The unfortunate reality is that race cars seldom enjoy retirement. If they aren't destroyed in a crash and hauled off for scrap, most wind up parted out. It's a hard life, no doubt about it.

I was visiting Ford's Vehicle Operations (Pilot Plant) in 2002 with a Ford engineering buddy of mine when he decided to show me Ford's all-new F-150, which was scheduled to debut for 2004. There were ...