Laura,
Here's the complete Mustang Week article, as it was written, including photo "Drag 4". Space and budget considerations always involve some editing, so I'm NOT beating up on the editor...
The Best Week of the Year
Mustang Week 2009 was the best EVER!
Text and photos by Keith Keplinger
The Internet was humming. Emails were buzzing. Forums were flying. It was time for Mustang Week 2009! While Mustangs begin arriving as early as Sunday, the first “official” Mustang Week activity is a “Meet & Greet” held Tuesday evening at Planet Hollywood, where Mustangs completely filled the parking lot, and spilled over into the neighboring restaurants’ parking. A special event this year, as the “Bill Jones Memorial Mustang” was presented to its owner, Rev. Joel Gilchrist, by Mike Clay and the MW Staff. Bill Jones was one of the founding leaders of MW who passed in February. The MW Guys wanted to do something special to remember Bill’s giving spirit this year, and Mike Clay took the lead in doing a resto/upgrade to the 1995 Mustang GT convertible of Rev. Joel Gilchrist. Rev. Gilchrist is always at MW, and involves his youth group in helping with trash detail and other activities at MW. A large crowd gathered as Bill’s daughters, Courtney and Laura, pulled the cover off the car, there wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd. A fitting tribute to a great member of the Mustang Week community.
If it’s Wednesday at Mustang Week, it must be time to head to the Myrtle Beach Speedway for some action! A record number of cars and spectators filled the Speedway for a fun run Autocross, and the evening was topped off with the burnout/drifting contest. Tire smoke filled the air, and circles, lines and loops formed on the asphalt until a winner emerged from the haze. Then it was off for and evening of food and cruising the boulevards of Myrtle Beach.
Thursday was another “blue sky, Chamber of Commerce” type day with hundreds of Mustangs converging on the Hooters at the recently renamed Myrtle Beach Mall for lunch and some bench racing. After lunch, it was time to head to Darlington Dragway for some real action – an evening of Drag Racing fun! About 200 cars made the hour’s drive to the track to race, and over 600 people came just to watch the action. MW had 4 classes – Street N/A, Street Power Adder, Weekend Warrior, and All Out Race – plus you could get some Test/Tune passes or set up your personal grudge match and see who really had the right stuff!
One of the best things about Mustang Week is the relaxed pace to all of the activities. The MW Guys never lose track of the fact that this is “Vacation” to most participants and most events are scheduled so that families can have plenty of “beach time” in the mornings, when things are cool, and there are plenty of activities in Myrtle Beach for those spouses and kids whop prefer not to do “Mustang Things”. The Friday Car Show is a perfect example of that philosophy, as registration/check in doesn’t start until 9:00 am, and the judging begins at 11:00 am. Over 250 of the finest Mustangs pre-registered to participate in the Judged show, and another 500 more Mustangs signed up for display only status. Mustang Week’s Sponsors and Vendors ringed to show field and the rest of the Mall parking lot was filled with all of the Mustangs that arrived just to spectate! A little burst of rain cooled things off in mid afternoon, which put final judging and the awards a little behind schedule – But it was all OK, after all, you’re on vacation!
For the second year in a row, Saleen chose Mustang Week to launch it’s new products and this year’s launch included the spectacular new 2010 Saleen 435S – A Saleen that promises “Some Show, More Go, Less Dough”, and based on the reactions of the crowd that was always around the cars on display, Saleen should do well with this Mustang.
One the other side of the show field, Steve Saleen was signing autographs for his new company – SMS Supercars, and giving away posters of the new SMS 460 Mustang, scheduled to make its debut this fall.
Roush/Yates was featuring engines and parts, as well as showing off the new 2010 Roush Mustang, and Temple Performance had several of their “Legend” Mustangs on display. It’s a good time to be a Mustang Fan, indeed. Once again, after the show, various groups of Mustangers gathered to plan the night’s cruise activities – Yellow Mustangs, Bad Mustangs, Black Knights Mustangs, Fox Body Cruises – There’s a cruise for everybody…
Saturday was another great day at the beach, with 2-3 foot surf, blue skies, and plenty of seashells to be found. Then it was off to the Southeast’s Largest Mustang Cruise In at the Mall, where over 1,000 Mustangs all gathered to show, shine and discuss all things Mustang.
And all too soon, it was time to pack up the ponies and head home, with a fresh tan, sand in the carpets, photos to sort, and enough memories to last until it all begins again in 2010, the third week in July in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina…
Get all the info, maps, and schedules for 2010’s Mustang Week at www.MustangWeek.com.
Photo captions:
Drag 4: Grudge races are always good fun at Mustang Week. S197Forum.com regular Laura Rinier (07CaliGTstang) promised her friend that she was gonna shove a Christmas Tree “somewhere” and she did! Congrats on the win, Laura.
