Race a Mustang GT for FREE? Of course!

"mikecyc72usa" (mikecyc72usa)
07/15/2014 at 04:21 • Filed to: enduro, Harris Hill Road, track day, Mustang GT, codrive, racing, Beanitos, Ford

It's a scenario we all know. Or hope to know. It's late Monday night and the phone rings, beeps, or a Facebook instant message pops up. Essentially, it goes like this:

Killing the night watching footage of some race or vintage festival late at night. Or of dogs swimming. Or how to realistically airbrush exhaust on your model cars. The nirvanic bliss is interrupted with a message or call, and the person on the other ends asks the best question in the world.

"What are you doing Friday? Got a fun but unpaid gig for you codriving in an enduro. Just bring your helmet, there's free lunch after and free track time if you want. Interested?" Of course I said yes with zero hesitation. Luckily, I'm my own boss, so arranging time off was no issue. My friend and client Dave wanted me to codrive his street 2005 Mustang GT in a rather unique enduro at Harris Hill Raceway in San Marcos, TX.

It was a 1 tank, 3 hour enduro. Meaning, you fill up your car, and no refueling was allowed. The first drivers drove clockwise for 90 minutes. They could pit for driver changes if needed, or to fix problems. Then after a 5 minute break the second drivers went counterclockwise for 90 minutes. Whoever got the most laps wins, but if you run out of gas it's a DNF. Obviously strategy and luck play a part.

The above car was my office for the day. Now a bit of background is in order. I used to drive wheel to wheel quite a bit, but stopped in 1999. I still autocross and will shake down a race car when needed. But this is not only a street car, it's a street car that is much heavier and larger than anything I ever had raced. Plus, I'd never driven it until that morning on the way to the track. I normally drive a Triumph Spitfire 1500 every day. You see why I was getting a little worried.

We went through the standard signing of releases, driver meetings, and then did some practice laps. Jeffrey Harris, who along with his wife Lori organized this event, was kind enough to ride with me on my practice laps and answer my questions about Mustangs. That went a long way to easing my anxiety.

So here I was, in 1 of 8 Mustangs and the only stock one, and a lone Mazda MX-5, ready to roll. Now Dave opted to drive first, go steady, and give me hopefully more than half a tank of gas to drive the second stint with. Dave did a great job. He drove steady, set decent lap times, and worked through his 90 minutes. For those of us watching, it's not as boring as you think, but it definitely is a rolling chess match. Add in the occasional off by someone and you have some excitement.

Harris Hill Road is 1.82 miles long, with 11 turns and more than 150 feet of elevation changes per lap. I've driven it some before, and also have done some autocrosses on it. When the driver switch came, Dave had left me 5/8 of a tank of gas to work with. I put the radio in my ear, donned my helmet, strapped in (more a term with no racing belts, just factory ones) and we all went back on track.

I had a few things going through my mind for the first 15 minutes or so. Don't wreck the car, it's not yours and is your ride home. Don't run out of gas. Don't do anything stupid. I gradually worked my way into a rhythm, and got more and more trusting of the car. To be honest, I was quite surprised by how well it truly drove on the track. I was lowering my lap times, and when I realized I had more than enough gas to go the distance, I began to explore what the car could do.

I found out on the same turn what the car wasn't willing to do, and had two 4 wheel offs (not huge, but still) and a 2 wheel off on the same turn. Plenty of runoff and smoothish grass/ground meant no real scary stuff. Hell, my fastest lap of a 1min 39secs was when I had my 2nd 4 wheel off which had a nice powerslide before I got back on track.

My 90 minutes and the race were over soon enough. I was tired but had way too much fun. I was sore, sweaty, and my knees were bruised from them bracing me in the car to keep from sliding too much in the seat. I had a great time, especially when another car and I fought for position for 9 or 10 laps. I was all over him, finally got by, he was all over me, finally got by, and when we parked in the paddock, he had corded 2 of his tires fighting me. I was on Pirelli street tires, so felt pretty good about that.

In the end, we finished 7th of 9, but had a blast. Now we know what to do next time, and hopefully we'll be higher up the order. I also kind of fell in love with the GT. I feel a bit dirty admitting it, but it really is a surprisingly good, capable car, be it on the track or on the street. I am considering looking into getting one.

If you get a chance like this, jump on it. Not everyone is lucky enough to have friends who will let you just arrive and drive. But you may have a friend who'd be willing to split costs, and that's a start. I am lucky in that I work on cool cars, go to vintage races to support those cars, and am making a living at it. I also would be remiss to not thank Dave and his wife Bettina for letting me thrash their car.

DISCUSSION (7)

AM3R > mikecyc72usa
07/15/2014 at 04:42

Sounds like a great time in a fun car! Any amount of tracktime is a good amount.

1337HPMustang > mikecyc72usa
07/15/2014 at 19:52

ah posts like this make me jealous of those who live by a race track. I've got the same generation GT and to be honest they're pigs from the factory. Two things performance oriented Mustang drivers do is lower their ride and give the engine computer a responsive tune. The $500 bucks that it takes to do so go such a long way that it's truly remarkable. I'd definitely recommend it to your friend unless he likes to keep it comfy. How'd that miata do?

mikecyc72usa > 1337HPMustang
07/16/2014 at 00:58

The Miata did ok, but was only a few laps up on us. Since this car rarely sees track or autox use, it'll probably stay stock. Heck, I think I may want to buy it off my friend and keep it stock since that seems to be more and more rare. Plus, it truly drives great on the road. The track it took a little getting used to, but it's not unlike a D Type, which is like a bowl of jello then it all comes together. This car was a bit willowy feeling, but I adjusted to it and it had more speed to give me if I had a bit more time and wasn't worried about fuel consumption.

IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK > mikecyc72usa
07/17/2014 at 00:34

Harris Hill Road is the best. If any Texas Opponauts want a chance to drive it let me know and I'll try to make it happen. Which turn were you having trouble with? I'm one of the few people who is more comfortable with the CCW layout than the CW one (but I'm pretty slow in both directions).

SVOC > mikecyc72usa
07/17/2014 at 07:13

Great write-up Mike, and I pleased you had fun on the "Playing Hooky Event"

We will be sure to have this again as it a blast to do and everyone walks away with a smile and loads of track time!!

Look forward to seeing you on track again!!

mikecyc72usa > IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK
07/19/2014 at 14:32

I love ccw vs cw. I had my offs all at the last part of the turn after the downhill just before pit in. It was more me not totally paying attention. Heck even with a four off there on my second to last lap it still was my fastest lap with a 1 min 39 secs. I just overcooked it a few times.

mikecyc72usa > SVOC
07/19/2014 at 14:34

Thanks for getting this together! Luckily I'm my own boss so getting the day off was no issue. I look forward to the next one.