Courtney Barber and Lisa Wilmuth of Team Mustang Girls are on the road again with Bullrun! The rally starts in Times Square in New York City and ends in Scottsdale, Arizona. This was Courtney’s second time starting the rally in NY and what a difference from four years ago. Back then the car had all drum brakes, manual steering and a straight-six. Courtney still remembers the feeling of terror driving into NY in 2010 and the shaking hands that didn’t stop for an hour after the car was parked. This year was smooth sailing with front disc brakes, brake booster, Steeroids rack and pinion, Speed Direct’s Vector Series suspension and of course the pink 351 Windsor. And AC! Thanks to Old Air Products, Team Mustang Girls are officially on their first rally with air conditioning, fancy stuff!
The girls made it into NY on Friday afternoon and even had some time to spare to walk around and see the city before the launch party that night. They may have had a little too much fun at the party because getting up at 7 am to get the the staging area was rough but they made it in time and looking good thanks to their custom shirts by Badcock Apparel. All the cars were lining up and fellow Bullrunner’s Ice-T and Rob Feretti showed up to see the cars off even though they were not participating this year. With people lining the sidewalk they were handed the first route card and were off! Well kinda,slowly anyway. thanks to NY traffic.
The first checkpoint of the rally was at McGlades restaurant on the Pier in Cape May. Cape May the city, not the county. The girls got an added tour of Ocean City because of that error but it was a gorgeous drive so they didn’t mind. Gotta love all the tricks Bullrun adds to make finding locations more difficult than just entering an address into the GPS. The next route card had the hotel location in Washington DC.. But first they had to make it off of Cape May. That’s when the fun began. Following the GPS instructions they started driving but were still going South. Knowing that they were on a Cape Courtney questioned how that was possible. That’s when Lisa mentioned the ferry they were in route too. Unsure of how often the magical ferry rides would be, the girls turned around and headed back North, then West to eventually get South to DC. That’s Bullrun Baby!
Team Mustang Girls would like to thank Kicker, Speed Direct, Badcock Apparel, Performance Plus Connection, Old Air Products, Scott Drake, Summerville Ford, Smoky Oak Taproom, Impact Image Group, CDI Homes, PdM Services, Bert’s Market and Inked for helping to make it all happen! Stay tuned for more updates this week from Bullrun!
Wheels up at 9 am! The girls were on the street for the line up nice and early. Mainly because Courtney wasn’t sure how long it was going to take to convince the valet to let her drive the Mustang out of the garage. She had persuaded them to let her drive it in the night before and was hoping to do it again in the morning. Although they would’ve had a tough time bringing it out with just the trunk key she left them. Courtney missed the lesson of sharing in kindergarten and has nightmares about a valet starting the car in drive and bashing it into a wall. And yes eventually she will get around to fixing that safety neutral switch, Luckily her persuasion worked and they were off to the lunch check point in Woodstock Virginia. 
After a great lunch at Woodstock Cafe they were given the route card for the final checkpoint at the Homestead Resort in Hot Springs Virginia. After plugging it into the GPS the girls were confused. How could the day be ending in less than 2 hours? As the slow and steady (and easily distracted) turtle of the race, getting in before dark was enough to make them happy but to get to the hotel by 3 was unheard of! Courtney even messaged the organizers to see if they were given the wrong card and found out that the day was going to be a relaxing one. Which made her ask what kind of hell are you planning on putting us through tomorrow. And the response was Muh ha ha ha!
Luckily that didn’t scare Team Mustang Girls and instead of going to the hotel they ran into some awesome cars from the Power Tour and managed to find a few cool places to stop along the way. Including a lookout point, Cavern tour, and a pick your own strawberry farm! When they did finally manage to remember theY were on a rally, they continued on to the resort. Or should we say castle?
Day 3
Sunday night Team Mustang Girls laid low. After a great dinner and fast ride courtesy of Matt Hayhurst on a luggage cart down a hallway resembling the scene from the shining, they went to bed to prepare for the possibility of a long leg the next day. And good thing they did because they were headed to Nashville 500 miles away. Maybe even a little more with the extra trip through West Virginia the GPS took them on! They didn’t figure out they had gone the wrong way until that evening when people started questioning why they had posted a welcome sign to West Virginia at dinner. Isn’t that the way everyone went? Oh well! Today the navigator, Lisa, will be buying an actual map!
Everything in the car has a little jiggle but this was more than normal so Courtney pulled over to check it out. She popped the hood and went to check the oil and the next thing you know the dipstick and entire tube for the engine block was in her had. Well that can’t be a good thing but it did explain the random burning smell that kept happening on going up and down the hill. After some fancy work with a hammer and zip ties they were back on the road again and made it to Nashville before the sun went down and just in time to shake their booty’s to some country music!
