Racing School - Front Man

The real eye opener was Bob Bondurant's School of High Performance Driving. It was a slap in the face to my former numskull teenage self with the reality of car control and news about what was happening when the wheel is locked in one direction yet the car continues forward. Since then, I have pursued knowledge beyond simply pushing the throttle and controlling the smoky oversteer. It has changed me in important ways.

Going back to the guy in the Ferrari and to use a clich, he stood on the shoulders of giants to buckle up behind the wheel of the Enzo. I firmly believe a car guy who at least had tried to change the $24,000 brakes wouldn't have poled the car. Most of us have an intimate knowledge of our vehicles and hopefully know the limits with a little track time trial and error.

This is a call to take the next step and learn how to drive. Car guys need to take a driving class offered by a former racer. Forget Comedy Pizza driving schools designed to get you out of traffic tickets or anything related to public education. If you're in driver's ed right now, ask your parents to pony up for a real driving education. You don't want to learn throttle control the hard way. If you know it all already because you went to a school in 1994, go again.

Out on the street, you'll be way ahead of the game. The racer's instruction about vision alone completely changed the way I look at traffic, and I can still get my thrills when I need them without ending up on the front page of the L.A. Times. Join the local autocross club for practice if you want, and hang out with the suspension-and-tires crowd and ask them what they know. It will help you be a part of this hobby without being the guy who makes us all look stupid with a goofball public performance. Thanks. -Douglas R. Glad