Susan Roush-McClenaghan won the season opener for the National Mustang Racing Association (NMRA) March 6 at Bradenton (Fla.) Motorsports Park. Roush-McClenaghan, daughter of Roush Fenway Racing co-owner Jack Roush, edged Zak Harty to score the victory, her fourth career win with a propane powered Ford Mustang. Harty beat McClenaghan off the starting line but McClenaghan’s Heritage Propane Ford overpowered her rival to win the 17th Annual Nitto Tire NMRA Spring Break Shootout.

“This is a great win and a fantastic way to start off the season,” Roush-McClenaghan said. “With Carl winning at Las Vegas and my brother, Jack Jr., finishing second in the Grand-Am Series, it was a special weekend for the Roush family. This was the first race for Heritage Propane as a sponsor of our team and I was pleased it was successful and enjoyed sharing the victory with them. We have a longstanding relationship with 3M and we’re appreciative of their support and commitment to our team as well.”

McClenaghan competed in a total of four elimination rounds on Sunday to win the first race of the 2011 season. In the NMRA, she competes in the Modular Muscle class.

In the NMRA series, McClenaghan races a 2011 Roush Stage 3â„¢ Mustang converted to run on liquid propane. This car is an offshoot of the kits that ROUSH Performance uses to convert gasoline powered Ford pickups and vans to run on clean burning propane.

The car uses an all-aluminum 5.4L V-8 Ford engine that was originally designed for the Ford GT Supercar. This engine is naturally-aspirated with a 12.5:1 compression ratio. Other changes were required to run on liquid propane including CNC ported cylinder heads, high performance camshaft and valvetrain and a wet sump lubrication system, all of which helps these liquid propane-power engines generate more than 700 horsepower.

Propane is a very safe to use as motor fuel and has significantly lower flammability than gasoline. It is good in cool or hot weather which makes it ideal for motorsports applications. Propane is the third most popular motor fuel behind gasoline and diesel and there are already more than 12 million propane-fueled vehicles on roads worldwide. As a green fuel, propane fleet vehicles reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 19 percent and create 20 percent fewer nitrogen oxides, up to 60 percent less carbon monoxide and fewer particulate emissions as compared to gasoline.

McClenaghan will next compete in the Ninth Annual Ross Racing Pistons NMCA Muscle Car Nationals at Bradenton March 18-20. Her next NMRA event is the Third Annual Nitto Tire NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals in Commerce, Ga., April 7-14.

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About ROUSH Performance
Based in Livonia, Mich., “The Art of Performance Engineering” takes place at ROUSH® Performance. To get a look behind the scenes at what goes on at Roush and how the vehicles are designed, manufactured and produced, log on to www.ROUSHtv.com. For more information see your local ROUSH® dealer, visit www.ROUSHperformance.com or telephone toll-free (800) 59-ROUSH. Follow us on twitter @_ROUSH_ or on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ROUSHperformance.

About Roush Fenway Racing
Roush Fenway Racing is NASCAR’s largest team operating seven motorsports teams. Four in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with drivers Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and David Ragan; and three in the Nationwide Series with Edwards, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Trevor Bayne. For more information on any of the Roush Fenway Racing teams, log onto www.RoushFenway.com. Become a fan of Roush Fenway Racing on Facebook by going to http://www.facebook.com/roushfenway and follow us on Twitter @roushfenway. For sponsorship inquiries please contact Robin Johnson at 704.720.4645.

Hansen also shared with us how is going to be the first company in the country to tackle the snow business using an all alternative fuel fleet. We can’t wait to speak with him next spring where he will share the success of his first Winter season. Check back for all the latest updates.