Track attack. Is the 2nd day worth it?

[B/Stock]

I'm about to schedule my track attack and was planning on doing 2 days. I was disappointed when they told me day 2 would be in a GT, not a GT350. Option 2 is a race prepped Boss 302, but my goal is some seat time in the GT350 with instructor by my side. Those of you that have done day 2, what are your thoughts?

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[tdzee]

Yes, It is !!

I have already been to the 2 day (w/the Boss) last year and am going back again this year. I would characterize the experience as familiarization with the car, not race instruction. (If you want real track instruction, go to a local DE with in-car instructor.)

Day 2 is totally worth it. I am going back to do it again. I waffled on the GT vs Boss this time. If you take the GT, this will give you a sense of how the GT compares to the Shelby. If you go with the Boss, which handles well but is slightly less powerful, it is a different experience.

I think whatever you choose, you will have a blast and meet some interesting folks. I believe everyone had a great time on both days.

Go. Whatever you choose, it will be a blast. Good luck. I will be there in early August. :ford:

 

[B/Stock]

I have already been to the 2 day (w/the Boss) last year and am going back again this year. I would characterize the experience as familiarization with the car, not race instruction. (If you want real track instruction, go to a local DE with in-car instructor.)

Day 2 is totally worth it. I am going back to do it again. I waffled on the GT vs Boss this time. If you take the GT, this will give you a sense of how the GT compares to the Shelby. If you go with the Boss, which handles well but is slightly less powerful, it is a different experience.

I think whatever you choose, you will have a blast and meet some interesting folks. I believe everyone had a great time on both days.

Go. Whatever you choose, it will be a blast. Good luck. I will be there in early August. :ford:

Thanks for the input, I will be there as well in early August. I'm thinking Boss 302 if there are any left.

 

[stanglife]

I vote no. If you've ever been to a normal HPDE - this was far from that experience. Essentially a very expensive car rental. Minimal instruction and no corner workers except start/finish. I've been wishing for my money back ever since.

 

[stanglife]

To put it into perspective - take your own car to an HPDE and pay for new tires for what the second day would cost.

 

[96cobra]

To put it into perspective - take your own car to an HPDE and pay for new tires for what the second day would cost.

Good info, thanks!

 

[Stuntman]

Absolutely. You're already out there, spend a little more $ on a lot more seat time.

 

[Sammy]

I vote no. If you've ever been to a normal HPDE - this was far from that experience. Essentially a very expensive car rental. Minimal instruction and no corner workers except start/finish. I've been wishing for my money back ever since.

Stanglife and I were in the same class. He is correct. The instructors are nice but you can feel their contempt for the students. I find myself a good judge of people then none of the instructors wanted to be there.

Save the money for some Sport Cup tires and to an HDPE. You will be more satisfied in the end.

Sammy

 

[Mustang Marcus]

I would say it might have a lot to do with your level of experience.
If you raced on tracks in the past you might get a lot out of it.
For me... it was my first time driving on a track. By the end of day 1 I was mush and not sure how much I would of gotten out of a full second day (coming the very next day).

I do have to agree with the fact that you are already out there so.....

 

[btown93]

I did the boss track attack in 2013 and did the 2nd day with the FR500s. Last month, I did the GT350 track attack. To me, it wasn't even a question on if I was doing the second day, based on my experience last time. It was a requirement.... It wasn't even a discussion! While I found the new boss race cars to be VERY tight (6'4" 260) I'm glad I did it. It really reinforces things you learn on day 1. Sure, one can argue 2k for one day on track is extremely expensive, and yes, you can buy another set of tires, etc. but think about it..
-day one is paid for with the purchase of the car, so you could look at it as spending 2k for 2 days on track.
-you are already flying/driving/staying in the area.
-It's an opportunity to drive a fully prepared race car, with a level of instructors that far exceed anything you will find at your local HPDE. And while certainly you can argue having an instructor in the car is more beneficial, that's sort of what I mean by reinforcing day 1. Its more on you to apply what you learned on the first day.

In the end, both times I went I brought my dad, a huge car guy that had never done anything like this before....and we made both trips into really, priceless adventures. Utah has a lot to offer. There are 5 national parks, and some really amazing places out there. It's a very cool opportunity, and we chose to make the most of the opportunity both times by attaching it to a vacation. I genuinely believe you won't regret the second day, and in my opinion, if you simply fly in and fly out in 24 hours, its more of a waste of money depending on where you are coming from, and you will potentially spend more time in airports and planes than driving fast fords

edit: I should add, the guys there are VERY cool....and if you bring your wife, girlfriend, whomever...they do make it easy for them to participate...from sitting in class, to giving them rides (in the vans around the facility), and joking with them, they make it a great experience for everybody.

 

[Honus]

I never noticed any contempt from the instructors. They were all great.

Honestly I think you have to take a lot of negative reviews with a big grain of salt. A lot of "car guys" are just unteachable people. There are always 1-2 per class who cannot be taught anything and pretty well refuse to listen.

Frankly, I've done the second day twice (once with the Boss Track Attack and once with Shelby) and thought it was valuable both times. The only drawback is that I think they need 1 more afternoon set.

They can't really send anyone in a race prepped car with you so they rely on you to know the basics and the day is spent doing lead/follows and solo. They could probably afford to open up passing a little bit quicker IMO. The knowledge gap is significant at times.

