(Ford)

Yes, you read that correctly. On July 21, Ford is bringing a trailer full of Focus ST hatchbacks, the rally-inspired version enjoyed by Europeans for many years, to the parking lot outside Gillette Stadium. Basically, you have carte blanche to wring it through an open lot without caring about scuffing the paint or destroying orange cones -- and without scaring the daylights out of a salesman.

Racing instructors will be teaching average drivers how to slice through an autocross, a timed event that requires a driver to drive quickly in a very tight, narrow course dotted by cones. Balance and handling, not speed, are the end games here. It's a perfect way to show what the 247-horsepower Focus ST can do (along with Ford's torque-vectoring system, which can make the car grip harder when powering out of a sharp turn).

If you're up to task, Ford will let you race in an autocross competition later in the day. Sign up here (it's free). If you can't find the lot, just let the smell of burning clutches and melting brake pads get you there. And if you can't make it in Boston, Ford's doing the same thing in New York and Washington, D.C. starting at the end of June.

The Focus ST will start at $24,495 -- about the price of a Mazdaspeed 3 or a base Subaru WRX -- when it goes on sale later this year.