Skip Barber or Derek Daley Racing Schools?

I would like to enroll in a 3 or 4 day racing school this fall. Has anyone had any experience with the Skip Barber or Derek Daley schools? I'm also considering the Panoz school which is here (home) in Atlanta, but I'd rather do the open wheel racing thing. -Andrew

As a former Barber-Dodge competitor all I can tell you is that if your serious about becoming a professional open-wheel racer, nothing can beat the Skip Barber Ladder program. After completing your three-day competition course (mine was at Mid-Ohio), and 3-5 "test" sessions (non-restrictive lapping sessions) you are qualified to compete in the formula-dodge series (providing you pass you SCCA Medicals exams). I ran on tracks from Sears Point to Sebring to NHIS and alot of others in between before I tried Barber-Dodge. After getting limited sponsorship to run a few races, it became clear to me that at 6'1" and 195 lbs that I was too big to be competitive in open-wheel racing so I moved on and after all was said and done I've competed in SCCA touring and IMSA sportscar classes and loved every minute of it. The Skip Barber school has the best professional progression system than any other program that's out there. It's a great 3-day course with alot of seat time. Considering the financial part of things, where can you go and use someone else's racecar to learn with without fear of insurance or repair costs for a mere (estimate) $2,500 and maybe embark on a career. As the people at Skip Barber say The Barber-Dodge Series is........... "The recognized steppingstone to the CART-PPG Dayton Indy Lights Championship, Barber Dodge is the logical place for young professional racers serious about making their way to Indy cars to showcase their skills." To get there start with them. http://members.xoom.com/teamgrenon/RaceExp.htm -- Wayne M. Grenon Team Grenon Motorsports http://www.rubbins-racin.com/ Home of WMGRacer's IFREEZN Truck Conversion Project AndrewS <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:qQHR4.1799$[email hidden]... > I would like to enroll in a 3 or 4 day racing school this fall. Has anyone > had any experience with the Skip Barber or Derek Daley schools? I'm also > considering the Panoz school which is here (home) in Atlanta, but I'd rather > do the open wheel racing thing. > > -Andrew > >

www.bondurant.com Rik Anthrax - - it's a GPL kinda day :)

In article <qQHR4.1799$[email hidden]>, "AndrewS" <[email hidden]> wrote: > I would like to enroll in a 3 or 4 day racing school this fall. Hasanyone > had any experience with the Skip Barber or Derek Daley schools? I'malso > considering the Panoz school which is here (home) in Atlanta, but I'drather > do the open wheel racing thing. I took Bondurant's 3-day "high performance" course at Sears Point in 1984, but that course used Mustangs, so I can't comment on their Formula Ford courses. With the caveat that that was a long time ago, it was an excellent school. I later took Skip Barber's 3-day Formula Ford course at Sebring, in 1988. One of my instructors was Dorsey Schroeder, so that tells you something about the quality of the instruction. My sense was that Skip Barber's course was better suited to someone who wanted to go directly on to actually racing than Bondurant's. However, that may not be fair as I wasn't really comparing equivalent courses. Both schools give you a tremendous value for the money, when you consider the car and its preparation, having a race track at your disposal, and the amount of personal instruction. One virtue of Skip Barber's program is that you can choose from a number of locations to take his courses. Sebring has its good and bad points. The good part is that with acres of concrete, you can push right to the limit and beyond. Spinning off course, in many locations, is harmless. But that's also the bad point. At Sears Point I was ALWAYS aware that screwing up was likely to cost me a lot of money, or worse. (I do advise that anyone who's considering one of these courses get a clear understanding of what they're liable for.) Those are the only courses I ever did, and I didn't go on to do any actual racing. I never had any illusions about whether I had the one single thing that makes a real racing driver. That's the single-minded determination to do it, no matter what. I can recall arguing with a coworker who claimed he had what it took to be a racing driver (while claiming that certain sons of famous drivers didn't, having only the unfair advantage of their parentage to open the doors). I told him he didn't have what it takes. He indignantly demanded to know where I got off saying that. I said that the fact that he was there, at work, arguing with me, proved it. If he'd had what it takes, he'd have been at a track, helmet in hand, to beg, borrow, or steal a ride in anything with wheels. Of course, that logic applied equally to me. Dave Wilson Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.

