Photos by: Editor Mark Gearhart

Every spring  Long Beach, California, one of the busiest port cities in the world, is invaded by a host of American muscle, European exotics, Asian imports for a variety of races at The Streets of Long Beach. After hosting Formula Drift, this past weekend it was time for the  Pirelli World Challenge. This was  the third round and second venue for the series 2013 racing season, and on hand were three teams fielding a total of five Mustangs, all vying for top spot in the GTS class.

Alas, after a couple of hard practice sections, qualifying, and the race, not a single Mustang driver wound up on the podium. Even worse, only one of them managed to crack the top 10. It was a tough weekend for Ford fans to say the least.

The race weekend got off to a rough start for some of the Mustang competitors, who had bad luck right out of the gate. Ardee Toppe, driving the number 21 Capaldi Racing Boss Mustang, got into a minor accident during the first practice session. Then Roger Rodas, behind the wheel of the number 53 AE Racing Boss 302S, hit the wall in a bad way during the next practice session, leaving his car too badly damaged to return to the track. Thankfully for Rodas, the team had a backup car on hand, and he was ready for the actual competition.

With 24 competitors on the grid, the five Mustangs had plenty of competition, though unfortunately they were never really able to break into the top three. In fact, the highest-finishing Mustang was the number 96 Capaldi Racing Boss 302S driven by Brad Adams, who only managed to finish in tenth place. The checkered flag and first place were captured by the number 11 Black Dog Speed Shop Camaro, driven by Lawson Aschenbach, who won the GTS class. Fellow Camaro competitor Andy Lee, behind the wheel of the number 20 Best IT Racing Camaro, managed to set a track record as well, marking a good day for the Mustang rivals.

The rest of the Mustangs in competition didn’t fare very well either. Dane Moxlow, driving the number 7 Autosport Development Mustang, finished in thirteenth place while Rodas came in sixteenth place. Following Rodas was Erik Davis in the number 75 Always Evolving Boss 302S in seventeenth place. Bringing up the rear was Ardee Toppe, who crashed the number 21 Capaldi Racing Boss Mustang after just nine laps.

This leaves all the Mustang drivers in a tough spot with regard to points standings. Adams is currently the highest ranked Mustang driver in the points, with 130 points, putting him in fourteenth place and 259 points out of first position. Even worse, due to these poor performances Ford has zero points in the manufacturers cup, behind even Kia! Chevrolet is dominating the manufacturers standings with 25 points, Acura follows with 17, and Kia has 5. The Mustangs are losing to everyone right now and that really stings.

With two races in the books and seven left to go, this is still anybody’s series. Will the Mustang drivers bounce back? Or is 2013 just not their year? Look to find out at the next race at the Circuit of the Americas on May 17, in Austin, Texas. If these teams are serious about a good points finish, they better start moving up the ranks, and fast, while the season is just getting started, the last race of the season will be here before you know it.