CONCORD, NC – Taking delivery of a brand-new Ford Mustang is a special automotive experience that has thrilled more than 10 million owners for over 62 years. That’s because when you get a Mustang, you don’t just get a car – you get an entire lifestyle, should you choose to take part in it. The only way that getting the keys to a new Mustang could be even more special is if you’d won it in a sweepstakes.
That’s precisely what happened to 28-year-old Austin Meyer, a self-avowed car guy and race fan who works in marketing operations in the Charlotte, North Carolina metro area. Meyer is the latest winner in Ford’s annual “Mustang 5.0 Fever” sweepstakes, taking delivery of his new Mustang GT at Rock Hill Ford in mid-March after finding out on his birthday in February that he’d won the 2025 sweeps for a new 5.0 Mustang GT and $5,000 in Ford Performance parts.
Unlike some previous 5.0 Fever winners, Meyer didn’t seek out entering the yearly Mustang sweepstakes; rather, it found him during a visit last summer to Charlotte’s NASCAR Hall of Fame and Museum.
“You could say that being a race fan surely played a role,” Meyer admitted. “But I was raised around cars. I loved Hot Wheels and Legos, and my father had worked on cars all the time when I was little.”
Meyer was born in Chicago but later moved to Vermont. There, he’d spent time with his grandfather, who was a big NASCAR fan that watched and followed the races. He eventually moved to Maine and by age 16 he was hanging around with the car guys at school who had formed an informal, group photoshoot club.
While his first car was a 2001 Subaru Impreza RS before switching to a VW Jetta Turbo, Meyer said he was inspired to modify and work on his own cars by watching Ken Block videos. After getting his education and going to work in the Washington, DC / Maryland area, his car photography with his club friends helped him utilize that skill for work in the real estate business after graduation.
He remained interested in the car culture after both he and his wife landed jobs in Charlotte 1-1/2 years ago. It didn’t take him long to get involved with the Cars & Coffee scene held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, and he remains a big NASCAR fan to this day. He got himself a BMW 335i and followed online forums to work on modifying it and tracking it. Both he and his wife own and work on modded Bimmers.
After being in Charlotte for a while, he finally got the chance to see the NASCAR Hall of Fame and Museum with some friends in August of 2025. “I much enjoyed that visit,” Meyer said, “plus we all really wanted to drive the race-car simulator.”
But he spotted a Mustang display there and noticed a kiosk to sign up for the Mustang 5.0 Fever Sweepstakes. “When I went over to sign up, my friend said I was wasting my time, while my wife told me, ‘C’mon -- nobody ever wins those contests!’ But I signed up anyway – it was really quick – and we finished our tour. I eventually forgot about it.”
On Feb 4th of 2026 – his birthday – he took a rare PTO day off to get some things done at home and happened to get a call forwarded to him that he said would’ve likely gone into voicemail at the office.
“I didn’t pick up after noticing it was from an unfamiliar area code,” Meyer recalled. “But the caller ID said Ford Motor Company, and I saw that the caller had left a voicemail, so I decided to listen to the message to see if it was a scammer.
“The message was from a ‘Yvonne Harrison’ calling on behalf of Ford, who announced that my entry for the Mustang 5.0 Fever Sweepstakes was chosen at random as the winner. After congratulating me, she asked me to call her back for the information on how she’d help arrange my ordering of a new Mustang GT and also securing an additional prize of $5,000 in Ford Performance Parts.
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“I was still skeptical when I called Yvonne back, but after I heard her tell me the exact date and place that I filled out my entry, I figured this was legit – although winning the car still hadn’t really sunk in!”
Meyer was informed that his prize had a value of $55k to spend on his order of a new 5.0 Mustang GT and it was suggested he go through a local dealership, Rock Hill Ford near his job in Fort Mill.
“I spec’d the car exactly the way I wanted – and actually chose this car out of stock.” Meyer noted. “but it was one of over 20 GT Premium specs that I had my eyes on. I was especially looking for the active exhaust and upgraded LSD. But I’d say it was the Bronze Package that really caught my eye on this one. Black or Red were the colors I was after, as they're the first colors that come to my mind when I think ‘Mustang.’ With the Ford Performance Parts money I mainly went after the Track Package components – further enhancing the S650’s track capability.”
Meyer said that he had to move his imports out of their driveway and shed some of his project cars to make room for his new Mustang – but he’s been driving and enjoying it from day one. Among some of the first things he and his wife did together in their new 5.0 was to attend the National Mustang Day festivities at the Mustang Owner’s Museum just down the road from the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord. They were able to check out the more than 100 Mustangs that had gathered there to celebrate Mustang’s birthday and meet up with the local Mustang enthusiast community. The couple also plans to attend a Mustang Track Day at the Speedway and perhaps even join fellow Mustangers in the variety of events held in and around the Charlotte area all year round.
Both he and his wife still have their Bimmers but have been sharing driving their new Mustang GT – and loving it. Meyer said his goal would be to someday shift his marketing career into automotive to further his passion for cars – but for now he’s excited to be getting involved in the Mustang hobby. For those who had entered but have now heard of Austin Meyer’s good fortune of winning the 5.0, there’s good news: You can sign up for the 2026 Mustang 5.0 Fever Sweepstakes right now at https://mustang50fever.com/ and have the chance of getting the winning phone call come your way in February of 2027.
FORD RACING PHOTOS / COURTESY RGA MEDIA SERVICES
