Anyone familiar with auto racing knows that in order to win races, you have to have a lot of horsepower.

In regards to horsepower, Napa’s Krider Racing is off to a good start this season, as they will be campaigning a Ford Mustang in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) National Solo Series.

But they won’t be racing just any old run-of-the-mill Mustang — they will be driving a 2008 Shelby GT Mustang, a limited edition high performance pony car built by the legend himself, Carroll Shelby.

Shelby, who cut his chops building fast Fords and beating the mighty Ferrari team at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966, designed a hot rod Mustang that is legal to run in SCCA’s F-Stock class.

The boys at Krider Racing took one look at the specifications Shelby was putting into his new Mustang and knew immediately the car could be a winner.

They flew to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, toured the facility at Shelby American, and worked with the Director of Motorsports at Shelby to come up with what they are betting will be the perfect formula to win a championship.

Soon after, plans to run the car in the 2009 season got off of the ground and Carroll Shelby himself put his signature on the car that may possibly bring both Krider Racing and Shelby another SCCA Championship.

Even though Shelby set the car up to be a winner, before the car could hit the track it had to hit a number of shops in Napa to make the car race-ready.

Napa Valley Muffler installed a lighter free-flowing exhaust system to increase horsepower.

Then A.J. Gracy at Performance In-Frame Tuning used his chassis dyno to measure horsepower increases while Krider Racing tested a number of different parts on the car.

With the car standing still, the rear tires were traveling at over 125 miles per hour as Krider Racing made changes to the engine.

B & G Tires mounted some sticky racing tires and gave the car a performance alignment so it would get around the corners fast. Third Street Auto Repair and T.E.M. Machine Shop gave the team technical advice and support as the car went through a variety of upgrades, including safety equipment from I/O Port Racing Supplies to sticker designs from Figstone Graphics.

With Rob Krider and Steve Kuhtz both taking turns behind the wheel, Krider Racing gave the car its first track test on car on March 1 and ended up setting the fastest lap of the day, beating some very quick Corvettes and Porsches in the process.

Krider Racing is now preparing for a long tow to San Diego to compete in the SCCA National Tour at Qualcomm Stadium on March 21-22.

This is the most prestigious event on the West Coast, bringing teams from Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado and Texas to compete.

Those interested can support Napa’s local racers by purchasing Krider Racing T-shirts at T.E.M. Machine Shop on Action Avenue, Wildcat on First Street, Bay Ex on the corner of Third and Jefferson or Automobilia on El Centro Avenue.

For more information on the team, visit www.RacingWFO.com.