Stunt driver Crystal Hooks helps everyday people forget their worries behind the wheel of the mighty Ford Mustang.
What do a firefighter, a warehouse worker, a law enforcement officer, and a nurse have in common? They all experience stress. Unfortunately, that’s a common bond we all share, no matter which line of work we’re in. There are a variety of ways to deal with it. Some choose exercise. Others go with meditation. In this video, Ford Performance treats stress with horsepower and speed.
The automaker has people from a multitude of professional and personal backgrounds (some of which are listed above) sit down in front of a camera and explain what they do and the stressors in their lives. One is the mother of seven children. Another works in technical support. They’re all united by the need to blow off some steam. The person interviewing them has just the thing to let them do that: Ford Performance vehicles, ranging from the new Edge ST to the Mustang Shelby GT350 to the Raptor to the almighty GT.
Professional stunt driver Crystal Hooks arrives with the fleet to show the lucky participants how best to drive the vehicles and fully experience their capabilities. With Hooks’s guidance, some of them learn how to drift the Raptor around a gravel track. When they get behind the wheel of the Edge ST, drivers get to take it over that course and a nearby paved track. The expensive and limited-production GT is assigned to blasting participants around the race course. The Shelby GT350 has two jobs: Showing drivers how well it does burnouts and how fun those are.
It’s a stress treatment that’s probably not found in any medical journals, but judging by the smiles and enthusiastic reactions, it seems to be 100 percent effective.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
