Shelby American has created the new 2011 Shelby GT-350 Mustang that made its debut last month at Barrett-Jackson. And to keep the ball rolling, it has been announced that this car will be pacing the 2010 Shelby American Sprint Cup NASCAR race on February 28th in Las Vegas.

Shelby says it will be the first opportunity for the public to see the supercharged supercar at speed and the first time for a Shelby GT350 to pace a NASCAR event when the car circles the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Shelby American race.

“When we unveiled the new 2011 Shelby GT350 last month, fans clamored for the car to pace this NASCAR race,” said Amy Boylan, president of Shelby American. “Since so much of the GT350 was developed on the road course, drag strip and oval of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it was appropriate to show off the Shelby’s handling there during the race. It will be exciting to watch a Shelby GT350 lead a race for the first time since 1970.”

Shelby teamed up with Las Vegas Motor Speedway this for the event which is aptly called the Shelby American to honor the 45th anniversary of the Shelby G.T. 350 and 427 Cobra introductions in 1965.   The 2010 NASCAR Weekend will kick off with qualifying for the Shelby American NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Friday, Feb. 26. The Sam’s Town 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race is set for Saturday, Feb. 27, while the Sprint Cup race will be the next day.

The Shelby GT350 is a post title program which means a customer purchases a car from their local Ford Dealer, which is then sent to Shelby American in Las Vegas to be turned into a GT350. The company’s says you can order yours and have your dealer drop ship the car directly to Shelby’s Las Vegas facility for conversion or a customer can arrange to have a purchased car shipped there after delivery.

There are specifics to how your donor car must be made, and that starts with its color.  Each GT350 will be clad in traditional white with Shelby Guardsman blue Le Mans stripes. Only 2011 models need apply as the package is centered around the new 5.0 liter V8 and a  6-speed manual transmission.