AndrewS wrote: > I would like to enroll in a 3 or 4 day racing school this fall. Has anyone > had any experience with the Skip Barber or Derek Daley schools? I'm also > considering the Panoz school which is here (home) in Atlanta, but I'd rather > do the open wheel racing thing. Some schools have personel that have written books on their subject You could look them over to see about their philosophy, etc. �Going Faster, Mastering the Art of Race Driving,� Carl Lopez, The Skip Barber Racing School, Robert Bentley Publishers, Cambridge Mass., 1994. ISBN 0-8376-0070-7 �Bob Bondurant on High Performance Driving,� Motorbooks International, Osceola, WI, 1993. ISBN 0-879380751-3 �The Successful Race Car Driver, A Career Development Handbook,� Robert Metcalf, SAE, Warrendale, PA, 1999. ISBN 0-7680-0497-7, SAE Order Number R-254 www.sae.org This one discusses schools briefly (among a lot of other very good stuff), and points out that many schools also sell videos that describe their programs. -- Matthew V. Jessick Motorsims [email hidden] http://www.moto1.net Vehicle Dynamics Engineer (972)910-8866 Ext.125, Fax: (972)910-8216

Last December I went to the Skip Barber 3 day racing school at Sebring. What a blast. It rained saturday and the first half of sunday, which was disappointing but loads of fun :) The instructors were a lot of help, and I start racing in the SCCA in June. -Adam Zerlin "Matthew V. Jessick" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > AndrewS wrote: > > > I would like to enroll in a 3 or 4 day racing school this fall. Hasanyone > > had any experience with the Skip Barber or Derek Daley schools? I'malso > > considering the Panoz school which is here (home) in Atlanta, but I'drather

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> > do the open wheel racing thing. > > Some schools have personel that have written books on their subject > You could look them over to see about their philosophy, etc. > > "Going Faster, Mastering the Art of Race Driving," Carl Lopez, > The Skip Barber Racing School, Robert Bentley Publishers, > Cambridge Mass., 1994. ISBN 0-8376-0070-7 > > "Bob Bondurant on High Performance Driving," Motorbooks International, > Osceola, WI, 1993. ISBN 0-879380751-3 > > "The Successful Race Car Driver, A Career Development Handbook," > Robert Metcalf, SAE, Warrendale, PA, 1999. ISBN 0-7680-0497-7, > SAE Order Number R-254 www.sae.org > This one discusses schools briefly (among a lot of other very good stuff), > and points out that many schools also sell videos that describe their

programs. > > -- > Matthew V. Jessick Motorsims > [email hidden] http://www.moto1.net > Vehicle Dynamics Engineer (972)910-8866 Ext.125, Fax: (972)910-8216 >

In article <VaRR4.45271$[email hidden]>, "zerlin" <[email hidden]> writes:

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>Last December I went to the Skip Barber 3 day racing school at Sebring. >What a blast. It rained saturday and the first half of sunday, which was >disappointing but loads of fun :) > >The instructors were a lot of help, and I start racing in the SCCA in June. > >-Adam Zerlin

What mode of racing will you be doing, and how much will that cost(if you don't mind me being nosy<g>)? Eldred -- Tiger Stadium R.I.P. 1912-1999 Own Grand Prix Legends? Goto http://gpl.gamestats.com/vroc Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

What mode of racing will you be doing, and how much will that cost(if you don't mind me being nosy<g>)? >>>Adam- Yea!! make that two requests....... I'm doing Bondurant in Jan. to get a SCCA liscence, so I'm interested to know what your getting into! Rik Anthrax - - it's a GPL kinda day :)