Track-Day Bucket List: Inside MINI’s Performance Driving School at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

DimON · 2025-06-01T13:03:49Z

The following is a throwback and repost of our experience at MINI’s Performance Driving School at the Indianapolis Speedway from 2014.

You enter the Indianapolis Motor Speedway through a tunnel on 16th Street with little pomp or circumstance. But when you emerge into the infield, you’re met with awe. The scale of the place is staggering—so vast, in fact, that there’s a golf course inside the infield. And it only takes up a third of it.

These are hallowed grounds for the motorsport-obsessed, and it’s a treat just to be allowed inside. But today is special. Today, I’ll be one of the first civilians to drive the IMS road course in anger. And my ride couldn’t be better: a 2014 MINI Cooper S.

The program I’m here for is Miles Ahead and its Performance Driving School. Sponsored by MINIUSA, the program offers several schools focused on everything from teen driving to various specialties. But the Performance Driving School is the crown jewel. The half-day course (a full day isn’t currently available) is designed to teach drivers of all skill levels not just how to drive quickly, but how to understand the limits of the car they’re driving. The idea is simple: knowing those limits makes you a better driver.

Having done plenty of these types of programs, track days, and even a few races, I’d wholeheartedly agree. Knowing how a car will respond during a sudden evasive maneuver makes you far more comfortable and confident behind the wheel. It also teaches you how to apply active safety—the skill of avoiding an accident before it begins.

Typically, Miles Ahead uses various sections of the infield road course for instruction. However, my visit happened to coincide with the first-ever class to use the full course (look for more of that next year). As with most programs, the day began in the classroom. Our first lesson covered vehicle dynamics and best driving practices as we prepared to get behind the wheel. It also gave us a chance to meet the instructors and get a feel for the track.

After the first session we headed to the cars to do some lapping of the full course at moderate speeds. While typically all of the Cooper S at Miles Ahead are automatics (the best choice the vast majority – even most enthusiasts). That said I was lucky enough to be handed the key to the one manual on hand. Given my affiliation with MotoringFile and my previous track experience they wanted to give me an extra challenge in the form of a third pedal. It was welcome.

Pulling out of the garage and into pits for the first time you’re once again struck by the scale of the place. IMS isn’t as large as a track like Talladega but due to its design and layout it feels infinitely more impressive and almost majestic.

The revised IMS road course is the same one that Moto GP and Sports Cars use. The improvements seen since the departure of F1 allow for a tighter more challenging course.

The F56 Cooper S, as the instructors told me throughout the day, is the perfect car for events like this. It provides excellent feedback and is plenty quick without the danger that comes with high powered rear wheel drive cars (ask them about a recent F Type event at IMS).

There are three things that makes Miles Ahead the best driving instruction program I’ve attended at this price point ($995) and at this level. The first of course is IMS itself. Having access to one of the single best racing facilities in the world makes for a day that you will never forget. For enthusiasts it also immediately makes it worth the money. The feeling you get exiting the infield road course and entering the front stretch is unlike anything. The day I was there we ran the course backwards in “F1” configuration. Having driven that same direction on the first iteration of the infield road course in an R53 I can attest the changes that were made as very positive. Where the course felt slightly plodding before the revised design allows the MINI to really shine. The scale and the angle of the corners allow for a much more challenging and exciting lap.

Secondly there are the instructors. Miles Ahead is rich with current and former racers from around the world who also happen to be incredibly humble and helpful. To that point my first instructor of the day was Pippa Mann, the fastest women ever around Indianapolis Motor Speedway. She also happens to be the most encouraging and patient instructor I’ve ever seen.
Her voice and disposition would calm anyone into thinking that hurtling a MINI down the front stretch at 120 mph is a relaxing exercise. If Siri was a racing instructor, she’d be Pippa Mann.

Then there’s Stephan Gregoire who I was lucky enough to have in my last two sessions of the day. Stephan has raced in both open wheel and sports car for over two decades yet presents himself as humble, helpful and truly interested in making you a better driver.

Finally there are the MINIs themselves. As some of you likely know the MINI has always been a respectable track car out if the box. And in these surroundings with these instructors it proves itself to be the perfect companion.

you’re an automotive enthusiast, a MINI fan, a motorsports nut, or just a driver who wants to improve, Miles Ahead deserves a spot on your bucket list. It’s not cheap, but the value lies in an experience that will not only make you a better driver—it’ll give you something truly memorable to carry with you for years to come.