Watch This 2019 Shelby GT350 Rip Around VIR in Two Minutes Flat

Welcome back to the work week. After a three-day weekend, even coffee doesn't provide enough energy to get the day going in earnest. Thankfully, Ford recently released some raw video of  a 2019 Mustang Shelby GT350 , opens in a new tab  singing all the way to its 8250-rpm redline at Virginia International Raceway. This particular pony is getting down to business.

The hotshoe is Steve Thompson, a vehicle dynamics engineer for Ford Performance. While the 2:00.57 lap time set during this development run isn't a new record, it's still blazing fast for a showroom-stock production car. Save for minor safety modifications, which are standard in these track mules, the GT350's 2-minute lap time puts it on the heels of the SCCA's GT3 and GT2 race cars on VIR's full course. Even  without the lauded GT350R package , opens in a new tab  upping the ante, this feat shows just how focused this flat-plane-crank wonder is on track. Ford may never again produce a wild card engine like this, and rumor has it that  the GT350 and GT350R will be dropped , opens in a new tab  from the lineup for 2021.

For now, we have bliss—and a wonderful jolt to kickstart the short week. A 5.2-liter V-8 churning out 526 angry horsepower simply never gets old.

For more articles like this, please click here , opens in a new tab.