The Mustang Unleashed Driving School is Ford’s Greatest Standard Feature

This may sound strange coming from a career automotive journalist, but I've long felt ambivalent about encouraging people to drive on a race track. Don't get me wrong: Track driving is awesome-bar none the best way to explore the limits of an automobile and, more than that, a singularly joyous human experience.

Yet there are caveats that often don't make it into our lurid descriptions of sliding through apexes and flying down straightaways. First and foremost, the cost. Most driving schools-the traditional point of entry for enthusiasts-start in the four-figure range and go way up from there. In recent years, a slew of "open track days," wherein an amateur racing organization or car club rents a track and invites members, have lowered this threshold. Only in most of these cases you'll be driving your own car, which is to say wearing down your own tires, potentially cooking your own brakes, and in rare but inevitable cases, bending your own sheet metal.

Beyond the cost lies the inherent risk. A well-run track experience is safer than driving aggressively on public roads (more runoff, fewer unsuspecting commuters); however, we're still talking about an extreme sport. It's all too easy-and I'm speaking from personal experience here-to get ahead of your car's capabilities and your own talent.

This long preamble goes to explain why it was with interest and a bit of skepticism that I attended Ford's new Mustang Unleashed one-day driving school, at Charlotte Motor Speedway. I should state up front that I didn't pay to attend, but not because I'm an automotive journalist. The entire point of this experience is that it is free for any original owner of a 2024 Mustang as well as a guest of their choice. I was brought along by my father, who recently purchased a Mustang GT. EcoBoost Mustangs are also eligible.

Participants can choose from three experiences, one tailored to the drag strip, one that takes place mostly on the street (and includes time in vintage Mustangs), and our class, which includes instruction on Charlotte Motor Speedway's roval (a blend of road course and oval). Ford does not pay for travel-you'll be responsible for getting there and finding a hotel-but they do provide everything else, including safety equipment, food, and most important, cars.

Other manufacturers have driving schools. Porsche, for instance, has a robust program that ladders from a one-day orientation to an intensive week-long racing academy. Ford itself has long put on classes for owners of track-oriented specials, like the Boss 302 and Shelby GT350. Yet this may well be the first time such a program has been offered as a free add-on for a car as inexpensive as a four-cylinder Mustang.

My father is, I suspect, a typical participant. A serial sports car buyer his entire adult life-Datsun Zs, Mazda Miatas, Subaru WRXs, and a slew of Mustangs and Camaros-he has never driven on a racetrack. Morning fittingly began with the very basics. The instructors, a mix of late-career professional drivers and young up-and-comers, helped us put on helmets and HANS devices (provided by the school) and went through the ABCs of driving physics-weight transfer, the proper racing line, etc. Then it was off to a parking lot autocross course, where participants and their guests each took a series of timed laps through the cones, driving EcoBoost Mustangs. (Driving for guests was optional. Several spouses opted to observe).

After lunch and more classroom instruction, we suited up and climbed into Mustangs once more. This time, we were in Dark Horses, the new track-oriented variant of the GT. Ford claims the school's cars received no mechanical modifications, but I was relieved to see two obvious differences from showroom spec-a full roll cage and five-point racing harnesses. We snaked through the entrance to Charlotte Motor Speedway, past the giant TV screen (once the world's largest) and towering, empty grandstands. As we drove toward the paddock, someone spotted Kyle Larson's IndyCar in the infield.

OK, time to head out. Instructors lead us in convoys of three cars, demonstrating the proper line and, as students caught on, quickening the pace. In all, there was about an hour of lead-follow track time, which participants and their guests had the option to share. Pace depended upon the skill-level of participants. An instructor admitted to me that this is one of the school's primary limitations: Because driving is split between owners and their guests, who often bring different levels of track experience, instructors cannot neatly sort participants into faster and slower groups.

The upshot is that advanced drivers looking to set down lap times will likely be underwhelmed. I personally found it more than quick enough to practice the fundamentals: Eyes far down the track; hard on the brakes, smooth on the gas. And my dad? Beyond thrilled. Face flush, he reported that he'd seen triple digits on the banking. Maybe, he wondered aloud, he should trade up to a Dark Horse?

That reaction is, transparently, one of the goals here. "We wanted to connect with our customers and give them a chance to connect with the brand," said Joe Bellino, Mustang brand manager in a phone interview. Yet as far as marketing ploys go, genuine driver training at a neat track in professionally prepped cars feels novel and maybe even a little noble. Along with the new Mustang Challenge Series, it speaks to an earnest commitment from Ford to expanding access to motorsports. "There's a lot of goodness that comes from it," said Bellino, "We're not just making better track drivers, we're making better drivers."

The program is, at this point, very much in a pilot stage. Classes started in August and availability remains limited to buyers of 2024 model year Mustangs on a first-come first-serve basis. Its continuation likely depends on how many participate and how it helps or hurts the Mustang's profitability-Bellino allows that funding a driving school isn't cheap. That said, Charlotte Motor Speedway is building a new road course, which will potentially open up more classes in years to come. Meantime, if you happen to own a 2024 Mustang-or, as in my case, know someone who does-get your slot before it's gone.