The thing that I find interesting is that in our class, any instructor would help you if you asked - so if you feel like you're not getting anything out of it, you just might not be asking questions. Any one of them will take a boss car to lead/follow if you want.

James Burke ran our class and he's a resource.

I found it to be worth it. Enough that I did it a second time.

 

[btown93]

agree with honus. You get out of it what you put into it. Look at the resumes of some of the guys on the website.

 

[stanglife]

I did the boss track attack in 2013 and did the 2nd day with the FR500s. Last month, I did the GT350 track attack. To me, it wasn't even a question on if I was doing the second day, based on my experience last time. It was a requirement.... It wasn't even a discussion! While I found the new boss race cars to be VERY tight (6'4" 260) I'm glad I did it. It really reinforces things you learn on day 1. Sure, one can argue 2k for one day on track is extremely expensive, and yes, you can buy another set of tires, etc. but think about it..
-day one is paid for with the purchase of the car, so you could look at it as spending 2k for 2 days on track.
-you are already flying/driving/staying in the area.
-It's an opportunity to drive a fully prepared race car, with a level of instructors that far exceed anything you will find at your local HPDE. And while certainly you can argue having an instructor in the car is more beneficial, that's sort of what I mean by reinforcing day 1. Its more on you to apply what you learned on the first day.

In the end, both times I went I brought my dad, a huge car guy that had never done anything like this before....and we made both trips into really, priceless adventures. Utah has a lot to offer. There are 5 national parks, and some really amazing places out there. It's a very cool opportunity, and we chose to make the most of the opportunity both times by attaching it to a vacation. I genuinely believe you won't regret the second day, and in my opinion, if you simply fly in and fly out in 24 hours, its more of a waste of money depending on where you are coming from, and you will potentially spend more time in airports and planes than driving fast fords

edit: I should add, the guys there are VERY cool....and if you bring your wife, girlfriend, whomever...they do make it easy for them to participate...from sitting in class, to giving them rides (in the vans around the facility), and joking with them, they make it a great experience for everybody.

A lot of it is subjective. Reading the literature of the "Ford Racing School", I expected to be schooled - not a car rental. Everything you said is subjective except for the bolded part. Maybe there are good instructors there but when they are never in the car with you, it does absolutely no good. I've learned more at a Sebring HPDE, in one lap with an instructor than I did the entire second day. It's a neat area and if you have the money to blow for a car rental, then go for it. Just don't expect much/any learning on the 2nd day and keep your eyes up because there aren't any corner workers to warn you about track conditions ahead. People were getting blamed for not pitting in on the next lap because supposedly there was a flag....well 1st of all, they didn't say where the flags were and were not - and 2nd, they were just wrong - they didn't flag fast enough when another car had spun and started blaming others. How unsafe is it to have a car spin near the last turn of the track but only have a flag on the start/finish - so essentially everyone has zero warning about conditions for the entire lap? It was a fiasco.

Did you guys know that these people are NOT Ford employees and are contracted to run the "school"? The only thing Ford about it is the cars and the branding that Ford sends them. They are in it to make money, it's a machine, and the minimal number of employees there goes hand in hand.


2-day HPDE Average cost - $500
Additional insurance to cover car at track - $500
Consumable cost (fluids, brakes and tires) - $750
Hotel and travel $500?

The prices above are a more realistic idea of what it usually costs for a 2-day track event with your own car - so maybe a little more than the 1 day car rental - but you get a LOT more out of it, IMO. Keep in mind that typically, group 1-2 drivers get an instructor for EVERY session and class time in between sessions...at the same cost.


It's definitely "an experience" and the value is debatable but just wanted to give a realistic picture of what to expect.

 

[stanglife]

^^ Good point, I actually took the GT, not the Boss. The Boss was sold out when I registered but I would have picked the GT anyway, JUST for that reason - to get instruction on a new track (to me). It's a school, I expected some interaction outside the classroom.

 

[btown93]

It's unfortunate that your experience didn't meet your expectations. One thing to remember is for many, this is their very first experience on a race track. Many people are very timid, and would be extra timid/cautious when they have never done it before combined with using their very expensive car they just purchased. I feel like the goal of the program is an introduction to high performance driving, and at the same time using a car you actually own so you can learn about its features and its capabilities. I've done a few HPDE events and had many different instructors. While I agree with you, that having someone in the passenger seat with you the whole time is probably a "better" method of teaching, you can go to 2 events at the same track and have 2 instructors that tell you different things. To your point about them not being "ford employees" that is correct. They are professional drivers/coaches. When you say "they are in it to make money and minimal employees" that is misleading, as if its a group revolving door minimum wage employees that you could find at your local burger joint.

Even as you say, its "just a rental" I mean, it is, of a full blown race car on a world class track...with race car drivers telling you how to drive the track, and doing it back to back with your 'introduction" of driving on a track.


Obviously, we disagree on the "value" and that's fine. It's certainly a good debate to have, to help the OP make his decision. Many of the original 12/13 Boss guys attended the first program who now own GT350s did the program again, so that certainly means something. I feel like if the experience was as bad as you describe, a good amount of the veterans of the first track attack wouldn't have bothered to go back.

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