On the ground at the first GT350 Track Attack

[mattlqx]

My body is ready. Basic dinner and mingling tonight in an unfortunately bare room where the Miller museum used to be. It will be bittersweet for anyone that has been there prior. But the good news is that FRS GM Dan McKeever shared that they are operating at UMC with a 4-year commitment. I hadn't heard that bit of news before, but it's great that FRS will continue running for the mid-term whatever happens with ownership transfer of the track.

Program commences tomorrow at 8am.

Just making a quick post while it's still fresh in my head. Morning is over.

The morning is made to get the beginners acquainted with some basic skills including classroom time going over apexes, braking, weight transfer theory, etc. After that, some slow lead-follow laps and then you get broken out into smaller ~6 person groups and rotate stations. Heal-toe/braking clinic, slider dolly car to work on over/under steer, and a basic oval with reducing and increasing radius turns and slalom.

This is basically identical to the Boss Track Attack format, but man, I can never get enough of the dolly car. Time is always too short on it.

Professional photographer is on-hand and you will get a thumb drive with them at the end.

Out to the track next after lunch is finished.

So it's a wrap on day 1 (the included day). It was as great as I have come to expect. Afternoon is again the same format as the Boss TA program was. First session is lead-follow, which even for experienced drivers is a ton of fun, especially if you're not familiar with UMC. Second session was half with instructor in the passenger seat giving you pointers and other half on your own. Third session is completely on your own, followed by a quick 2 hot-laps by an instructor in the pilot seat.

I've found myself getting much more comfortable with some movement from the rear end and controlling the car both when it happens and turn in to get it to that point when you need it. We did east track, all sessions were 15 minutes long. Tomorrow the Boss FRS day will be on the west track (of which I'm way less familiar with).

It's a great program, goodies besides the USB stick with your photos (we were given over 600 photos) are a Ford Performance catalog, GT350 TA sticker, GT350 TA t-shirt, certificate of completion, and a trophy (not a piston this time, sorry guys) but a mini replica of the fender design.

Car notes: my car started with 60 miles on the odometer. Ended with 164. So a little over a hundred miles of driving. Cars are equipped with Watson Racing roll bar, not a full cage like the Boss cars were. Harnesses are Safecraft 4-points. Suits and open-face helmets are provided, but no neck protection. I brought my own equipment, no problems there.

Dan noted that the only things done to these cars are the roll bar, Castrol brake fluid and longer/open wheel studs added. That's it. They're running stock pads and stock Pilot Super Sport tires.

I think I hit most everything. Hope you all can get out here soon!

HPDE Champion :cheers:

Day 2 is a wrap and I'm sitting here at my gate at Salt Lake City Airport. It was a blast.

It was IMO very much worth the price of admission to be able to take those Boss 302FRS's around the track. I've been in a bunch of different race-prepped cars albeit for LeMons so nothing close to the caliber of machine that these cars are. It was very much a bucket list thing that is now checked off and has allowed my brain to wander about what I really want out of my current line up of street cars and how much I am committed to track activities.

The 302FRS has BFG R1 slicks, 6 piston Brembos and a whole lot less weight in it that when it was a street-faring version. Put simply, they stick. And when you're chucking it around and it doesn't stick, it's very easy to control around. In this way, all the work they have done to these Bosses, it has made up for its shortcomings and put it on handling par with what for the most part the GT350 is out of the box as we witnessed on Day 1. Still, it is a raw, visceral experience that you simply cannot get on the road-going GT350 with all of it's interior bits, padding and sound deadening.

My recommendation is this: if you've never been in an actual honest-to-goodness race car, sign up for the second day. It will be worth your chunk of change. You get around 2x the track time. Four 20-minute sessions with some van rides for scouting and instructor ride-along in a Mustang GT. Just the extra 5-minutes per session compared to the first day is a huge bonus. It takes a few laps to warm up and get into rhythm so effectively you throw away the first 3 laps. Having the extra time "while going hot" is a big bonus. If this is old-hat for you, it may not be worth your money, but that said, we and the cars were fully serviced. People filled them with gas, checked the lugs and tires, we just got in and drive. As arrive-and-drives go, it's pretty good value and you're already there for the first day anyway.

I'll have more pictures and stuff when I get home. :cheers:

811 photos in my mega-gallery. 700 or so were from the photographer.

More shots of Mustangs than you ever cared to see! Enjoy.

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B02GWZuqDGXBhyL

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[mattlqx]

Opting for the second day in this bad boy.

 

[barstowpo]

Don't tear it up. I'll be there in a month.

 

[raiderjatt02]

Nice! I'll be there in June. It can't come soon enough...

 

[bentley1971]

Please give us the full run down of your experience and keep the pictures coming. I'm scheduled to go May 4-5 and am counting down the days!!! I've not been to that track before and only done the exotic car racing out here in Las Vegas. Needless to say, I'm beyond stoked about this event and once in a lifetime experience to take a car exactly like mine to its limits!!!!

 

[bpracer]

Opting for the second day in this bad boy.

How much is the second day?

 

[raiderjatt02]

$1900

 

[barstowpo]

1900 not counting insurance. I would hate to own a wrecked Ford race car.

 

[Mustang Marcus]

I fly out tomorrow from Atlanta
Really looking forward to it:ford:

 

[Rogue]

Worth it guys, it's awesome and take the wife too - it's a 5 star experience.

- Boss Track Attack (April 2014)

 

[mcgraw]

Oh, the details are needed! Keep us in the loop (I'm sure you will)!

 

[mattlqx]

Just making a quick post while it's still fresh in my head. Morning is over.

The morning is made to get the beginners acquainted with some basic skills including classroom time going over apexes, braking, weight transfer theory, etc. After that, some slow lead-follow laps and then you get broken out into smaller ~6 person groups and rotate stations. Heal-toe/braking clinic, slider dolly car to work on over/under steer, and a basic oval with reducing and increasing radius turns and slalom.

This is basically identical to the Boss Track Attack format, but man, I can never get enough of the dolly car. Time is always too short on it.

Professional photographer is on-hand and you will get a thumb drive with them at the end.

Out to the track next after lunch is finished.

 

[mattlqx]

I didn't get my color car, but I'm certainly not complaining.

 

[1LEThumper]

Nice!

I'm going to be there next weekend, still saying a chance of rain on Sunday which I hope isn't the case but be interesting running in the rain if so.

 

[mcgraw]

Just making a quick post while it's still fresh in my head. Morning is over.

The morning is made to get the beginners acquainted with some basic skills including classroom time going over apexes, braking, weight transfer theory, etc. After that, some slow lead-follow laps and then you get broken out into smaller ~6 person groups and rotate stations. Heal-toe/braking clinic, slider dolly car to work on over/under steer, and a basic oval with reducing and increasing radius turns and slalom.

This is basically identical to the Boss Track Attack format, but man, I can never get enough of the dolly car. Time is always too short on it.

Professional photographer is on-hand and you will get a thumb drive with them at the end.

Out to the track next after lunch is finished.

Nice! Good stuff man.

What's this dolly car you're talking about?

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