Stephen Cox Archives - Sopwith Motorsports

Birth of the Fox Mustang

. They won’t get any cheaper than they are right now. Ford’s famous Fox Mustangs, built from 1979 through 1993, are moving up from the bottom of their value curve. The Fox Mustangs derived their nickname from the 1978 Ford Fairmont, which had been internally designated as the “Fox Project” within Ford’s management and design teams. Since the Mustang borrowed the Fairmont’s platform, the “Fox” name was naturally adopted for the 79-93 Mustangs within Ford and eventually by the public as well. Ford president Lee Iacocca had overseen the design of the original Mustang in 1964 as well as its Read More

Cox Gets Sneak Preview of Spectacular Mustang Collection

. “The Kenny and Marilyn Newcombe Mustang Collection is one of the finest collections of Fox body Ford Mustangs I’ve ever seen,” Mecum co-host Stephen Cox said after reviewing the cars last week in Atlanta. “Leave it to the Mecum crew to consign a historic collection of this importance. They’ve found something pretty special.” Ford manufactured what is now called the “Fox body” Mustang from 1979 through 1993, making it the longest running generation of Mustang to ever grace the roads. The Euro styling appealed to early 1980’s car buyers, and the powerful 235 horsepower 5 liter engine appealed to Read More

Podium for Cox and AOA Racing at 14 Hours of Road Atlanta

After TravelCamp Racing’s EC class Mustang broke a transmission in the opening laps of last weekend’s 14 Hours of Road Atlanta sportscar endurance race, Indianapolis racing driver Stephen Cox was left without a ride. By lunch time he had another one. Road Atlanta is the home track of Kennesaw, Georgia’s AOA Racing and the team put together a spontaneous deal to have Cox join as the fifth driver in their Mazda MX-5. Nine hours and two transmissions later, the team scored a third place finish in EC class to earn a spot on the Champcar podium. “I didn’t know anyone Read More

What I Learned From a Chassis Bracing System

. Rebuilding My Totally-Not-Collectible Mustang, Part VIII The Stephen Cox Blog is Presented by National Parts Depot Guess what I just learned after 40 years of driving Mustangs? The stock suspension on an early Fox body Mustang actually isn’t that bad. It’s certainly not great, but I was shocked to learn that it’s actually somewhat serviceable as far as 1980’s technology goes. Known as Blue Thunder, my 1980 Mustang has never had anything other than factory-recommended springs and struts. I’ve found them perpetually unsatisfactory with too much body roll, poor turn-in on corner entry and insufficient insulation from the bumps Read More

15-Hour Sports Car Race Next for Cox

After spending the late summer entirely on ovals, Indianapolis driver Stephen Cox will return to a road course this weekend for Champcar’s 15-hour sports car endurance race at Atlanta Motorsports Park in Dawsonville, Georgia. Cox is the most recent addition to the Jacksonville-based Ford Mustang team of Dwayne “Tater” Kelley, teaming up with former dirt drivers Kenny Blair and John Warren under the supervision of crew chief Pat Smith. In his first outing with the team, Cox will be seeking his 8th top ten finish and second win of the 2021 season. The team’s SN-95 generation Ford Mustang features a Read More

Rebuilding My Totally-Not-Collectible Mustang, Part VII

. The Stephen Cox Blog is presented by National Parts Depot Holy cow. I may have to give this series a new title. For thirty years no one cared about the early Fox body Mustangs. Then I took my 1980 Fox in for rust-proofing last week and the entire staff quit working and walked out to the parking lot to see it. Times certainly are changing. The early Fox body Mustangs are experiencing an unprecedented resurgence in popularity and price. All those 1981 Cobra owners who had their sanity questioned for decades are starting to look pretty smart. I bought Read More

This Is How We Save Short Track Racing

. The Stephen Cox Blog is presented by JR Fastener Corporation Ask any race promoter or track owner and you’ll hear the same term again and again… “car count.” Auto racing lives and dies by car count. Show me a track or series that gets 100 cars every night and I’ll show you a successful enterprise. If a series or track cannot attract cars, it cannot survive. Race fans don’t show up to see an empty track. It’s competition that fills the grandstands. And each car entered in the night’s races also represents a separate revenue opportunity that track owners Read More

JR Fastener Joins Sopwith for Season Opener

. Sopwith Motorsports is proud to announce its second advertising partner for the 2021 racing season. JR Fastener of Bensenville, Illinois will join the team as the primary sponsor for the CRS Super Truck Series race at Midvale Speedway with driver Stephen Cox this weekend. Since 1984, the specialists at JR Fastener Corporation have been proudly serving and satisfying OEM’s, secondary, machine shop (large and small), and countless manufacturing customers. The mission at JR has been and still is, offer a quality product at the most cost effective price combined with outstanding personal service. JR Fastener is also active on Read More

Cox Joins CRS Super Trucks for Season Opener at Midvale Speedway

. Owner Billy Strehle welcomes a new driver to the Coyote Racing fold this season as Indianapolis driver Stephen Cox joins the team for his first race of the 2021 season this weekend. The CRS Super Truck Series holds its first points race on Saturday night at Ohio’s Midvale Speedway with a 50-lap headline event. Cox has found considerable success at Midvale in the past, scoring a win, a pole position, four Top-5 finishes and a new track record in stock cars between 2016 and 2019. “I’m excited to be back in trucks again,” said the former ARCA Truck Series Read More

Sta-Bil, Ovals Return to 2021 Racing Schedule

. Sta-bil brand fuel stabilizer racing driver Stephen Cox will open the 2021 season with a returning sponsor, twenty-one races and eight motorsports events on his schedule. The season’s ten road races include a stop at Gingerman Raceway in Michigan where Cox holds the WRL track record followed by a visit to Pike’s Peak International Raceway in July where his Braunschweig Racing team finished third overall in last year’s Gridlife Alpine Horizon Festival. The final road course event is at Oklahoma’s Hallett Motor Racing Circuit for the World Racing League’s annual October Rush, which Cox has won twice. The oval Read More

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