Mr. Crowder, a Texas businessman who earned more than $20 million when he sold a software company he co-founded, isn't himself a professional driver. He's a customer for one of Ferrari SpA's latest marketing concoctions: the F-1 Clienti program, under which Ferrari resurrects old race cars that would otherwise be headed for the scrap heap. Instead it sells them for $1 million or more, along with the chance to drive them with a professional pit crew's help. Mr. Crowder and his fellow multimillionaires get to appreciate all the thrills of owning a Ferrari racer, from $100,000 engine changes to sudden course spinouts.

Fanatics such as Mr. Crowder wanted more — which is why he was tooling around the Autodromo Monza, the home of the Italian Grand Prix, on a recent Saturday afternoon. As he headed into a sharp left turn his rear wheels locked. The car spun out of control and into a gravel trap.

The car wasn't badly damaged, but Mr. Crowder wanted to be ready for the weekend's highlight the next day: a parade lap with five other Formula One Ferraris, including one driven by seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher. Poring through computer data, Andrea Galletti, a longtime Formula One mechanic who oversees the F-1 Clienti program, thought Mr. Crowder might have pressed too hard on the brakes.

Mr. Crowder, 49 years old, bought his first Ferrari in 1989 and raced successfully in the Ferrari Challenge series for street cars. In 2000 Ferrari introduced F-1 Clienti, and last year Mr. Crowder paid slightly more than $1.5 million for the race car that Mr. Schumacher drove during his championship 2000 season. Together with his earlier Ferrari racing and maintenance for the new car, Mr. Crowder estimates he has spent about $5 million on his hobby.

Mr. Ehoodin of Ferrari says the chance to buy an old race car is a reward for loyal acolytes such as Mr. Crowder, who “worked his way through the ranks” by owning a string of contemporary and vintage Ferraris and participating in Ferrari Challenge.

“I think Ferrari prefers to do (F-1 Clienti) with its most established customers, and I like that,” says Mr. Crowder. “It's nice to know that you can't just walk in with a big wad of cash, plunk it down and necessarily get the car you want. There has to be a real relationship there.”

Getting the F2000 ready for Mr. Crowder's spins around the Autodromo was more than a matter of changing the car's oil and filling her up with regular. The car can't be driven on a regular street. It requires a team of technicians to get it ready for the racetrack. On Saturday morning, they rolled a black cart resembling a dialysis machine beside the car. It was actually an oil heater. The heater pumped oil out of the engine, slowly warmed it and pumped it back in. The goal was to get the car's innards up to about 200 degrees, since starting the engine cold could cause cracks and destroy it.

The three-liter 10-cylinder engine in Mr. Schumacher's 1,200-pound race car puts out at least 900 horsepower — the exact figure is a company secret. A typical midsize car puts out less than a quarter of the power and weighs three times as much. Nitrogen fills the tires of Formula One cars. The gas is more stable than regular air and helps keep the tire pressure steady even as the tire temperature rises. Tires are preheated to 185 degrees Fahrenheit so they'll get sticky and grip the track better.

It's a sensitive machine, which is why Mr. Galletti, the mechanic, at first thought Mr. Crowder's inexperience with the brakes caused his spinout. Back in the garage, though, the laptop's readout exonerated Mr. Crowder, showing he hadn't entered the turn too quickly or jammed on the brakes. In fact, too much brake pressure was going to the rear, causing the rear wheels to lock prematurely. After long consideration of the data on the screen, Mr. Galletti stroked his close-cropped sideburns. “It seems the brakes would be better the other way around,” he said, ordering the pressure to be redirected to the front wheels.

By Sunday afternoon the car was adjusted and ready for its parade laps. The occasion was a victory celebration for Mr. Schumacher and the Ferrari team, which both won Formula One titles for the year. Thousands of fans packed the grandstands and others lined the track, held back by police wearing dress uniforms, high boots and side arms.

Mr. Crowder strode to his car against a background of flashing cameras and slid into the cockpit. Luca di Montezemolo, who revived the Ferrari racing team and now is chairman of parent Fiat, walked along the cars and shook drivers' hands. “He patted the top of my helmet,” just as in real races, Mr. Crowder noted later.

Soon the harsh sound of 10-cylinder engines drowned out the cheers and the cars sped onto the track for five laps or so. The quickest drivers clocked laps of about 1 minute, 35 seconds, about 15 seconds slower than the pros do it. Mr. Crowder says he hit a top speed of about 170 mph. It was all over in about 10 minutes.

The crowd had come to see Mr. Schumacher, but even being part of a sideshow was worth the expense, Mr. Crowder says. “How else would I ever get to be on the track with Schumacher?” he asks.