Jeff Demenezes 2018 Mustang GT Track Build

Jeff Demenezes's 2018 Mustang GT Track Build

Meet Jeff Demenezes, owner of this beautiful track-ready 2018 Mustang GT. Jeff is the perfect example of a young enthusiast looking to take his passion of racing games when he was a kid, and bring it out at tracks like Palm Beach International Raceway. This is exactly what we want to see in the next generation of Mustang enthusiasts!

Jeff works for Matt at Obsessed Garage, which is where our paths crossed. You may have seen us visit their facility in September 2020 to check it out in person and turn some wrenches on Jeff's car. Follow along and learn more about Jeff, his passion for the automotive world, and his killer 2018 GT!

About Jeff @ Obsessed Garage Q&A

How did you get into cars and racing?

My father is a big fan of Formula 1 and it would be a weekend event where we would watch Qualifying and Practice together and made me really enjoy racing. Being a kid and having a playstation my parents got me the NeedForSpeed games and I was hooked on playing them any chance that I can to race and modify cars which ended up making me Obsessed with cars in the end.

What cars have you owned and/or raced?

I’ve owned 3 cars since 16, the first was a 08’ Mini Cooper S as I wanted something FWD and get my foot in the door with grassroots racing and start doing AutoCross. After learning with that car I then purchased a 18’ Subaru WRX as it had more power but also AWD as I wanted something that was more forgiving as this car will be what I would use to start doing Track Events. After learning the capabilities of myself and the two cars I owned I felt ready to get rid of the car and get the Mustang as that was going to be my end goal track vehicle.

What's the story behind your Mustang?

The story behind the mustang is one of the hero cars in NeedForSpeed was a '08 Mustang GT and seeing that car I was hooked and I wanted it. I started trying to draw the car and every time I would see one I would get exited. I knew that one day I needed to own a mustang and do something cool with it, fast forward to now I really loved the facelift S550 and I told myself this is it and that if the stars aligned and I found the spec that I wanted that I would go for it and sure enough I found the Mustang I wanted and for now it is my daily driver as I love driving it so much but will eventually be under the knife and slowly get turned into a dedicated track car.

Have you attended any racing schools?

I have not attended any race schools yet but that is on the list for this year as I want to improve myself as a driver and keep learning more about proper road course driving.

Suggestions for those who may want to get into racing but they’re not sure where to get started.

My suggestion for people that want to get into racing but not sure is Autocross. It is local, cheap, and not difficult to start off in. There are plenty of enthusiasts that will be there and instructors that will be more than happy to guide you around the course and point out places where you can improve. You will also learn a lot about your reaction time and how the car reacts to these sudden moments and you’ll end up learning alot about not only the car but yourself as a driver.

Any other information you'd like to share?

One thing I would like to not is I am by not means “The Stig” or aspire to be. I do this for strictly fun and to have a great time and test the capabilities of myself and the car that I'm driving. For me pursuing progression in becoming a better driver while at the same time going faster around the track with your track day buddies is an amazing weekend for me and that’s all that matters. Ilike to be an example especially for the younger generation like me to show that if you really want toget out there and have fun you don’t need a racecar to go out on track nor do you need to be a racecar driver. There are plenty of public events that you can sign up and dedicated classes for Beginner and Intermediate to get yourself out there because seat time is everything in this game. You can have the fastest and most prepared car but if you have no seat time it won’t do you anything.

Where can people find you?

@JeffTheEmailer on Instagram

The Build

As mentioned in the video, Jeff's 2018 Mustang build started as a blank canvas - which also works well because it's Oxford White! Since then, he's tastefully added many parts to make this car track-ready. Be sure to check back to see the latest updates on Jeff's 2018 Mustang build!