Ford Unveils First Teams, Drivers for Inaugural Season

Ford Performance has released the first batch teams and drivers that will take part in the inaugural Mustang Challenge season.

Sixteen teams will campaign the Ford Mustang Dark Horse R in the single-make series, with the first 11 of those named on Thursday.

They notably include IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship squad MDK Motorsports, as well as Michelin Pilot Challenge regulars McCumbee McAleer Racing, KohR Motorsports and Automatic Racing.

These teams are joined by Leaders Credit Union Competition Motorsports Racing, Capaldi Racing, Southern Paley Motorsports, Robert Noaker Racing, Torre Racing, Ameriasian Fragrance Research & Competition Motorsports and JV Racing Team.

These teams join the already confirmed Max Opalski Racing crew, with more names to be announced at a later date.

Notably, Precision Performance Motorsports, which announced an effort with Lamborghini Super Trofeo race winner Wesley Slimp last month, has not been named.

Opalski and Slimp are amongst the first group of 34 drivers to have been revealed by the series.

They are joined by Zach Lee, Jack Lewis, Kel Kearns, Chad McCumbee, Jeremy Fletcher, Tom Tait Jr., Gabe Tesch, Nick Smither, Robert Noaker, Mitch Marvosh, Paolo Salvatore, Rodney Randall, DJ Randall, Gregory Bennett, Brandon Gdovic and David Russell.

Ford also revealed a two-class structure for the new championship, which consists of the Dark Horse and Dark Horse Legends classes.

All drivers are automatically entered into the Dark Horse class, while Dark Horse Legends is optional for drivers of 45 years and older.

The Mustang Challenge season is set to kick off at Mid-Ohio on June 5-7.