DE killed Mintex Red Box pads
 

I did my first DE October 25 - 26 and it killed a set of fairly new Mintex Red Box pads. They were installed in September and had approximately 2000 miles of mostly highway. The pads looked practically new. What's left of the front pads after this weekend is a sad sight. After two days at the track the fronts are worn to about 1/8" (3mm) and one had a chuck missing front the leading edge. The front rotors have distinct albeit small ridges while the rear are worn mostly smooth.

When selecting the Mintex I did not intend to track the car but the opportunity arose and I took it. I realize they are not track pads but is one DE really all I can expect to get out of them? Mostly I just want to make sure it's simply the wrong pad for the application and not something else that caused their quick demise. Should I have the front rotors turned before replacing the pads?

I'd say you got lucky.
Mintex Reds may be nice street pads but not for any heavy duty use - I learned the same the hard way when I used Hawk street pads on the track, I developed fading into lap #2 and had to choose *very* conservative brake points from then on, took half the fun away.
I have seen completely discolored (almost burned) center caps from the excessive heat that these kind of pads could not dissipate
About machining your rotors: I guess you don't have an "S" as cross drilled rotors can't be machined. Otherwise hard to say without having a gander at the rotors

What Chris said. In my early days of tracking, I took a BMW 325e (e stands for slow) to the track with some almost new PBR Deluxe street pads. Sixty track miles later I was into the backing pads on two wheels - literally no pad material left. The excess heat warped the rotors and the vibration was enough to break my exhaust. Lessons learned. It's not that no street pads will work for a DE, especially when you are starting out, but some just aren't up to the task of a novice driver.

On the other hand, I had a friend that raced Corvettes. He got the "lifetime warranty" pads from the local autoparts shop and just replaced them every week under warranty.

As Walt said, street pads are not designed for track work. Also take into consideration a track novice will brake earlier and longer than an experienced driver, which only exasperates the problem.

Brakes often distinguish which cars can take the track and which can't. I've seen plenty of people show up at DE events with tons of performance mods, big wheels and sticky tires, only have their brakes fade to nothing in two laps, while my crappy little 914 or my M3 kept going all day. I've had good experiences with Metal Master pads on my 914, and stock BMW pads on my M3. Expect that with any pad, DE events will result in very signficant wear.

Live and learn. At least the rotors are still okay. On Tuesday I took the worn pads to RUF and Boardwalk Porsche. Both said the same thing as all of you. RUF recommended the standard Porsche pads and one of Boardwalk's resident racing guys suggested I could go with either Porsche or Pagid blue. Since I previously used Pagid blue and have a set of rear pads with half their life remaining, I went that route and ordered fronts. My second DE is in a week and a half so I'll get to test the blues soon enough.

You used up a set of pads. No biggie. Pads, rotors and tires should all be consumables. Every track day I have done uses up a set of front pads. Always bring a spare set of pads to the track so you have something to get home with.

I put MetalMasters on the fronts recently, and they are softer than the OEMs I had. Maybe I need to bleed the lines? They just seem really soft.