Hello Friends and Family,

Link to this year's index by clicking here.


Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, Part 2

When you first arrive at the school, you find some wonderful examples of the automotive arts sitting outside the office. My guide said that they are not for racing but for show.



My imagination immediately jumped to a conclusion that these are company cars — driven by the managers. I have no proof that this is true but my mind then raced to the days when I was an HP SE and we had company cars. Mine was a Malibu — not a Corvette. Big difference.



Here is a Cadillac used by the instructors. Nice!


But in my mind the Corvettes are the car of choice for racing. These were queued up outside the garage awaiting post-race checks together with any needed repairs.


Lined up in this area are Chevy Camaro SS models. The ones painted white are automatics (he sneers and turns up his nose at "automatic"). These are used for corporate events — oh, fun for the managers at the company offsite but not so serious racing?


The Camaro SS with the yellow paint job signifies manual transmission which seems more to be a real racer's (or racer wannabe's) preference.


Unless you want the 'Vettes!


This Pontiac was outfitted with outriggers which stabilize the vehicle and keep it from turning over. One of the classes offered is for chauffeurs for the rich, famous and powerful who might be the target of kidnappers or assassins. These drivers need to learn evasive maneuvers to safeguard their important passengers.

When I first arrived at the school, such a class was going on out at the far end of the asphalt. Squealing, smoking tires definitely grab your attention — it sure did mine.


This is the view from that little tower where the guy waves the different flags to signify beginning of the race, caution and winner. Surprisingly (to me anyway), they said it was fine for me to climb the tower for photographic purposes. There had been a couple cars racing around the track. Unfortunately, they stopped in the pit area just as I was getting in position to capture them on silicon. Oh well, at least you can see a portion of the track they had been racing on.



On the east side of the grounds is another raceway — this one appears to be a drag strip (because there is no turn leading into it). I understand that the school holds regular open competition on weekends — thus explaining the bleachers for spectators.


I heard the noise of a few racers off on the west side so I quickly walked over there to capture a couple of them on the track, roaring past me.


It is funny that these guys were going by me at a fairly high rate of speed, but my new camera is so fast that it makes it look like they stopped and posed. Nope they were moving at breakneck speed. Looks like fun.

If you have any interest in checking out the available classes, click here. They are not cheap but what a thrill it would be to give it a go.


Life is good.

Aloha,
B. David

P. S., All photos and text © B. David Cathell Photography, Inc. — www.bdavidcathell.com