Long Beach has had a couple of interesting weeks in a row, with Formula Drift sliding into town earlier in the month and the Pirelli World Challenge making the second stop of the series in the seaside city. There were plenty of Mustangs in attendance for both events, and this weekend saw the Ford pony make another strong showing on race day, although total victory once more eluded their collective grasp.

While Jack Roush Jr. started off the weekend by qualifying in first place with the day’s fastest lap time in the GTS class, it was Tony Buffomante who ended up on the podium with a second place finish in Sunday’s race. Roush, meanwhile, faded back to fourth place on race day, putting him in the middle of the pack standings.

Roush was obviously excited to qualify so well going into the Long Beach event, as this was just his second race in the Pirelli World Challenge GTS class ever. Alas, qualifying is only qualifying, and Roush could only hold onto the lead position for the first lap of the race. Kia’s Nic Jonsson slipped past Roush and never looked back, holding onto the lead all the way until the checkered flag.

Following Roush in fifth place was another Mustang driver, Alec Udell. Yet another Mustang driver, Erik Davis, was awarded the Optima Batteries Best Standing Start award for moving up the ranks, moving from 18th to 9th place over the course of the race. Davis eventually finished in 13th place.

It was up to Buffomante and his #33 Boss 302S Mustang to keep the Mustang’s hopes alive, and he went wheel-to-wheel with Jonsson in a good, clean race. While he had to settle for second, the points were enough to bump Buffomante up in the standings to second place overall, and gives Ford a slight edge in the manufacturer’s standings.

This performance follows just two weeks after the delayed season opener in St. Petersburg, where the Mustang failed to place on the podium, though not by much. Buffomante managed to eek out a fourth-place finish in the first race of the 2014 season, with Jack Roush Jr. following in 5th place. Overall it’s not a bad start to the season for team Mustang, and this weekend’s performance keeps Team Ford well positioned to dominate the 2014 Pirelli World Challenge manufacturer’s championship.

The next race is slated for the last weekend in April at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, before heading north into Ontario, Canada. With ten races left in the season, there’s still plenty of time for Mustangs to complete their domination of the Pirelli World Challenge after a disappointing finish to the 2013 season. With two Mustangs in the top four already, the competition is surely keeping an eye in their rear-view for that Blue Oval badge inching up on their bumper.

It’d be amazing if Ford could pull off a win in the highly-competitive World Challenge Series, and well timed too. After all, it’s the year of the Horse.