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Birmingham getting ready for Mustangs 45th birthday
March 28, 2009
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Birmingham AL. March 28 2009
The organizers of a 45th anniversary tribute to the Ford Mustang at the Barber Motorsports Park expect the event to draw more than 100,000 people – and Barber officials hope to land an even bigger party for the sport car’s 50th birthday.
The road track and museum will host the Mustang celebration during a four-day event starting April 16. Ford Motor Co. and the Mustang Club of America are sponsors.
“From a tourism standpoint, it’s going to be one of if not the biggest event we’ve held at the Barber Motorsports Park because the vast majority are coming from out of town,” said Gene Hallman, whose firm organizes events at the park
Steve McCarley, president of the Mustang Club of America, said members were impressed by the Barber Motorsports Park when the club had an event there in 2006.
“If you’re looking for an absolutely phenomenal facility – which for me is the best in the country, but certainly the best in the Southeast – and that leaves you with Barber,” he said.
When it came time to organize the 45th anniversary celebration for the Mustang, McCarley said he lobbied Ford to come to Birmingham. Ford went along.
More than 100,000 people are expected to attend the four-day event, not counting the 5,000 participants, McCarley said.
There will be more than 2,500 show cars on display and on the track, he said.
“For a sports car enthusiast, a muscle car enthusiast, it’s going to be a huge deal,” said Hallman, chief executive of the Bruno Event Team, whose Zoom Motorsports division stages events at Barber.
The Mustang party will spill outside of the park.
On Thursday, April 16, members will have a 650-car cruise from the park to Homewood, where a street party is planned until 11 p.m.
“The city of Homewood has welcomed us with open arms and, of course, open restaurants,” McCarley said.
The main events will be at the Barber Motorsports Park on the weekend
“On Friday and Saturday, we will have truly the finest Mustangs in the country on display and on the track out at Barber,” McCarley said. “Ford will have the 2009 and 2010 Mustangs on display.”
There is a dinner with Ford officials slated for Saturday night at the Marriott Birmingham. The event will be capped off by the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge on Sunday.
There also will be plenty of vendors, McCarley said.
“Anything – and I do mean anything – from a T-shirt to a car part will be available at the event,” McCarley said. “If it’s got something to do with a Mustang, then I can all but guarantee you something to do.”
Ford has sold more than 9 million Mustangs since it began producing them in 1964.
Hallman said officials at the track and at Zoom want to win over Mustang fans in order to lure them back for an even bigger golden anniversary celebration in five years.
“The park is going to be working very hard along with us to do such a good job that hopefully we can host the 50th in five years because you can only imagine how big that is going to be,” Hallman said.
McCarley said he remembers when plans for the $70 million park were in their infancy.
“I was fortunate enough to meet Mr. (George) Barber back when he was planning the thing and I was a road racer,” he said. “He walked up to me and showed me a track map one day and said, `If I build this some day, will you come race at it?’ And dad-blame, he did it!”
The organizers of a 45th anniversary tribute to the Ford Mustang at the Barber Motorsports Park expect the event to draw more than 100,000 people – and Barber officials hope to land an even bigger party for the sport car’s 50th birthday.
The road track and museum will host the Mustang celebration during a four-day event starting April 16. Ford Motor Co. and the Mustang Club of America are sponsors.
“From a tourism standpoint, it’s going to be one of if not the biggest event we’ve held at the Barber Motorsports Park because the vast majority are coming from out of town,” said Gene Hallman, whose firm organizes events at the park
Steve McCarley, president of the Mustang Club of America, said members were impressed by the Barber Motorsports Park when the club had an event there in 2006.
“If you’re looking for an absolutely phenomenal facility – which for me is the best in the country, but certainly the best in the Southeast – and that leaves you with Barber,” he said.
When it came time to organize the 45th anniversary celebration for the Mustang, McCarley said he lobbied Ford to come to Birmingham. Ford went along.
More than 100,000 people are expected to attend the four-day event, not counting the 5,000 participants, McCarley said.
There will be more than 2,500 show cars on display and on the track, he said.
“For a sports car enthusiast, a muscle car enthusiast, it’s going to be a huge deal,” said Hallman, chief executive of the Bruno Event Team, whose Zoom Motorsports division stages events at Barber.
The Mustang party will spill outside of the park.
On Thursday, April 16, members will have a 650-car cruise from the park to Homewood, where a street party is planned until 11 p.m.
“The city of Homewood has welcomed us with open arms and, of course, open restaurants,” McCarley said.
The main events will be at the Barber Motorsports Park on the weekend
“On Friday and Saturday, we will have truly the finest Mustangs in the country on display and on the track out at Barber,” McCarley said. “Ford will have the 2009 and 2010 Mustangs on display.”
There is a dinner with Ford officials slated for Saturday night at the Marriott Birmingham. The event will be capped off by the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge on Sunday.
There also will be plenty of vendors, McCarley said.
“Anything – and I do mean anything – from a T-shirt to a car part will be available at the event,” McCarley said. “If it’s got something to do with a Mustang, then I can all but guarantee you something to do.”
Ford has sold more than 9 million Mustangs since it began producing them in 1964.
Hallman said officials at the track and at Zoom want to win over Mustang fans in order to lure them back for an even bigger golden anniversary celebration in five years.
“The park is going to be working very hard along with us to do such a good job that hopefully we can host the 50th in five years because you can only imagine how big that is going to be,” Hallman said.
McCarley said he remembers when plans for the $70 million park were in their infancy.
“I was fortunate enough to meet Mr. (George) Barber back when he was planning the thing and I was a road racer,” he said. “He walked up to me and showed me a track map one day and said, `If I build this some day, will you come race at it?’ And dad-blame, he did it!”
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