Day 4
Nashville, TN to Branson, MO
Bullrun started off the day at Loveless Cafe in Nashville where the manager warned Team Mustang Girls about lots of rain ahead. Oh the joy of having single speed wipers! The first half of the day was a constant change of wipers to sunglasses and sometimes both. The girls kept trucking along and enjoyed each bit of sunshine that made it through the clouds.
Along the way they found a short cut only to realize sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason! They stopped along the way at what appeared to be a graveyard of soda machines and an old rundown bar that’s name fit most of the days navigation.
After enjoying the scenery it was on to the Chateau on the Lake in Branson, MO. The twisted rt 160 took the girls right to the gorgeous hotel. Courtney was very grateful to have Speed Direct’s Vector Series Suspension on each curve of the road. Made her feel like she was dancing with the car!
Day 5
Branson, MO to Dallas, TX 
The girls were up early after a much needed night of rest. Yes, they were given a hard time about skipping the party but Mustang Girls have their priorities! They made it less than 20 feet from the hotel before stopping to take some pictures of the beautiful area. No wonder they are late everywhere they go! But who can blame them for not missing out on all of the beautiful scenery along the way.
The day started out beautiful and then there was the smell…was something burning? That didn’t seem good. Courtney pulled over to check it out and was greeted by a cloud of smoke when she opened the hood. After 3000 miles of hard driving the driver side valve cover appeared to be leaking directly onto her JBA headers and causing an oil like sauna for all around to enjoy. Knowing it wasn’t a major problem because the oil level hadn’t dropped much, the girls continued on. 
Later that night fellow Bullrunner Richard Rawlings came out to join the party. At first Courtney was bummed she didn’t put down her beer for the picture but then later considered maybe that could be a great way to apply for Gas Monkey Garage’s Beer assistant position!
Day 6
After an eventful night in Dallas, Team Mustang Girls hit the road early heeding producer Andy Duncan’s warning that the day would be a long one. 635 miles to Sante Fe not including the check points! Determined to make it before sundown they vowed to try to limit the random stops and stay focused. 
This was Courtney’s favorite time, being out in the lead and waiting to see the other teams appear in the mirror and fly by. Her Stang is fast enough but the super cars can drive well above 80 without sounding like a rattling tank about to explode, the girls have learned to just appreciate the fact that they’re still moving! They went a whole three hours without a car in site. But did see a parade of corvettes en route to some fun location but Courtney restrained herself from stopping to ask, still trying to stay on task.
The first check point was the Cadillac Ranch in New Mexico where they stopped and took a few moments to leave their mark. Then it was off to the lunch stop. Along the way they were passed by the another Mustang on the rally driven Jeffrey Allen and Meggan Bailey from the TV show Car Chasers. At the lunch stop Jeff told the girls that when he saw that even the Mustang Girls were ahead he got worried and decided it was time for some 5 hour energy! Joke all you want, Team Mustang Girls made it to Sante Fe with sunlight to spare and that’s what matters to them!
Day 7
15 mins later the girls were headed to the final stop in Scottsdale. The sun was out in full force all day and navigator Crystal said she had sweat from places she didn’t know were possible. Yes the car had AC but when it was running for long periods on the highway the temp started creeping above 220 so they had to go without. That’s a problem Courtney plans to tackle with the help of Old Air Products when she gets home. Until then it’s like a sweat lodge with no cover charge! Nothing ever goes just right but the girls have come to realize if you keep smiling and truckin along will usually make it! And they did! At the finish line all the cars were lined up and you could see in everyone’s face the happiness that comes with making it to the end. 
Now Team Mustang Girls only had a short 2,200 mile trip back to South Carolina to finish their journey. Yep you read that write. Maybe one day Courtney will get over her fear of planes and ship the car but until then she will just continue to lap the country! On the way home you would think that 2,200 miles would have been enough of a trip but instead in true Team Mustang Girl style Courtney found one last stop she had to make. You may remember the Pony Drive to the 50th Anniversary the team participated in. They were supposed to take the Tail of the Dragon but it snowed and the road was closed. So another hundred mile detour and Courtney got to put her Steeroid’s Rack and Pinion and Vector Series Suspension to the test on the Dragon’s 318 curves in 11 miles. It was amazing! She actually turned around to do it again when out of nowhere there was a big clap of thunder. She figured that was God’s way of saying don’t press your luck and decided to finish the 377 miles back home. 12 days, 6200 miles and one of the best times ever!
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