Nation Of Go

Located on the service road adjacent to the highway, Gateway Classic Mustang is clearly visible from busy Interstate 44. As soon as our crew opened the van door, we were greeted by a friendly blast of the air horn from a passing trucker. We heard another trucker’s horn soon after. Then a family drove by honking and waving in our direction. Had they all been following the blog?

Turns out, lots of people are fans of the Mustangs that brothers Jason and Lonny Childress create at their shop. The honking was for them and they told us it’s an all-the-time thing.



The Childress brothers are lifelong gearheads who raced monster trucks for 15 years before turning their efforts to high-performance Mustangs. While Mustangs and monster trucks are very different vehicles, the Childresses learned a lot about horsepower and endurance from their years of racing. You can’t drive over old school buses in a Gateway Mustang, but they are built to take abuse.

Lonny Childress is the mechanic of the two. With his focus on the building end of the business, he says he wants their customers to be able to count on the cars. They’re built for everyday drivability – and occasional hooliganism. Even if you’re heavy on the right pedal, it’s not going to be easy to break a Gateway Mustang. Lonny has built enough race trucks to know how to beef up the right parts. And extra durability goes a long way in a car that can inspire so much mischief.

To really test how well parts hold up under stress, they have Jason Childress. He’s the driver and his enthusiasm behind the wheel serves as an ongoing stress test for Gateway cars. When it comes to mischief, Jason can’t seem to get enough. He breaks out in a giddy smile just talking about cars, like a kid describing the ice cream sundae he’s about to eat. Jason drives a car for all it’s worth.



With cameras around, he gladly jumped into the Gateway track car for a demonstration. It’s a yellow 1968 Mustang that cranks out around 550 hp – and it’s street legal. It’s a showpiece (GO piece?) car for the shop and a good indication of the performance Gateway has to offer. They build cars to accelerate, brake and handle like no original Mustang ever could.

Jason made a few quick runs and it was amazing how the old Mustang could move. It took off like a rocket. He gets to drive the car whenever he wants to, yet when he pulled back into the parking lot Jason was wearing that mischievous smile again. Anything that puts a grin on a former monster truck driver’s face time after time must be entertaining.





























If you’re one of the millions of fans of the Mustang and you find yourself on I-44 near Bourbon, MO, look for the Gateway Classic Mustang sign. And be sure to honk. That’s another thing that puts a smile on Jason’s face.