Over the Labor Day weekend, the #20 Steeda Q500R Mustang achieved yet another Pole Position Qualifying and 1st Place Podium Finish at the South Atlantic Road Racing Championship events at the famed Sebring International Raceway using performance parts designed, engineered, and manufactured by Steeda for street Mustangs!
POMPANO BEACH, FL - Steeda Autosports, the world's largest aftermarket manufacturer of Ford performance equipment and creator of the Q-Series line of high performance bred Mustangs took their #20 Q500R development car to the famous Sebring International Raceway this past Labor Day Weekend and aggressively raced to a 1st Place Finish in the SCCA South Atlantic Road Racing (SARRC) Championship Series.
With successfully qualifying in pole position, the Q500R driven by V.P. of Operations - Glen Vitale, easily captured a 1st Place Podium finish in the rain-shorted race. The #20 Steeda was fast out of the gate from the very beginning having set our best time of the weekend in our very first qualification attempt. For the race, with dry sunny conditions and predictions of stormy weather, we opted to start the car on the 315/30/18 dry racing tires, knowing full well that conditions could change easily change during the course of the race. This strategy proved to be the right one as all of our competitors also opted for the same tire set up so we were in a position to not give up any advantage to anyone. The prediction was that rain was coming, but everyone in the race group including us thought it would hold off until after our race.
We had an exceptional start by easily retaining our first place class qualification position and started to advance and pass the other cars in higher speed class positions. Unfortunately Mother Nature had other ideas and towards the end of the first lap rain began to fall on various parts of the track. By the time we were halfway done with the second lap, the rain began coming down even harder. This is when we were able to start really making ground on the faster GT2 GT1 cars as the Steeda suspension easily outperformed other even in adverse conditions. At a certain point in the race the officials decided it was to wet and dangerous for the race to continue especially since all the cars were on dry weather tires. The officials called the race and ended it early with the Steeda car finishing ahead of the entire race field. Unfortunately, sometime later the race was over, officials decided to revert the final standings to the previous lap before the red flag flew. This meant we were relegated to 3rd overall but 1st in our class in the rain-shortened race.
Of particular interest is that our #20 Q500R race car is equipped with the same performance parts and accessories that can be installed on any S550 based Mustang, showcased Steeda's unsurpassed commitment to engineering and manufacturing the very best performance parts for regular street driven Mustangs. We all know that we can't always drive in perfect conditions, that is why we test our performance products in some of the most adverse and challenging conditions possible - even during tropical storm conditions at Sebring International Raceway !
Remember: Racing either proves the theory or destroys it. That is why we race...even in the rain!
Our performance parts are thoroughly tested in CAD animation, by driving on the street, blasting down the dragstrip, and on the most challenging racetracks around the world. When we encounter a problem, we fix it and go back and retest. Why? Because Speed Matters(r) is more than just a slogan at Steeda. From ISO 9001:2008 Certified engineering and manufacturing to the creation of limited edition Serialized Steeda Performance Vehicles - Steeda's strategic intent is to provide ultimate performance with value in the niche automotive marketplace worldwide.
More information on Steeda Autosports performance parts can be located at www.steeda.com and vehicle specific information can be found on www.steedavehicles.com.