THE Team Penske Ford Mustang GT is the latest car released this week in the new Shell Motorsport Collection, available around Australia and set to get collectors off and racing.
The NASCAR Cup Series racer is the fifth of eight cars in the collection with one to be released every week over a nine-week period, including cars from Shell’s involvement in Formula 1, NASCAR, Supercars, INDYCAR, the World Rally Championship and Sportscars.
The first car released on October 1 was the Ferrari F1-75, the 2022 Formula 1 World Championship challenger that was driven by Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jnr, and the October 8 release was the Shell V-Power Mustang Supercar driven this season by Brodie Kostecki and Will Davison.
The two most recent releases focused on futuristic race machines, with the October 15 release the Nissan Formula E Gen3 car and the October 29 release the hydrogen-fuelled Forze Hydrogen Racing Forze IX.
Founded on stock car racing – cars that were only lightly modified from their road-going versions – NASCAR Cup Series cars have evolved across the past 75 years to become bespoke race machines, offering improved safety and performance, while also featuring standardised parts across the competing car brands to curb cost.
The Team Penske Ford Mustang GT represents the seventh generation of NASCAR Cup Series racecar since the establishment of the championship in 1948. It is underpinned by a spaceframe chassis that is one of the standardised parts that all teams must use.
The car weighs a minimum of 1542 kilograms with fuel and driver aboard and has a 5.8-litre V8 engine under the bonnet that produces anywhere from 510 to 670 horsepower depending on the type of circuit. It is also the first NASCAR Cup Series car to feature independent rear suspension and a sequential gearbox, putting its power to the road via a five-speed transaxle.
Running on their own, the cars are capable of reaching speeds of almost 300km/h. However, on superspeedway ovals like the Daytona International Speedway, the cars can reach over 320km/h when slipstreaming – or ‘drafting’ – other cars.
Pic: Supplied
Shell has been a major partner of all of Team Penske’s race programs since 2011, which was the first year the company took on primary sponsorship of the team’s #22 NASCAR Cup Series entry.
Logano has been at the wheel of the team’s #22 Ford since the start of the 2013 season, and has earnt the bulk of his 37 wins, 33 pole positions and three titles in the Cup Series career aboard it.
The 35-year-old is also the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion, earning his latest career title via winning the final race of the 10-race playoffs format at Phoenix Raceway last November.
The Shell Motorsport Collection cars can be purchased from Shell OTR and Shell Reddy Express-branded sites.
Spend $20 or more in-store (on eligible fuel and/or convenience) and customers can purchase each car for $18 retail. Terms and conditions apply. See shell.com.au/modelcars for details.
The cars are Bluetooth remote controlled via a smart phone using the Shell Racing app and need a rechargeable battery, which is sold separately.
Shell V-Power is an advertising partner of V8 Sleuth