BOWLES CAPURES FIRST WIN FOR PROPANE-POWERED MUSTANG

For Immediate Release
 
BOWLES CAPURES FIRST WIN FOR PROPANE-POWERED MUSTANG
 
LIVONIA, Mich. (August 31, 2010) – Donnie Bowles can add another item
to his growing list of accomplishments as he became the first driver on
the ROUSH® Drag Team to take one of the liquid propane-powered Mustangs
to a victory. His win came during the August 29 elimination rounds of
the 4th Annual NMCA Muscle Car Nationals at Milan (Mich.) Dragway.
 
The weekend started well as Bowles carded a perfect 0.000 reaction time
which placed him as the top qualifier among the 36 contestants in the
Open Comp class. However, it wasn’t all clear sailing to the finals.
 
The biggest drama of the event came during the third round when the
team discovered a crack in the wishbone. This likely occurred during a
Friday evening qualifying run when the tire hooked in the burnout box
and the body rolled hard, but the damage went undiscovered. Fortunately,
his third round was a bye run (single pass) so Bowles was able to stage,
take the win light, and quickly get his car repaired in time for the
fourth round.
 
It took six rounds in total for Bowles to seal the win against Adam
Samfilippo. His run of 10.580 at 121.00 mph was just 0.06-seconds higher
than his breakout which captured the win by a scant 0.01-second.
 
“It was very satisfying to get the first win for the ROUSH Powered by
Propane Drag Team. My teammate Susan (Roush-McClenaghan) and I have both
gone to final rounds this year, but haven’t quite been able to close the
deal until this weekend at Milan. It required a total team effort, as we
faced our share of challenges on Sunday. An earlier oil pressure issue
on my car was traced back to a defective filter, then as I was preparing
for the third elimination round we discovered a broken suspension
component. Fortunately, I was unopposed and with the help of Billy
Gilsbach of Gilsbach Racecraft, we completed repairs just before the
next round of racing,�?? said an exuberant Bowles following his win. 
 
Bowles currently leads the NMCA Open Comp point standings and races a
2005 ROUSH Stage 3â„¢ Mustang which was converted during the off-season to
run on liquid propane. This car, along with a 2010 ROUSH Stage 3 driven
by teammate Susan Roush-McClenaghan, are an offshoot of the kits that
ROUSH Performance uses to convert gasoline-powered Ford pickups and vans
to run on clean-burning propane. 
 
Both cars use 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. Several 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 to generate in
excess of 700 horsepower.
 
“The liquid propane fuel injected engines performed flawlessly
throughout the weekend and were the picture of consistency over a wide
variety of changing weather conditions. Consistency and reliability are
the keys to success in this form of racing and these liquid
propane-powered engines continue to prove themselves and demonstrate the
technology is viability within the severe-duty environment of
competitive drag racing,�?? Bowles said.
 
Despite popular misconceptions, propane is actually very safe to use as
a motor fuel and has a significantly lower flammability than gasoline.
It is also good in cool or hot weather making 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 across the world. As a green fuel, on
average 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.
 
Bowles has several companies involved in his program that helped get
him to the winner’s circle including: ROUSH Competition Engines, Mickey
Thompson Tires and Wheels, Moroso Performance Products, McLeod Racing,
Kooks Custom Headers, Comp Cams/F.A.S.T., Long/G-Force, Moser
Engineering, and Ford RacingMatukas Motorsports Race Cars.
 
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
logon 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. 
 
*"ROUSH�?? is a registered trademark of ROUSH Performance Products, Inc.,
or its related entities. *"Stage 3�?? is trademark of ROUSH Performance
Products, Inc., or its related entities. 
 
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Note to Editors: A photo is attached and named BowlesMilan.jpg. A
high-resolution version is available on request.
 
For More Information:
John Clark
Communications Manager
ROUSH Performance Products
(734) 466-6217 – Direct
(734) 812-4235 – Cell
john.clark@roush.com