Our very first Mustang On Track feature race car is Master SGT. Bradley Hurley’s SVT Cobra American Iron NASA race car.

The reason for this choice is simple.

When I started racing last February, the first guy I met at the race track with a Mustang was Brad. Immediately after meeting him I discovered that he lived one small town over from me in Eastern, NC and that we were neighbors.

Immediately after learning he lived in Jacksonville, NC I confirmed what I first thought, that he was a United States Marine.

Sometimes we just need to put these guys first. The car is interesting too.

When I first saw the car, it was white with grey lettering. Since my car is white with red and blue lettering we were often confused for the other on the race track. Brad fixed that when his sponsor, Sanders Ford, Jacksonville, NC told the Marine they would provide him with a new paint job for his 2008 racing season.

SGT. Hurley had found the 1969 Boss 302 Trans Am cars campaigned by Bud Moore online. They had a eye popping black and burgundy paint scheme. Hurley modified the look to substitute his love of grey for the burgundy and the scheme came together perfectly.

The #86 car has the standard ’97 Cobra 4.6L engine, Maximum Motorsports suspension gear and brembo 2000 Cobra R brakes.

Enjoy these photos of this beautiful race car, because the sandy conditions at Carolina Motorsports Park have already sandblasted a good bit of the new paint into history.