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Guest Speakers
Billy Johnson
Billy Johnson is a (freelance) American professional race car driver who has competed in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) for Ford Chip Ganassi Racing in the #66 Ford GT, winning the 2018 6-Hours of Spa, and is the 2016 IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge GS champion. Johnson is a development driver for Multimatic and Ford Performance and helped develop the LeMans winning Ford GT racecar, Championship winning Shelby GT350R-C, Mustang GT4, FP350S racecars, as well as street cars including the GT350, GT350R, GT500, and Ford GT.
Tommy Kendall
Son of race driver Charles Kendall, Kendall began his racing career competing at the IMSA GT Championship. He drove a Mazda RX-7 in the GTU category while studying and by the time he completed his studies, he took the 1986 and 1987 championships. Later he won three other titles in the same car.
He later dominated the SCCA Trans-Am Series in the 1990s, scoring four series championships. His greatest year came in 1997 racing with Roush, when he won 11 races in a row out of the 13 on the schedule—almost a perfect season. Tommy raced in NASCAR for many races as a road course ringer, as well as traveling to Australia to drive a Ford Falcon.
Tommy now spends his days behind the mic and camera on many racing shows and programs.
Jim Owens
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Jim has had a successful career at Ford - twice! After a brief stint at Shelby American working directly with Carroll Shelby, Jim returned back to the Blue Oval where he acted as Ford Performance Enthusiast Marketing Manager.
In his current role, Jim acts as the Shelby and Mustang Marketing Manager.
Art Hyde
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After a 40 year career at Ford Motor Company, you know Art Hyde has many stories to tell. He led various product engineering roles primarily associated with vehicle development and launch of the Mustang including project leadership of the 1979 Indy Pace Car program and Turbocharged engines for the Mustang. He was also responsible for all aspects of Mustang programs from January 1998 to May 2002 where he acted as the Mustang Chief Program Engineer. In his last role as Global Product Development System Engineer, he was responsible for the implementation and improvement of the steps, sequences, tools and methods used to develop new vehicles at Ford. Currently, Art is an Adjunt Professor at the University of Michigan where he teaches Lean Program Engineering
Gary Bennett
Gary’s professional career in the collector car industry has spanned over 45 years, throughout which he has become one of most respected individuals in the field – if not THE most respected – for not only his knowledge of cars, but also for his honesty, integrity and credibility. He has been actively buying, selling and participating in the collector car lifestyle auction industry since 1971. He handled broadcast negotiations to increase live television coverage with SPEED network – later, FOX Network – from 4 to 40 live broadcast hours per event, and was heavily involved in the charitable aspects of Barrett-Jackson, and has been passionate about these organizations and their causes. Throughout his long and varied automotive career, Gary became an avid racecar driver, winning many awards racing vintage NASCAR, Trans-Am, European sportscars, and open wheel racecars at racetracks throughout the United States. He is a regular at the Mid American Ford & Shelby Nationals in Tulsa each year running the tracks.
Donald Farr
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Donald has been a Mustang owner since 1970 and involved in the Mustang hobby as a journalist and editor since 1977. His first assignments were for the Shelby American Automobile Club and for a new magazine titled Mustang Monthly. Farr received a Lifetime Appreciation Award from Ford’s Team Mustang in 2011 and the Lee Iacocca Award in 2012. He was inducted into the Mustang Club of America’s Mustang Hall of Fame in 2012 and is currently the editor of Mustang Times.
Rick Schmidt
Rick is currently the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for National Parts Depot (NPD). Rick’s father Jim founded NPD in 1976, selling restoration parts for 1955-1957 Thunderbirds from the basement of the family home. Rick was 9 years old at the time, and answered the very first phone call from a customer; ”I’m sorry, you must have the wrong number.” Surviving that initial misstep, as the company grew, Rick worked pretty much every job conceivable as he completed high school and attended the University of Florida. In 1989, Rick came to NPD full-time, as more warehouse locations were added and more catalogs/product-lines launched. Today, NPD stands as one of the largest restoration parts suppliers in the world – specializing in classic Ford and GM vehicles. The company boasts four locations nationwide and offers 12 retail parts catalogs. Along the way, Jim and Rick also assembled an eclectic collection of over 200 cars and trucks, mostly American-made, ranging from 1903 – modern, with the majority being 100% un-restored “low-mile survivor” vehicles.
