Racing versus watching grass grow

Photo: Courtesy of Karl Danneberger

This past fall, I was invited to a performance driving school. The Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C., is home to the Ford Performance Racing School. The one-day class consisted of racing on a road course through the motorway’s banked curves and infield. The car was a 2024 Mustang Dark Horse with a 5.0 L V-8, 500-hp engine. The transmission was either a Tremec 6-speed manual transmission with rev matching or the option I chose, an automatic...