Mustang Week breaks U.S. record during final Grand Strand event

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) - A Grand Strand staple in its final year looked to leave its mark by attempting to break a Guinness World Record.

Todd Smith is the event organizer for Mustang Week and said he was determined to obtain the world record.

“I’ve been attending Mustang Week for 10 years now and I decided to do something crazy.” said Smith “I didn’t even know about the world record. The Mustang 50 was the first time I heard about it. The Charlotte Motor Speedway attempted to break the world record and fell short. I knew at that point I said Mustang week is where we got to do it.”

The Guinness record for most Mustangs in a parade stood at 960 after the mark was set in Mexico in 2017.

On Thursday morning, the Guinness World Record crew set up a lot of cameras, drones, and a tally counter to prove if the record was broken or not.

“Row by row, they sent out each mustang to do 2 laps around the building, and we ended up back here. So now we are in the middle of a car show,” said Mustang owner Bryan Schenk.

“This year Broadway invited us. Which was really important for us to try to do this. You have to run two miles,” said Smith.

While they came short of the world record, they did set the new U.S. record with 660 cars at the parade.

“When I got the count, I wasn’t really surprised by it. With the number of registrations with the weather coming out. A lot of these guys don’t want their cars out in the rain, so I get that,” said Smith.

This year marks the final Mustang Week in the Grand Strand as the event’s organizers are set to retire. The City of Myrtle Beach also chose not to renew its contract with the event this year.

Many attendees were devasted by the news.

“For this being the last Mustang Week, all the love and support that I personally received from this same family is almost more than I can speak to. Is absolutely fantastic. A fantastic event,” said Schenk.