CAR OWNER

BENJAMIN WAGMAN

CAR NAME–YEAR & MODEL INFO

PARKING LOT WARRIOR - 2002 MUSTANG GT

HIGH HORSEPOWER, MUSCLE CAR, AND A GREAT SOUND ARE ATTRIBUTES ASSOCIATED WITH OUR BELOVED

MUSTANGS.

MEMBERS OF THE STANG MAG FAMILY ARE MORE PASSIONATE ABOUT FUN AND INCLUSION THAN THEY ARE THEIR CARS AND THAT SAYS A LOT!

High horsepower, muscle car, and a great sound are attributes associated with our beloved Mustangs. In fact, many Mustang owners will at one point take their baby to the dragstrip to test their investment and hopefully gain bragging rights among friends or on social media. While this is what I have noticed in general among Mustang enthusiasts over 25 years, there’s more to our adored Mustangs than just going straight fast, there’s autocross. With some basic suspension and brake modifications our Mustangs can become a competitive and fun car to toss around cones in a large parking lot. Autocross is fun, cheap, safe, and you’ll learn to be a better driver on the road. Every car enthusiast should experience it, regardless of what car you own. You won’t regret it.

My passion for autocross started in 1997 when I first tried it with my 1994 V6 auto Camaro ragtop. After that day, I never looked back; the adrenaline for those 50 seconds or so was awesome, and I was hooked! Now I just needed to find a real car for this type of racing. That same year, I moved onto a 1991 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4. Not exactly your preferred autocross vehicle with two tons of lovin’ packing around a parking lot. However, I remember it being exceptional in the rain. A couple years later and I moved onto a more suitable autocross car, a 1989 L98 6-speed Corvette. However, this would be a short run, due to engine failure at Lime Rock Raceway. The oil pump failed which resulted in a cracked crankshaft and a bad motor rebuild, that was the end of that. In 2002, I purchased a red 2000 Mustang Roush Stage II. I loved it! It sounded awesome, power (mostly torque) was enough (for that era) and the Roush suspension package gave it the ability to be competitive around the parking lot. But, as time went on, I eventually got the itch for something else so fast forward

If you asked me if I thought I’d be writing an article for STANG Magazine for my car this time last year I would’ve said no. If you asked me if I would be writing it about a different car than the 2005 Roush Mustang I had I would’ve said hell no. I loved that car but acquiring this one reinvigorated my passion for car shows and events!

I met Daniel Ramey at a Beltway Mustang show and won my spot with STANG Magazine in their Carlisle Ford Nationals display. Needless to say I wasn’t sure what to expect being that I didn’t know the people attending and was going by myself.

The STANG Mag family welcomed me in from the very start and made me feel like one of their own!

Members of the STANG Mag family are more passionate about fun and inclusion than they are their cars and that says a lot! I can’t wait to see what’s to come in 2022!