Autumn Schwalbe
Ford Performance's Global Marketing Specialist
Kash Singh
My passion for racing and all things cars can be traced back to early junior high where the walls of my bedroom were adorned with images of race cars and exotics of the 90’s. Books shelves stacked with models. I saved up and bought my first car in high school while working at a local race shop. Most of my weekends were spent at car shows and drag tracks centered around the Southern California Sports Compact Car Scene. Mid 2000’s I started spending time carving the mountain roads in the area. That’s when my passion for Hill Climbs was sparked. 2011 I entered my 1st event, the most famous and dangerous race of them all, The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. I’ve raced it every year since with mixed results chasing personal goals. Now I get to take my personal passions for the automotive world and apply them towards my professional career, having recently been promoted to Enthusiast Marketing Manager in Ford Performance, guiding Ford’s involvement in the various Enthusiast communities.
Paul Brearey
Air Force brat grew up in TX, SC, Guam, NJ, OH and California
Graduated BSME from Kettering University (formerly GMI) in Flint, MI
MBA in Engineering Management from Cass Business School in London, UK
Ford Motor Company for nearly 29 years in various roles in Customer Service and Product Marketing in MI, FL and Sweden
Avid “car guy” and enthusiast with 2 play cars
2005 Lamborghini Gallardo gated manual
1961 Lincoln Continental convertible
Currently lives in Ontario Canada
Currently Product Marketing Manager responsible for BEV Trucks – an exciting place to be as FoMoCo transitions to be the leader in BEVs during the most transformation period in the auto industry In a century
"REVan" Evan Smith
Evan J. Smith is an automotive journalist, passionate car enthusiast, and racer. He is the former editor of Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords magazine/Mustang-360.com, and founder of REVan Media Inc. (established in 2014), which includes the REVan Evan YouTube, @official_ford_guy Instagram and currently, Evan is the editor of Drag Racing Edge magazine.
Evan specializes in creating compelling, entertaining, and news-worthy stories, photography, video production, and social media for clients including Ford Motor Company, Holley Performance, NHRA and Shelby American, to name a few. In addition, Evan competes in NHRA drag racing, road racing, and has served as a factory test driver for Ford Motor Company on special projects including the Shelby GT350, GT500 and Cobra Jet Mustangs
Rob Herrod
Australia's Performance Mastermind.
Herrod Performance's Rob Herrod is one of those people who stand out in a Crowd.
It is not just the shaved head or giant smile, but the man's energy and enthusiasm that sets him apart. Rob Herrod gets things done. In recent years he has been the driving force behind the Ford Mustang in Australia, helping to develop and then build a string of limited-edition Mustangs, including the factory backed R Spec and the 775 HP (578-kilo watt) SM17. Our main game is that we get customers who say to me "I've bought a mustang, what can you do for me?" That is when Herrod Performance makes things happen in the land down under.
Steve Saleen
"Steve" Saleen is an American businessman and former racing driver. He is best known for being the founder of Saleen Autosport, currently known as Saleen Performance, which is an OEM manufacturer of specialty vehicles including the Saleen S7, 302 Mustangs, and Saleen Sportrucks.
Berardi Collection Tour
Mike and Sue Berardi
Shelby Collection Tour
The Shelby American Collection historic car museum was established in 1996 and is located in Boulder, Colorado. Dedicated to the history of Carroll Shelby and the Shelby American Team.
Semmler Collection Tour
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Ron and Helaina Semmler
Aaron Duncan
Aaron Duncan is the CSO and Head Designer for Duncan Brothers Customs. After years of working on custom cars and Hot Rods on the side, Aaron made his first mark in the industry at Retrobuilt Motors before having a brief tenure at Gateway Mustang and ultimately landing a deal with SCT Performance to build cars annually for the SEMA show. The result of that opportunity is Duncan Brothers Customs. Aaron's work and the work of Duncan Brothers Customs has been featured in books, magazines, YouTube channels, and so much more. Though Aaron is a mechanic and designer he actually gives most the credit to the team around him. "I'm okay at my part of the equation, but my team is far superior than my abilities. I feel like I hand my team an idea that's a mess of clay and they turn it into a show winner. Those guys are the rocket fuel of this, not me. I'm just lucky." Aaron also credits being himself to the success of Duncan Brothers Customs. "We are who are. What you see is what you get. We're not the industry bureaucrats trying to impress the next guy in charge. We're just a bunch of lucky people who like to hang out, joke, make stupid videos, and build really badass cars. Probably not for the purists and not for the faint of heart."
Joey Duncan
Joey Duncan is the CCO of Duncan Brothers Customs and the key component in video, photography, graphic design, and social media for the company. Despite being a welder and fabricator Joey shines in showing off the talents of everyone else in the company. Much like his brother Aaron, Joey also worked for Retrobuilt Motors, Gateway Mustang, and has done video for SCT Performance. "I've helped my brother to succeed in this industry and somehow I can make sense of his wacky ideas. Being his brother is like riding a psychotic horse into a burning stable. And the horse is very hungry." Joey's endless hours and work ethic have bridged the gap between a family hot rod shop and true entertainment.
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