FORDS DOMINATE GT3 AND GT4 RACES IN EUROPE; NEFF IS RUNNER-UP IN SECOND STRAIGHT NHRA RACE

• Eric de Doncker, driver of the No. 1 Mustang FR500GT4, finished second in the first race and won the second and third races in the GT4 European Cup this weekend at Monza, Italy.
    
• Alex Mortimer and Bradley Ellis, drivers of the No. 21 Ford GT, won both FIA GT3 European Championship races at Monza, Italy.
    
• Mike Neff, driver of the Old Spice Mustang, was the runner-up in the NHRA race in Bristol, Tenn., moving up four spots in the standings to seventh place.
    
• Brendan Gaughan was the top Ford driver in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race in Charlotte, N.C., finishing third in his No. 10 F-150.  Gaughan moved up three spots in the standings to 12th place.
    
• During the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star events in Charlotte, N.C., Greg Biffle was the top Ford driver in the Sprint All-Star race, finishing second, and David Ragan was the top Ford driver in the Sprint Showdown, crossing the line in third.
    
• Brian Friselle and Mark Wilkins were the top Ford drivers in the Grand-Am Rolex Series race in Salinas, Calif., finishing sixth in the No. 61 Ford-Riley Daytona Prototype.
     

DEARBORN, Mich., May 18, 2008 - Ford Racing fans had plenty of competition to follow during a busy weekend as Ford race vehicles performed well on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

In European competition, Fords dominated all five races of the weekend in the FIA GT3 European Championship and GT4 European Cup events in Monza, Italy.  Defending GT4 champion Eric de Doncker drove his Mustang FR500GT4 to two victories and a second-place finish in the three GT4 races during the weekend.  Both of de Doncker's victories were by a margin of at least 13 seconds.

The duo of Alex Mortimer and Bradley Ellis swept both of the GT3 races, collecting two wins in the No. 21 Ford GT3 powered by the 5.0L Cammer engine.  Both of their wins came by margins of 18 and 22 seconds.  Scott Maxwell and de Doncker earned a sixth-place finish during the first race in their No. 22 Mustang FR500GT3, marking the Mustang FR500GT3's best finish to date.  Thomas Mutsch and Ian Khan placed their No. 20 Ford GT3 in third place in the second race.

Back in North America, rookie Mike Neff used the Ford BOSS 500 nitro motor to power his Mustang into the final round of the NHRA race in Bristol, Tenn., qualifying No. 1.  This is the first time a Ford-powered Funny Car qualified in the top spot since Danny Ongais did so on Feb. 1, 1970 in Pomona, Calif. 

Neff, who was looking for the first event win of his career, ran into trouble right before the final round.  His crew was unable disengage the latch that allows them to lift the body off of the chassis.  As a result, the team was unable to arm the series of timers that activate the clutch, fuel and ignition systems.

Neff had to make his run despite the problems and jumped out to an early lead as the race began.  Unfortunately, the engine failed at halfway across the track since the crew was not able to make the necessary pre-run adjustments.  Neff jumped up four spots in the standings to seventh place.

"We definitely feel good about moving up in the points," said Neff.  "We're moving forward and making progress.  The car is running good.  It was our best qualifying start, the first time we started No. 1, (so) it was a positive day, but it was also frustrating that we gave one away."

Neff's teammate, Ashley Force, remains second in the standings, just 23 points behind leader Tim Wilkerson.

NASCAR was in Charlotte this weekend, where the Sprint Cup Series held non-point All-Star festivities and the Craftsman Truck Series returned to competition.  Three F-150s landed in the top five spots on the Truck Series race, led by Brendan Gaughan, who finished third in the No. 10 F-150.  Right behind Gaughan was Erik Darnell in fourth place and Rick Crawford in fifth.

"Thanks to Rick Crawford for bringing me here and Ford for taking the chance and the Maxx Force guys," said Gaughan.  "Man, I haven't had this much fun in years:  my dad smiling on the pit box, this is just like old times.  We can do this every week.  Me and Rick, top five, we're gonna start making some headway." 

Crawford's strong finish moved him to within five points of series leader Ron Hornaday for first place in the standings.

Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth just missed out on victory and winning $1 million in the Sprint All-Star race.  Biffle took second place in his No. 16 Fusion, while Kenseth finished third.

"I was running third, fourth right there, and I was just way too tight, way, way too tight," said Biffle.  "I think we finished in the first segment second, I think, and then we fell back a couple more spots.  We got the big break and we took a look at what Matt [Kenseth] was doing and Carl [Edwards] and made some adjustments to our car - pretty aggressive.  We wouldn't have done something like that in a normal race and loosened it up a bunch.  When the green flag dropped, I mean, man alive, I could not believe how fast my car was.  It was unbelievable."

David Ragan just missed driving his way into the All-Star race after finishing third in the Sprint Showdown, a race that places the top two finishers into the All-Star race field.  Biffle was the winner of the first burnout challenge held and won $10,000 for the Greg Biffle Foundation.

Ford saw two more top-10 finishes in the Grand-Am Rolex Series race in Salinas, Calif.  Brian Friselle and Mark Wilkins finished sixth in the No. 61 Ford-Riley Daytona Prototype, while Ian James and John Pew rounded out the top 10 in the No. 6 Ford-Riley Daytona Prototype.

"The car was very good, but our only weakness was the restarts, and unfortunately, we had a lot of them," said James.  "It was good to run up in the top three like we did for a while, but our strategy just didn't play out to keep us up there.  But it was another solid day and now we'll look forward to the Glen weekend in June."

Next weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the NASCAR Nationwide Series will compete in Charlotte, N.C., while the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will head to Mansfield, Ohio.  Both Grand-Am series will also be in action as the Rolex Series, and the KONI Challenge Series each have events at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn.

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