Driving Schools Shift Into High Gear to Meet Demand
For those who regard every traffic light as a drag strip Christmas tree, every twisting country lane as their personal Le Mans, every pothole as a challenge to be confronted, not avoided--fasten your seat belts.
Driving schools have sprung up from Connecticut to California. The schools not only let every Mario Andretti wannabe fulfill the dream, but also teach some pretty important driving skills.
Dan Lienert, 18, of Detroit, was given a two-day driving course last year at a Skip Barber Racing School in Lime Rock, Conn., for his high school graduation. Using Dodge Dakota pickups, Vipers and Stratuses, he learned how to heel-and-toe downshift, control skids, take corners and properly use his mirrors.
“I was a cocky teenage driver,” he said. “I had been on the road for a year-and-a-half, and I thought I had it down. It was a very humbling experience.”
Lienert said the lessons he learned later helped him avoid serious injury when his Geo Prizm subcompact was slammed by a Dodge Ram 4x4 pickup. His car sustained $1,700 worth of damage, but he walked away.
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In the driving school, students spend about 40% of their time in the classroom--and don’t exactly put the pedal to the metal on the track.
“Even though you’re only going 40 mph, they are tricky enough moves to make you feel like you’re in an Indy car,” Lienert said.
And for those who want to redline the tachometer, many of the schools offer racing courses in which the only prerequisite is a valid driver’s license and the ability to handle a manual transmission. They provide the car, the helmet and instruction; you provide the nerves of steel.
“I did the race school only having six weeks or so practice with a stick,” said Anne Cahill Hogg, 30, an editor and photojournalist in Carmel, N.Y., who attended a three-day Skip Barber course.
After a mixture of classroom and track time, she whipped around the track in an open-wheel Formula Dodge race car.
“They just keep giving you rpm [revolutions per minute] limits as you get better and better,” she said. “On the last day, they teach you how to pass and set up a mini-competition.
“It’s more fun than you can possibly imagine.”
The Skip Barber school and the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Phoenix were the pioneers of U.S. race schools and have been around for more than 20 years. In that time, they have branched into driving schools and less-intensive programs.
“Most of the people who come to our school are not planning on going to the Indy 500 in five years,” said Rick Roso, a spokesman for Skip Barber. “At the same time, they are drawn to our school because they know that so many people who went to our school went on to pro careers.”
The newfound popularity of NASCAR and other auto racing has led more and more average Joes and Janes to driving schools.
Skip Barber participants have included Jerry Seinfeld, Al Pacino, former Defense Secretary William Perry and opera diva Kathleen Battle. Mario Andretti’s sons Michael and Jeff also attended.
In all, about 15,000 people participate in the 650 programs that Skip Barber offers each year on 25 tracks around the country. Courses run at about 95% capacity, and the privately held company grosses $17 million to $20 million a year, Roso said.
The Bondurant school trains about 5,500 students a year in race-prepared Ford Mustangs and open Formula Ford cars on its track in Phoenix. Classes range in price from $250 to $3,950, depending on the course and length of instruction.
Similarly, classes at Skip Barber range from $475 for a half-day racing introduction to $2,250 for a three-day competition course--not including the cost of hotel, meals and travel to and from the track.
As more and more people have decided to live the fantasy, more tracks have started offering driving programs. This year, the Richard Petty Driving Experience debuted at Disney Speedway in Walt Disney World’s resort. Guests pay from $100 to $1,300 to don a fireproof suit and helmet before either becoming the driver or passenger in a Winston Cup stock car, circling the track at speeds up to 145 mph. A more comprehensive Petty school, offered at three other locations, is sold out anywhere from three to six months in advance, said spokeswoman Karla Mathis.
Also this year, Land Rover opened its first dedicated off-road driving school in the United States at the Equinox resort in Manchester Village, Vt. The school offers off-road instruction in the summer and snow and ice driving in the winter in its own vehicles. Lessons start at $120 per person for a one-hour session.
“It is popular with the corporate groups and can be used as an amenity or as part of their team-building,” said Equinox spokeswoman Trisha Hayes.
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Similarly, Skip Barber is seeing its largest growth in corporate clients, Roso said. Companies will send a group to a track or the school will bring the cars to an office parking lot. Bondurant also offers a special class geared toward companies and other groups.
For those who want affordable instruction, the Sports Car Club of America, based in Englewood, Colo., offers occasional weekend classes at various racetracks. Drivers bring their own cars or rent cars from the school. The cost can be as little as $200.
Lienert, whose parents are auto writers for the Detroit News, said his driving is now pretty good.
“My best friend Adam told me last time we were in the car, ‘It’s always such a treat to drive with you because you’re the best driver I know.’ ” Still, Lienert is modest and, some would say, realistic.
“I have a ways to go,” he said. “It’s really an art form. You have to constantly work at it.”
