PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY FORD PERFORMANCE DRIVING SCHOOL
blvd. | racing
Speed seekers THE BANK OF AMERICA ROVAL 400 TAKES PLACE THIS MONTH AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY. AT A PRIVATE RACING SCHOOL IN CONCORD, RACING ENTHUSIASTS CAN EXPERIENCE THE THRILL FIRST-HAND.
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by Vanessa Infanzon
hen Paul Sexton was a boy growing up in Denton, a rural community in Davidson County, he remembers seeing a 1965 Shelby GT Mustang at Hill Motor Co. “Every 11- and 12-year-old’s dream is to drive a hot car,” says Sexton, 69. The High Point resident bought his first Ford, a 1966 silver-blue Mustang with a 289-cubic-inch V-8, when he was in college. Over the years, he purchased two more: a 1973 blue Mustang Fastback and a 1986 black Mustang GT convertible. “When the Ford v. Ferrari movie came out a couple of years ago, it kind of reignited that fire in me,” says Sexton, who, with his wife, now owns a pair of Ford Escapes. In May, Sexton treated himself to a two-day course at the Ford Performance Racing School to celebrate his retirement from Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina. The school offers one- and two-day classes at its facility in Concord. Professional instructors 47
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teach participants how to drive on Charlotte Motor Speedway’s roval (road course and oval) in a Ford Mustang GT. “My heart rate goes up — you crank [the engine up], you hear the motor and you take off, and you start following the lead person. At every turn, [the instructors] are talking to you through the mic in your helmet — they’re telling you where to break, where to turn and accelerate,” Sexton says, describing the experience. “It’s exciting anytime you’re going to get to drive faster than you can on the highway,” he says. “It’s exhilarating in a controlled environment, where things are safe.” Ford Performance Racing School is a private entity with permission to operate under the Ford name. The school offers corporate team-building and custom programs. An SUV experience program operates in Asheville at the Biltmore Estate and in Park City, Utah. Instructors come to FPRS from a variety of backgrounds in southparkmagazine.com | 47
