gaskets
  • ARP Head Studs
  • Innovators West SFI Balancer

Exhaust

  • Ford Racing 3V Longtube Headers

Drivetrain/Suspension

  • Custom Built 3-Speed Automatic C4 Transmission w/ Transbrake
  • Neal Chance Torque Converter
  • TCI Streetfighter Shifter
  • Custom 1-Piece Driveshaft
  • Cobra Jet Driveshaft Loop
  • Cobra Jet Rear Suspension Kit
  • Adjustable Upper Control Arm and Bracket
  • Tubular Lower Control Arms w/ Urethane Bushings
  • Anti-Roll Bar w/ Adjustable Links
  • Cobra Jet 9-inch Rear Axle Assembly
  • QA1 Adjustable Shocks & Struts w/ Coil-Overs

Wheels/Tires

  • Cobra Jet 15 x 4 Front Wheels
  • Cobra Jet 15 x 10 Rear Wheels
  • Goodyear 15 Front Runners
  • Goodyear 15 Rear Slicks

Interior

  • Team-Z Motorsports Custom 6-Point Roll Bar
  • Cobra Jet Shiftlight Tach
  • RJS 5-Point Harnesses

Below are Youtube videos of the 2010 Mustang project at Livernois Motorsports and Derek making practice runs at Maryland International Raceway in a very impressive street/strip 2010 Mustang.

About the author

Mark Gearhart

In 1995 Mark started photographing drag races at his once local track, Bradenton Motorsports Park. He became hooked and shot virtually every series at the track until 2007 until he moved to California and began working as a writer for Power Automedia. He was the founding editor for its first online magazines, and transitioned into the role of editorial director role in 2014. Retiring from the company in 2016, Mark continues to expand his career as a car builder, automotive enthusiast, and freelance journalist to provide featured content and technical expertise.
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