GT500 Track Tour: Running wild with the herd in the heart of NASCAR country

True to the Blue (Oval)

My ride to Charlotte was a 2020 Ford Ranger Lariat on loan from Ford\’s press fleet. Draped in Lightning Blue with the Black Appearance and FX4 packages along for the ride, the midsize pickup was a welcome break from the full-size pickups reviewed here before. It also looked good alongside the Lightning Blue Explorer ST and Sapphire Blue Kia K5 parked next door.

Fuel economy along the 2.5-hour-long trek from my Old Dominion home to Concord was outstanding, averaging 27 mpg, a mile over what Ford says the 2.3-liter turbo-four can do.

Of course, you\’re not here for the Ranger.

Not this time, anyway.

Who needs bald eagles when thunderhorses will do

Hosted by Ford Performance, the GT500 Track Tour offers members of the press and VIPs a taste of what owners of the Shelby GT500, F-150 Raptor, Explorer ST, and other high-performance Fords experience when they accept an invitation to learn how to get the most out of their new rides.

Of course, in the Year of Our Corona 2020, extra safety precautions were a must. In addition to the helmets and HANS devices, hand sanitizer stations were placed around the big tent in the Charlotte infield and near the timing tower at zMAX. Masks were mandatory, the helmets sterilized via UV light, and the herd of GT500s received a good dose of decontamination spray between occupants.

Following the brief introduction, the guests were split into three groups, each following a separate schedule. Yours truly was in the red group, which meant my first stop was a trip down the quarter-mile at the four-lane madness of zMAX Dragway.