MIAMI, FL (Oct. 2006) -- The "championship-level" 2007 Ford Shelby GT500 has been selected to pace the Ford 400 NASCAR race, the grand finale of the 2006 Nextel Cup Series during Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

"We wanted to select championship-level production vehicles to pace the Ford Championship Weekend, and we picked the best," said Dan Davis, director of Ford Racing Technology. "When you talk about vehicles that combine bold design and the kind of performance needed to lead the NASCAR field on track, the Ford Shelby GT500 is the place to start."

Also on hand at the unveiling ceremony before open NASCAR testing at the racetrack was Curtis Gray, the president of Homestead-Miami Speedway, and Matt Kenseth, the 2003 NASCAR Nextel Cup champion and a contender for this year's title. The selection of the 2007 Ford Shelby GT500 as the pace car for this season's NASCAR Nextel Cup finale just seems like a natural for the most powerful Mustang ever.

With 500 horsepower underfoot from its 5.4-liter supercharged V-8 engine, the GT500 won't have any problem leading the Ford 400 field. Pace cars typically require engine and suspension modifications to help meet NASCAR requirements for quick and stable acceleration onto the track from zero to the 60-65 mph pace speeds. Not surprisingly, no major mechanical modifications were necessary for the Shelby GT500. Ford Racing added some colorful pace car graphics, headlight and parking light strobes and a rear spoiler-mounted strobe light bar to meet NASCAR pace car specifications.

After the pace car announcement and a few press interviews, Kenseth, driver of the DeWalt Ford Fusion, strapped himself into the Performance White with Vista Blue stripes 2007 Shelby GT500 pace car for some media rides.

Not only is Kenseth a race car driver, he's an enthusiast who also happens to be very familiar with the 2007 Shelby GT500. He was one of several professionals who were called upon to test-drive the car during its various stages of development. And early this year, Kenseth and other Ford Racing NASCAR drivers were brought in to take evaluation laps around the Dearborn Proving Grounds in pre-production GT500s.

"I'm looking forward to the Ford pace vehicles," Kenseth said, "I know a little bit about them. I actually have a Shelby GT500 on order and it's supposed to be in next week, so I'm looking forward to driving my own around every day."

It turns out that Kenseth is also an avid collector of Ford performance vehicles. Among his favorites are a Roush Mustang and a Ford GT - the latter a gift from Ford Motor Company for winning the 2003 NASCAR Cup Championship. And after the 2006 NASCAR season, he'll get plenty of seat time on public roads in his new Shelby GT500.

"It's an awesome vehicle; it's got a lot of power," Kenseth said of the Shelby GT500. "It's real fast, so hopefully I can stay out of trouble with that."

One thing's for certain: He'll have no trouble keeping up with traffic.