Fast From the Past: Race fans will see iconic Shelby

For the second year in a row, Las Vegas-based Shelby American Inc. is sponsoring Sunday's NASCAR race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, giving an estimated 140,000 spectators their first look at the 2011 Ford Shelby GT350.

It's the official pace car of the Shelby American 400 scheduled to start at noon Sunday, the third race of the season for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

The car, first shown at the Barrett-Jackson auto auction in Scottsdale, Ariz., is a reinterpretation of the Ford Mustang GT fastbacks that legendary car designer Carroll Shelby took into his Los Angeles production plant in the 1960s and turned into one of the most famous muscle cars of the time.

Motor Trend magazine calls it a "Camaro fighter," packing all the design revisions and hardware upgrades of the 2010 model plus Ford's new 5.0-liter, all-aluminum V-8 to give today's Shelby American (formerly Shelby Automobiles) "the foundation it needed to reseed the icon."

Shelby American sponsored last year's race after UAW-Chrysler pulled out in 2008, naming it the Shelby 427 and marketing a limited edition of the Shelby GT500 Mustang.

"I do think it improved our sales, absolutely, because NASCAR and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, they have a huge reach not only for race fans, but for Shelby fans," Shelby American president Amy Boylan said Wednesday.

"The Las Vegas Motor Speedway is such a great partner. Bruton (Smith, chief executive officer of Speedway Motorsports) and Carroll are such great friends. We got a huge reaction from fans last year. Everybody loved it. We got to show a lot of new cars. It was something different and it really worked. Shelby aficionados loved it."

One of Shelby's customers drove the Shelby 427 pace car last year and another customer dropped the green flag for the race, she said. Shelby himself has been named grand marshal of the race.

Shelby American is celebrating the 45th anniversary of the GT350 and Cobra 427. The company produces special versions of the Ford Mustang GT350, Ford Mustang GT500 Supersnake, Ford F-150 and Shelby Cobra at its Las Vegas Motor Speedway plant.

The Shelby GT350 is a "post-title" program, which means a customer buys the Mustang at a local Ford dealership and brings it to Shelby American in Las Vegas. The upgraded package, which adds horsepower and aerodynamic handling features, runs from $30,000 to $40,000.

Boylan would not disclose the sponsorship amount for the NASCAR race, but said it's not as much as past sponsors have paid. The idea was presented to Shelby American's board of directors, including the chief financial officer, and they decided it was worth the investment, she said.

"There are business decisions and then there are decisions based on business relationships," Boylan said. "We have to market our brand. We think this works for both of us. This is great brand marketing on TV. The track, the signage ... the track itself is a top-notch organization. They do a phenomenal job of getting the word out."

Las Vegas Motor Speedway President Chris Powell said he's "ecstatic" to have Shelby's name on the race for the second year.

"Last year's event was a tremendous success and we're looking forward to giving more exposure to the Shelby brand that has, over the years, become synonymous with the best in high-performance cars," Powell said.

Jim Owens, director of marketing and sales for Shelby, said all of the research and development for the GT350 was done at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway road course.

"These cars have got to be developed with the heritage of Carroll on the race track," he said. "This GT350 kicked butt all over race tracks in the 1960s and it's important to use the race track for testing those attributes that are so important to the car."

Boylan said she puts marketing materials for Las Vegas Motor Speedway in every car built at Shelby's local plant.

"We promote track events wherever we go," she said. "If companies don't get together to support each other, how are we going to survive?"

Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.