It’s no secret that Ford CEO Jim Farley loves racing. He’ll saddle up once again later this month when he races a Mustang GT4 in the inaugural IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, a first for Ford’s boss. He’ll participate in the Roar Before the Rolex 24 at the Daytona International Speedway.
Farley is fielding a car for Multimatic Motorsports in the GSX class, which is packed with competitors. He’ll be racing against cars like the BMW M4 GT4, Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS, Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R, Mercedes-AMG GT4, and Aston Martin Vantage GT4. Farley won’t be driving the only Ford in the class, with KohR Motorsports racing another Mustang GT4. Farley and friends will compete in two 45-minute single-driver races, with the GSX class running alongside nine LMP3 cars.
Gallery: 2024 Ford Mustang Racing Family
Farley, who runs one of the largest automakers, truly enjoys his time behind the wheel. Last month, the CEO took late-night talk show host Jimmy Fallon for a spin around the M1 Concourse race track, located about 30 miles north of Detroit. He piloted the no. 98 Australian-spec Ford Mustang Gen2 Supercar race car (not unlike NASCAR), putting a big smile on Fallon’s face. He’ll be racing under the same number in Daytona. And last summer, Farley raced in the Le Mans Classic, piloting the no. 64 Ford GT40. He finished second in his class.
Racing will be core to Ford’s branding as the new year progresses. When the automaker launched the seventh-generation Mustang in September, it also announced it had no fewer than six racing Mustangs planned for the new S650 generation, including GT3 and GT4 models. The Blue Oval is also working on versions for NASCAR and NHRA Factory X, and it hopes the racing will serve as advertising for the new Mustang and the Ford brand.
The IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge starts on Friday, January 20, with practice, followed by racing on Saturday and Sunday, January 21 and 22. You can watch Farley race live on Peacock, where IMSA will stream both races.
