Right now, an all-American battle is happening in the automotive world between two icons that continue pushing the limits of what’s possible on U.S. soil: the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 and the Ford Mustang GTD. Both have officially stepped into supercar territory, delivering plenty of power at a price that still undercuts much of the exotic car world. But despite the specs and Nürburgring lap times set by factory professional drivers, there’s still one question left to answer: What happens when two regular owners line them up and go head-to-head with their own cars?
Well, automotive YouTuber Garrett Mitchell, better known as Cleetus McFarland, and professional drifter and founder of RTR Vehicles, Vaughn Gittin Jr., just answered that question in a recently uploaded YouTube video. 
The whole idea came about when the two discussed meeting up for a casual track session at 10/10ths Motor Club in Concord, NC, which snowballed into Cleetus trailering his C8 ZR1 from Florida, and then went even further, questioning whose car would lay down the faster lap time. And before you make the assumption that the Corvette automatically has the upper hand with a 300+ horsepower advantage, the 1.7-mile circuit doesn’t feature long straights where all that power can be utilized.
Cleetus’ C8 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 isn’t your average out-of-the-box spec, making 1,100 horsepower to the wheels thanks to upgraded downpipes and an engine ECU tune, which also happens to void the factory warranty. For Vaughn, his newly delivered Ford Mustang GTD remains completely stock in the performance department, with 830 crank horsepower and a sophisticated suspension setup that most definitely outshines Chevrolet’s in the corners. As the founder of one of the largest aftermarket specialists for Mustangs, he did in fact find a way to shed close to 9lbs with newly developed RTR wheels. 
The track day even brought out T-Pain and Hert from Nappy Boy Automotive, who ultimately became the trusted timekeepers, delivering the good and bad news to both drivers. After a quick 15-minute warm-up with a professional driver in the passenger seat, Vaughn Gittin Jr. set off first with Cleetus to follow after, in a traditional time attack race format of five laps to set the best time possible. And as for the overall winner… you’ll have to tune into the video below to find out for yourself.
