Professional Driver Training in 1977

On The One Mile Track - Click For Full Size

If you want to be a good driver then you should take a high performance driver training class.  A Google search turned up 683,000 listings for “high performance driving school”  with some focused results such as The Ultimate High-Performance Driving School Buyer’s Guide which lists more than 60 high performance driving schools in 180 locations.  One of the longest running and most respected programs is the Bondurant school, and I’ll come back to them later in the article.

I have always felt that if you really wanted to get good at something then you should teach it.  If you are going to hold yourself out as an instructor then you need to be good and in the process of going to the higher level of proficiency then you will have acquired a life long skill that is truly unique.

Dan Daneff changes flat tire with a locked brake bald spot.

In the summer of 1977 I was a graduate student at Texas A&M University.   Having completed all required course work I had only to finish my doctoral dissertation to complete the Ph.D. degree.  Completion of the dissertation took two more years but that is another story in and of itself.  A friend, fellow graduate student, and newly minted Ph.D., Dr. Mark Edwards was aware that I was a very successful driver with the Texas A&M Sports Car Club since my arrival at the University in the fall of 1974.  That success was based on 8years autocrossing experience including the Penn State Sports Car Club, Sports Car Club of America, National Council of Corvette Clubs, Southeastern Confederacy of Corvette Clubs, and some time spent with the 1970 Formula Vee World Champion Bill Scott at Summit Point Raceway, WV working toward an IMSA license. … Continue Reading