By Mary Lendzion

For years, A.J. Buchanan has been a force behind the wheel of his Fox body Mustang at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.

He has earned many round wins and many race wins, and he even earned the Edelbrock Pro championship in 2010, 2015 and 2018.

But instead of chasing another championship in that car in 2021, he’ll be in the cockpit of his father and fellow racer Joe Buchanan’s 1968 Mustang.

Joe, who bought the beautiful blue car when he was seventeen — before A.J. was born — very successfully raced it in Edelbrock Pro at Summit Motorsports Park, as well as in IHRA Hot Rod, Super Rod and Modified, while making changes to the combination and chassis through the years. After racing it in NHRA Super Stock A/X in 2008, Joe put the car, which had a V6 engine under the hood and which his brother, Mark Buchanan, had also raced, away and focused on his 2004 Mustang.

A few years ago, Joe asked A.J. if he would like to campaign the 1968 Mustang, and A.J. was all in. So after taking part in the Cometic Gasket Halloween Classic XLVIII presented by Harland Sharp at Summit Motorsports Park in October of 2019, A.J. parked his Fox body Mustang, and he and Joe began working on the 1968 Mustang together.

They installed an engine plate in the car to accommodate A.J.’s big-block Ford, which Joe had built on a stock block with Wiseco pistons, Scat rods and crank, out-of-the-box Trick Flow Specialties 290 Power Port heads, an out-of-the-box Trick Flow Specialties 4150 single-plane intake and a Quick Fuel Technology 950 cfm carburetor. They also moved the seat and steering shaft to fit A.J.

“We had to cut out a lot of things and fabricate a lot of things to prepare the car for my engine,” said A.J. “We also had to do some cutting and notching to get the seat where I wanted it.”

They backed the engine with a Powerglide transmission by Fleenor Racing Transmissions with a Reid Racing case, and a converter by Abruzzi Racing Transmissions and Converters, and they wrapped the car’s wheels with a new set of Mickey Thompson tires.

“Once we got the crank center line and the angle of the engine figured out, everything else fell right into place,” said A.J., who spent sixty hours rewiring the car with a K&R wiring kit.

As summer turned to fall last year, the car was buttoned up and A.J. belted in for some testing and racing at a few different tracks.

“It felt a little different because it’s a chassis car, but after the first burnout, I was at home in the car, and it was a 100 foot-long burnout, too, just for my uncle Mark, who always did them, and for my dad, who always hated when Mark did them,” said A.J., with a laugh. “He was just shaking his head at me.”

While adjusting the four-link and anti-roll bar under the car, A.J. went as quick and fast as 5.71 and 120 mph in the eighth-mile, and there’s more to be uncorked.

“We were just taking it easy and learning what the car liked and didn’t liked, and now we’re confident with how it's set up,” said A.J., who’s adding an on-board air system to the car and replacing the old wheels with a new set of wheels this winter.

A.J., who races alongside his wife, Amy Buchanan, son, Brandon Buchanan, cousins Heather Ardner and Shane Priddy and several additional family members, and has steadfast support from his father, Joe, mother, Trina Monak and Gene Lampshire of TFC Transportation, has his sights set on the 2021 racing season. He plans to be pulling into the beams at the 40th Annual Spring Warm-Up, April 10, Edelbrock Super Series Opening Day, April 17, 29th Annual Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels $40 Grand Nationals presented by Hughes Performance, Sept. 3-5 and 24th Annual Mickey Thompson Tires & Wheels No Box Bonanza presented by Injector Experts, Sept. 24-26, among many other races.

“Trick Flow, Wiseco, Fleenor Racing Transmissions and Mickey Thompson have helped me out a bunch over the years, and if not for my dad, the car wouldn’t have turned out as good as it did,” said A.J. “He told me before we took it to the track that he was turning it over to me and it was mine, but a stipulation was that I had to keep the Buchanan Brothers Racing on the side for the first year, and that’s fine with me.”

(Photos courtesy of A.J. Buchanan)