Click here to visit the Motorsports page for all the latest news and information.

DEARBORN -- For Mary Arena, winning a new 2011 Mustang V-6 was more than just a lucky guess.
 
The Lacombe, LA, native correctly guessed the 2011 Mustang V-6 would go 1,457 laps in Wednesday’s Mustang 1,000-Lap Challenge at Bristol Motor Speedway, and was randomly chosen among the 24 who also had the same winning entry, making her a Mustang owner for the first time.   More than 51,000 consumers had registered their guesses for the promotion since its debut on March 21.
 
After almost 18 hours circling the .533 mile track at Bristol Motor Speedway, the Mustang V-6 finally ran out of gas, as it approached Turn 3, going over 776 miles with an average of 48.5 miles per gallon. The run far surpassed the challenge goal of 1,000 laps, and it ran out of fuel at the exact number of completed laps that Arena guessed in the online national sweepstakes at www.Mustang1000LapChallenge.com.
 
Determined to win the Mustang, Arena sought out a little help from her husband of 13 years, Bryant, a retired entrepreneur, to come up with the right number.
 
After hours of research, which included a phone call to Bristol Motor Speedway, the couple finally agreed on 1,457.
 
“My husband, Bryant, helped me with the number,” said Arena. “I went to him and I said look, I want to win this, but I need some help. It took him all day to figure out all the variables and work out a guess. We even called Bristol Motor Speedway. I really wanted to win this Mustang. It was a lot of work.”
 
Arena first heard about the Mustang 1,000 Lap Challenge from an online sweepstakes site that she visits. The 56-year-old retiree has never owned a Mustang herself, but has a family full of Mustang supporters.
 
“We’re a family of Mustang fans,” said Arena. “Our son, Bryant, Jr., just bought a 6-cylinder Mustang convertible last year. I’ve never owned one personally, but I’ve always wanted to. I’ve never won anything in my life and now the first thing that I win is a Mustang. It’s incredible. I’m still in shock.”
 
“The fact that the 2011 Ford Mustang V-6 went 1,457 laps and averaged 48.5 mpg is impressive.  It’s a credit to the car and to the Mustang team,” said Jamie Allison, director, Ford North America Motorsports.  “We want to offer our congratulations to the Arenas on winning their very own Mustang. I hope they have as much fun driving it as the 1,000 Lap Challenge team had with this program.”
 
The Mustang 1,000 Lap Challenge was designed to demonstrate that a stock production Mustang V-6 could run 1,000 laps and 533 miles on a single of tank of fuel.  With the aid of fuel efficient driving techniques by Ford engineers, the Mustang far surpassed its goal of 1,000 laps. 
 
More than 51,000 consumers registered guesses for the online contest, with more than 84 percent of them predicting the Mustang V-6 would surpass 1,000 laps.