Rook Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 Has anyone attended the Race Licensing course at the Ford Racing High Performance Driving School held at Miller Motorsports Park? If so, can anyone explain why it'd be worth spending $8-9k to go to a school that hasn't been around as long as either Bondurant or Skippy and costs twice as much? This isn't a sarcastic question, either. I like the platform they use, but that's money I could use to go to Barber/Skippy then fly back and buy a race car that I can KEEP. http://www.millermotorsportspark.com/driving-school/ford-racing-high-performance-driving-school/licensing.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Phillips Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Come up to Mosport and do the SCCA school in a formula car for under $4k Canadian. http://www.race2000.com/courses/wwr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rook Posted June 11, 2012 Author Share Posted June 11, 2012 Come up to Mosport and do the SCCA school in a formula car for under $4k Canadian. http://www.race2000.com/courses/wwr Damn...way to complicate things! Alright, I'll have to consider this as well. (though the way things are going that'll translate to $12k USD ) Still, anyone got info on the school at Miller? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Phillips Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 (edited) US$ is still ahead so the difference will cover you hotel and food. Or come to our spring school in your own stick shift street car. $800 sign off for a CASC licence. I think the sign off is recognized by SCCA. Edited June 11, 2012 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rook Posted June 11, 2012 Author Share Posted June 11, 2012 US$ is still ahead so the difference will cover you hotel and food. We'll see where our economy is when I'm ready to go early next year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knownukes Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 I am planning to attend this next spring with a group of guys. It is a little exspensive, but I think getting to drive their FR500 in NASA races over a NASA race weekend is worth it to a Mustang guy like me. I know I could get the license much cheaper buy just showing up to NASA comp school with a car. But, I think this will be a better overall strategy for me. I would like to do one of the schools that do formula cars, but I am really not interested in racing a formula car so I don't see the point. I am a sports car guy(if you call Mustangs sports cars ). So this is the route I plan to take. BJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rook Posted June 15, 2012 Author Share Posted June 15, 2012 I am planning to attend this next spring with a group of guys. It is a little exspensive, but I think getting to drive their FR500 in NASA races over a NASA race weekend is worth it to a Mustang guy like me. I know I could get the license much cheaper buy just showing up to NASA comp school with a car. But, I think this will be a better overall strategy for me. I would like to do one of the schools that do formula cars, but I am really not interested in racing a formula car so I don't see the point. I am a sports car guy(if you call Mustangs sports cars ). So this is the route I plan to take. BJ I'm a mustang guy, too, as you know from VIR, which is the only reason this school even half-way interests me. Having also worked on a World Challenge Boss, I know the value of the platforms. That's just the problem for me: I think if you're going to charge me twice what the well-established and more reputable schools are charging, you'd better offer me a damned sight more than just the FR500S and a NASA weekend. It just doesn't seem worth the effort. I'm not just talking about cost to get to the license, I'm speaking total value. This is why I created this post. I could do any 2-school combination of Barber/Bondurant/the school above for the cost of the school at Miller. Note, also, that the initially mentioned schools have been around for the motorsport equivalent of forever and have produced headlining champions. Miller's been around since..what, 07? Someone please sell me on this. If the school has survived this long, I'd hate to think it was only due to blind luck and customer lack of research. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan S @ MMP Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 I think if you're going to charge me twice what the well-established and more reputable schools are charging, you'd better offer me a damned sight more than just the FR500S and a NASA weekend... ...Note, also, that the initially mentioned schools have been around for the motorsport equivalent of forever and have produced headlining champions. Miller's been around since..what, 07? Someone please sell me on this. If the school has survived this long, I'd hate to think it was only due to blind luck and customer lack of research. Newbie alert...but don't discredit me just for being new. And please try to not discredit me due to my working at Miller Motorsports Park...having attended 6 schools over the past decade (and only one was at MMP) I feel my perspective has value. That opening statement is dead-on...we better offer more. We asked you to pay for it, and that's our obligation. My third school was at a very well respected facility with a great name...and precious little runoff. Mistakes there cost you...in my case that was a $6k personal liability for a minor mistake that produced a long, slow 180 spin. Same mistake at MMP raises a small dust cloud. The price of safety is buying 500+ acres with a ton of run off. Few other facilities have invested $110mm into being world class, we did. At MMP you will have the diversity of running two tracks and 23 different corners. Our instructor pool aren't local club racers, they are flown in from around the country when they aren't involved in Grand Am, ALMS and other notable series. The Joe Foster's and Charlie Putman's of the world aren't cheap. Finally, what is required of the student to get a license is deeper than other programs...I recall attending my second school where I could have had a license had I needed one. The sole qualifying element was a faux race start after being gridded up. It's our belief a student should depart with enough experience to confidently move into the next race weekend with more preparation than this...significantly more. The discussion reminds me of a time when I stood behind a new VW Touareg and a Porsche Cayenne in Park City when both were quite new. A younger guy strolled up to both and remarked to his girlfriend what a waste of money the Cayenne was...the VW was almost identical for half the money. An older gent overhearing them looked over both and walked up to me. "I appreciate his perspective, but it's obvious which of these is custom fit and which is off the rack. I don't know how Porsche makes it so affordable." As I walked away I found it ironic they were both right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UBR Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 We flew out to MMP 3 years ago before the first nationals and rented a Mustang "Challenge" car. Did 2 days with a "license" and signoff for their local MMP series. It wasn't nearly that expensive. We did it primarily to get some experience on the track and get an idea on setups from the Mustang Challenge mechanics out there. I'm not sure what is $9000 unless it comes with meals, lodging and a big kiss. j Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rook Posted June 29, 2012 Author Share Posted June 29, 2012 Bryan S. - Now that was a damned good answer. An answer to which I have no retort. Well said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ed M. Posted June 29, 2012 Members Share Posted June 29, 2012 A buddy and I did the 3 day school a year ago. It wasn't the licensing program because I already have a comp license. I just wanted to experience MMP and the FR500S (I'm a Mustang guy too) as I paid for the upgrade for 2 of the 3 days we were there. It seemed like I paid in the $5-5.5K range for the 3 days not including hotel/flight/rental car, etc. but since I had a buddy with me, we were able to split all the other costs. Anyway, at the time, I was hesitant because I'm normally pretty tight with money and thought this was a little much but I went through with it anyway just because. Needless to say, it was one of the best experiences I've ever had and so worth the money that I've never regretted it. For instance, Gunner Jeanette was one of our instructors! When I left there, the only thing I was thinking about was how much I was wanting one of the FR500S Mustangs (which, BTW, I did end up getting one) and the last thing I was thinking about was the money I'd spent for the school. I've actually got a big smile on my face right now as I'm writting this just thinking about the experience and awesome time I had. That's worth the money right there... Just go do it. Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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