Ford Racing Performance Parts welcomed NASCAR legend “The King” Richard Petty to its PRI exhibit to rip the wraps off the long-awaited 2015 Mustang, the iconic muscle car’s 50^th anniversary edition.
 
If you think Richard Petty attracts attention, you should see him standing next to this red-hot beauty. The 2015 comes with all new front and rear suspension, and a choice of a 5.0-liter V8 or 2.3-liter EcoBoost turbocharged engine that is projected to bring exceptional power, torque and fuel efficiency to the Mustang corral.
 
George Goddu of Ford Racing Performance told us the PRI Trade Show was a natural for unleashing its newest pony car. “PRI and Indianapolis are the core of performance, so we were really excited to unveil it here in particular,” he said. “The crowd response was just awesome…a lot of people did that little gasp,” he laughed. “It looks great in print, but it’s even better in 3D.”
 
While there is a whole enthusiast culture surrounding the Mustang, Goddu also noted that it was embraced almost from the start by the performance community. “In 1964, it was racing in France right out of the box,” he said. “It’s been in virtually every racing venue and format since then, so why wouldn’t we do the introduction here at PRI? This is the first reveal since the global one that Ford has done, and that is an acknowledgement of the kind of audience found here at the show.”
 
Meanwhile, Petty, who had been the keynote speaker in front of a standing-room-only crowd of 2,600 at PRI’s Grand Opening Breakfast, hung out in the Ford Racing Performance booth for nearly two hours signing autographs and allowing photo ops with his legions of fans. Asked how it felt to be up on the PRI stage trading quips and racing tales with fellow NASCAR driver Kenny Schrader and motorsports journalist Dave Despain, Petty replied simply: “It was really neat.”