Here's the complete Mustang Week article, as it was written, including photo "Drag 4". Space and budget considerations always involve some editing, so I'm NOT beating up on the editor...
The Best Week of the Year
Mustang Week 2009 was the best EVER!
Text and photos by Keith Keplinger
The Internet was humming. Emails were buzzing. Forums were flying. It was time for Mustang Week 2009! While Mustangs begin arriving as early as Sunday, the first “official” Mustang Week activity is a “Meet & Greet” held Tuesday evening at Planet Hollywood, where Mustangs completely filled the parking lot, and spilled over into the neighboring restaurants’ parking. A special event this year, as the “Bill Jones Memorial Mustang” was presented to its owner, Rev. Joel Gilchrist, by Mike Clay and the MW Staff. Bill Jones was one of the founding leaders of MW who passed in February. The MW Guys wanted to do something special to remember Bill’s giving spirit this year, and Mike Clay took the lead in doing a resto/upgrade to the 1995 Mustang GT convertible of Rev. Joel Gilchrist. Rev. Gilchrist is always at MW, and involves his youth group in helping with trash detail and other activities at MW. A large crowd gathered as Bill’s daughters, Courtney and Laura, pulled the cover off the car, there wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd. A fitting tribute to a great member of the Mustang Week community.
If it’s Wednesday at Mustang Week, it must be time to head to the Myrtle Beach Speedway for some action! A record number of cars and spectators filled the Speedway for a fun run Autocross, and the evening was topped off with the burnout/drifting contest. Tire smoke filled the air, and circles, lines and loops formed on the asphalt until a winner emerged from the haze. Then it was off for and evening of food and cruising the boulevards of Myrtle Beach.
Thursday was another “blue sky, Chamber of Commerce” type day with hundreds of Mustangs converging on the Hooters at the recently renamed Myrtle Beach Mall for lunch and some bench racing. After lunch, it was time to head to Darlington Dragway for some real action – an evening of Drag Racing fun! About 200 cars made the hour’s drive to the track to race, and over 600 people came just to watch the action. MW had 4 classes – Street N/A, Street Power Adder, Weekend Warrior, and All Out Race – plus you could get some Test/Tune passes or set up your personal grudge match and see who really had the right stuff!
One of the best things about Mustang Week is the relaxed pace to all of the activities. The MW Guys never lose track of the fact that this is “Vacation” to most participants and most events are scheduled so that families can have plenty of “beach time” in the mornings, when things are cool, and there are plenty of activities in Myrtle Beach for those spouses and kids whop prefer not to do “Mustang Things”. The Friday Car Show is a perfect example of that philosophy, as registration/check in doesn’t start until 9:00 am, and the judging begins at 11:00 am. Over 250 of the finest Mustangs pre-registered to participate in the Judged show, and another 500 more Mustangs signed up for display only status. Mustang Week’s Sponsors and Vendors ringed to show field and the rest of the Mall parking lot was filled with all of the Mustangs that arrived just to spectate! A little burst of rain cooled things off in mid afternoon, which put final judging and the awards a little behind schedule – But it was all OK, after all, you’re on vacation!
For the second year in a row, Saleen chose Mustang Week to launch it’s new products and this year’s launch included the spectacular new 2010 Saleen 435S – A Saleen that promises “Some Show, More Go, Less Dough”, and based on the reactions of the crowd that was always around the cars on display, Saleen should do well with this Mustang.
One the other side of the show field, Steve Saleen was signing autographs for his new company – SMS Supercars, and giving away posters of the new SMS 460 Mustang, scheduled to make its debut this fall.
Roush/Yates was featuring engines and parts, as well as showing off the new 2010 Roush Mustang, and Temple Performance had several of their “Legend” Mustangs on display. It’s a good time to be a Mustang Fan, indeed. Once again, after the show, various groups of Mustangers gathered to plan the night’s cruise activities – Yellow Mustangs, Bad Mustangs, Black Knights Mustangs, Fox Body Cruises – There’s a cruise for everybody…
Saturday was another great day at the beach, with 2-3 foot surf, blue skies, and plenty of seashells to be found. Then it was off to the Southeast’s Largest Mustang Cruise In at the Mall, where over 1,000 Mustangs all gathered to show, shine and discuss all things Mustang.
And all too soon, it was time to pack up the ponies and head home, with a fresh tan, sand in the carpets, photos to sort, and enough memories to last until it all begins again in 2010, the third week in July in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina…
Get all the info, maps, and schedules for 2010’s Mustang Week at www.MustangWeek.com.
Photo captions:
Drag 4: Grudge races are always good fun at Mustang Week. S197Forum.com regular Laura Rinier (07CaliGTstang) promised her friend that she was gonna shove a Christmas Tree “somewhere” and she did! Congrats on the win, Laura.
