FORD CEO JIM FARLEY SECURES RACE WIN AT ROAD ATLANTA

When Jim Farley was appointed the CEO of Ford Motor Company a few months back, there was a genuine air of excitement around the executive level shakeup. Farley is a tried and true gearhead, and brings an entirely different attitude and perspective than his predecessor. The CEO’s love of cars isn’t limited to the street however, as Farley is a dedicated member of the RM Motorsports race team. While most CEOs are forced to forgo any sort of potentially dangerous activity, Farley bucked this notion during his contract negotiations. That’s turned out to be a good thing for his team, as the automotive executive just captured an overall race win at the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association Road Atlanta Grand Prix this past weekend.

Farley raced alongside his teammate Craig Bennett in a 1978 Lola T298 prototype, which is of course powered by a 2.0L Ford-Cosworth engine according to Racer. That said, the folks at Historic Motorsport Central believe that Farley’s car utilizes the more powerful BDG powertrain, which produces 275 horsepower. While that might not seem like a lot of power for the massive straights found at Road Atlanta, the fully-loaded Lola only weighs in at 1,345-pounds. That means that the car has a power-to-weight ratio of 350 horsepower per ton, which puts it on par with the 2005 Ford GT. Not bad company for a 4-cylinder machine.

Farley isn’t just a gentleman racer however, as the CEO has some serious pace out on track. Over the course of the 70-minute race, the Lola managed to post the fastest overall lap on its path towards victory. That’s pretty impressive when you consider the sheer number of Ferraris and Porsches that came out to play.

So then it appears that the CEO was quite serious when he told Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. that he had no plans to stop racing. If he is going to keep winning races, we think it is probably best for everyone that he stays out on track. Hopefully Ford’s leader will take some inspiration from his classic race cars as he guides Ford through the era of electrification.

 

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