Roush Racing's 2001 Ford Mustang GT - Exercise In Engineering

The top half of the 281-incher is where things get interesting. Using Roush's own CNC-ported PI castings, the heads are optimized with a set of custom-ground Comp Cams camshafts, with matching Comp springs wrapped around stainless valves in the stock diameter. The crowning jewel is the RoushCharger positive-displacement supercharger that pumps 7 pounds of intercooled boost into those hungry intake manifold runners. To dial everything in, a FAST engine-management system is used, and a set of MSD coil packs are individually fired for the utmost in reliability and repeatability. Bolted to the other side of the heads are Hedman 151/48-inch long-tube headers that run wide open to the atmosphere. These components generate 430 hp at the wheels through an automatic tranny. On the strip, the hammer is dropped to the tune of 10.45 elapsed times at 127 mph. Just in case you were wondering, that's with a 1.409 60-foot time and a single click at half track to activate the Hughes two-speed with its 5,500-stall converter.

"My husband, Dale, and I have competed in a time/speed race called The Great Race, which is a trans-continental event that runs about 4,000 miles," Susan says. "We compete in a '39 two-door Deluxe Ford convertible called 'Georgetta,' and we've won one championship and tied for Grand Champion once.

"The opportunity to drag race came about in the fall of 2005 when Roush Performance Parts rented [Milan Dragway] for testing. We took some cars out there, and it was the first time I had ever gone down a dragstrip in my life. I did it a handful of times, and my father, who is a hard-core, old-school drag racer, was excited about seeing his products back at the strip. Don Bowles, a good friend of my father, was getting back into drag racing as well, and he offered his rig to haul the cars around. It's been Dale's dream to drag race, and I thought I could be a test driver to help drive these cars and put them through their paces to see what works and what doesn't. It didn't take long before it was real competition. I first raced in a street car-an '03 Jack Roush Classic-then in my current car." Currently, she is Fourth in championship points.

Susan's attraction to drag racing revolves around the family aspect of the sport. "What excites me most about this program and drag racing is that I can do it with my family, and I can set an example for my daughter, Josie Rose, in an environment like I grew up in," she says.

As you can see, not every engineering mule goes into that great big scrapyard in the sky. Like all the cars that sit in the Roush Automotive Collection, the Roush team recognizes the significance of every one that has been pivotal in either the company's performance parts or NASCAR racing business. As a result, nothing is left behind or forgotten. The next time you see this two-toned terror sitting at the back of the museum or at the track, just remember how much work this car has gone through and how it continues to impact the Mustang world.