I'm blogging today to give a quick word of congrats to my friend, Chris "The Father of the 5.0 Underdrive Pulley" Kaufmann (that's right, the same guy from back in the day who's company, "Kaufmann Products," was one of the first producers of affordable, CNC-machined, bolt-on performance pieces for 5.0-powered Fox-body 'Stangs...and Ford Ranger pickups), and Andrew "Ace" Caddell, driver of the Kaufmann Racing/Hot Rod magazine 2008 FR500, for capturing their first victory of 2009 in the Mustang Challenge road-race series.

"Ace," after earning a front-row position in qualifying on Homestead (Florida) International Speedway's "Roval" circuit, pulled a hole shot on the entire field at the start of the race and never looked back; leading every lap of the event and winning the first race of the new season.

Chris and Andrew, along with fellow team member Roger Caddell acknowledge that the racing effort wouldn't be possible without support from companies such as Raybestos brake pads,  Aaron Hoekstra of Hoek’d Up Performance, Red Line Synthetic Lubricants, Scott Drake Performance Products, AIM data acquisition, Hot Rod Magazine, Motul 660 brake fluid, BFG Tires, Cool Shirts, Sparco Safety equipment and Seats, Nifty Chip Computer Repair Centers, Capaldi Racing, Canby Graphics, Sachs shocks, RocketSports Racing, Ford Racing, PCI Radios, ARGO-PACE Race Jacks, Titan Car Lifts, Longacre professional pit gear, Optima batteries, and Borla's long-tube headers.

Andrew and Chris have dedicated this season to Larry H. Miller, the founding father of the Mustang Challenge series. As Editor Turner reported in an earlier blog, Larry passed away last month, but his legacy definitely lives on with the Mustang Challenge. "Larry was a great family man, a businessman, a racer, an enthusiast as well as a person with big vision who was not afraid to put his money where his thoughts were. We can all be grateful for pioneers such as Larry Miller," says Chris.