Mustang Cup North America travels to Lime Rock Park for the penultimate weekend of its inaugural season. The 1.5-mile road course is located in the Connecticut portion of the Appalachian mountain range, and the elevation change will test the skills of the drivers as they take to the track in their Ford Mustang Dark Horse R race cars. The weekend will consist of two test sessions, three practice sessions, qualifying, and two 45-minute races – one for the Miles Cup championship and one for the Parnelli Cup championship.
Will Lucas and Nick Smither Ready for More Dark Horse R Action
During the break between the Road America and Lime Rock Park rounds, two Mustang Cup competitors have been behind the wheel of the Dark Horse R, racing in Mustang Challenge.
Will Lucas, the current Dark Horse championship leader in both the Miles Cup and Parnelli Cup championships, stepped up into Mustang Challenge for the season’s final two weekends at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) and the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL. Lucas had a strong two outings, earning one top-five finish at COTA and one top-five finish at the ROVAL.
Nick Smither, who currently leads the Dark Horse Legends championships in both Miles Cup and Parnelii Cup, competed in Mustang Challenge’s final weekend of 2025 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL. Smither has competed in the most rounds of Dark Horse R racing of any competitor in 2025, competing in all rounds so far of Mustang Cup and ten races in the Mustang Challenge series, including the Mustang Challenge Le Mans Invitational.
About Mustang Cup North America
Mustang Cup is designed to provide drivers who are just launching their careers the first steps into motorsports. Like its next level counterpart, Mustang Challenge, the entry-level series features a fleet of Mustang Dark Horse R race cars at tracks around North America.
Both series are key stops along the Ford Racing Pyramid, which guides drivers across a planned route from novice to professional, all on the Ford Mustang race platform—from the Dark Horse R to the Ford Mustang GT4, up to the ultimate Mustang race car, the GT3.
Sanctioned by the United States Auto Club (USAC), the championship spans six race weekends and features two classes: the Miles Cup—named for Ken Miles—and the Parnelli Cup —named for the legendary racer Parnelli Jones. Each event stop will have up to three practice sessions, two qualifying sessions, and two feature races.
The Ford Mustang Dark Horse R competes on Yokohama race tires in the Mustang Cup.
ORDER OF EVENTS
*Times EDT
Friday October 17
10:40 a.m. – 11:10 a.m.: Practice 1
12:40 p.m. – 1:10 p.m.: Practice 2
2:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.: Miles Cup Qualifying
5:05 p.m. – 5:50 p.m.: Miles Cup Race
Saturday October 18
9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.: Practice 3
11:20 a.m. – 11:50 a.m.: Practice 4
1:45 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.: Parnelli Cup Qualifying
4:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.: Parnelli Cup Race
