<P> Ford won championships in the Grand - Am Road Racing Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge for the 2005, 2008, and 2009 seasons with the Mustang FR500C and GT models . In 2004, Ford Racing retained Multimatic Motorsports to design, engineer, build and race the Mustang FR500C turn - key race car . In 2005, Scott Maxwell and David Empringham took the driver's title . In 2010, the next generation Mustang race car was known as the Boss 302R . It took its maiden victory at Barber Motorsports Park in early 2011, with drivers Scott Maxwell and Joe Foster . In 2016, Multimatic Motorsports won the IMSA CTSCC drivers' and manufacturers' titles with the S550 - based Shelby GT350R - C, driven by Scott Maxwell and Billy Johnson . </P> <P> In 2012, Jack Roush won the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race at the Daytona International Speedway opening race of the 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona weekend in a Mustang Boss 302R . </P> <P> Dick Trickle won 67 short - track oval feature races in 1972, a national record for wins in a single season . </P> <P> In 2010 the Ford Mustang became Ford's Car of Tomorrow for the NASCAR Nationwide Series with full - time racing of the Mustang beginning in 2011 . This opened a new chapter in both the Mustang's history and Ford's history . NASCAR insiders expect to see Mustang racing in NASCAR Sprint Cup by 2014 (the model's 50th anniversary). The NASCAR vehicles are not based on production models, but are a silhouette racing car with decals that give them a superficial resemblance to road cars . Carl Edwards won the first - ever race with a NASCAR - prepped Mustang on April 8, 2011, at the Texas Motor Speedway . </P>

When did ford change the mustang body style