Bondurant School

tommachine73 · #1 (**permalink**) 02-25-2003, 06:02 PM

Hi any one out there in Phoenix close to the Bondurant school of high performance racing.I will be out there on Feb 27 through March 5. I am staying at the wild horse pass hotel so if you like to exchange some cobra stories ,and have a few beers than look me up at the hotel. I will be running the club cranky banner .

Best Regards

Tom Raddin

PS or email me at tommachine73@yahoo.com

Carroll DeWeese · #2 (**permalink**) 02-25-2003, 07:42 PM

Give a report on your school experiences when you get back. I will be at the Grand Prix school at the end of April.

raddox · #3 (**permalink**) 02-25-2003, 08:41 PM

I'm going to the Grand Prix school starting April 7. Anyone else?

Bill Brown

Roscoe · #4 (**permalink**) 02-26-2003, 08:23 AM

Two friends of mine, and Cobra owners, are out there now. Bill Karns and his son, and Tom Raddin. Bill has been out there since Monday and Tom left today.

Tom has an A&C but just bought a Diasio for the track and needs to learn how to drive better. http://www.diasio.com

Bill has an FFR and has a lot of track experience (he's on his 4th engine). He is currently building a Daytona Coupe with a 408 stroker for the track only. He's out there updating his skills.

Roscoe

Randy Resetar · #5 (**permalink**) 02-26-2003, 08:35 AM

Hey Tom...If you have any free time on saturday there is a car show at the 101 and indian bend road. It starts around 2:00 and goes till 9:00.

Carroll DeWeese · #6 (**permalink**) 02-26-2003, 12:57 PM

Spread the word and have people report of their impressions and experiences of the school when they get back from it. I can not wait to go. I also can not wait to hear from Cobra driver that have been there.

DanElam · #7 (**permalink**) 02-26-2003, 05:28 PM

Ah good. You can ask Bob about how he hit me at the FFR Exhibition Race at Sears Point and then told everyone I hit him. Grrr! (He's a great driver though and the school is first rate!)

tommachine73 · #8 (**permalink**) 02-26-2003, 06:08 PM

Dan how far are you from Danville ? The club cranky gang will be going down the middle of May. E-mail me if you can make it .There is always a good time and, plenty of racing with our group never a dull moment. By the way do you like sheep ?

tommachine73

DanElam · #9 (**permalink**) 02-27-2003, 03:02 PM

Tom-

I *****love***** sheep! Ewes all know that!

Danville (VIR) is our the closest track to my house, although we generally consider Summit Point our 'home' track.

Right now, we are consider the following events in May:

May 10-11: NASA-Ohio at Beaver Run, PA (non points)
or
May 10-11: SCCA at VIR (non points)

May 17-18 SCCA at Nelson Ledges (National Points Race)

Which VIR event are you guys considering? Depending on the event, I might be able to be talked into playing instructor or just running around in circles. I have been approached about the Second Strike event.

Of course, right now we are scrambling to get our car back together after I crashed it at VIR this past weekend.

http://www.elams.org/Racing/2003/V300/thumbs/Page1.html

for details. Siiiiigh.

pderouss · #10 (**permalink**) 02-27-2003, 04:14 PM

I went to the school back in 1996. Was driven round the track by Bob in a Cobra and decided then that they are a must have. 2 Cobras later I am still loving every second of owning and driving them.

wgk · #11 (**permalink**) 03-06-2003, 09:34 PM

Carroll.
I just returned from the 4 day Grand Prix course at Bondurant.
I 've been racing open track events for the past four years and have attended a couple of other "schools". There is no comparison between them. Boundurant is head and shoulders above anything else I've attended.
The instructors are all racers, the facility is first rate and safe and he has over 200 cars just in case you break one. He also has an excellent garage complex on site and the cars are well maintained. The time on track is more than enough, like alot, and the limits are few. They give you enough rope to hang yourself if you are ignorant enough to do it. The only caveat is " You wreck it ,you pay to fix it".
Now the down side. It's pricey at $3600 for 4 days, but it is one of those rare times I actually felt I got my moneys worth.
Enjoy yourself. I'm returning next year for the advanced course.

Bill

Carroll DeWeese · #12 (**permalink**) 03-07-2003, 06:16 PM

wgk,
Thanks for the info. I can not wait for the school at the end of April. And for the price, my wife paid for this time around. I look forward to learning all that I can. I have read the books. Now I need the practice. It sound like I will have to start planning for the advanced course next year. It sounds like you had a great time.

tommachine73 · #13 (**permalink**) 03-07-2003, 06:45 PM

Hi everyone! Well we got back on wensday night at 8.p.m a little tired due to the time difference. WE had a wonderfull time. My wife went to the spa for a few days ,and I went to the track it was a win win situation.The people at Bondurant are absolutely top notch professional.I learned more in two days with them then all the other so called driving schools combined.What they teach you is that it does not make a difference what you drive,its how you drive.Technique is every thing.I was all set up to enter my third day of driving going into the advanced class when there became a problem.Unfortunately because of scheduling difficulities they could not accomodate me.This was due to the fact that I wanted to expand my agenda into a 3 day event at the last minute.The cars were well maintained and,no one had any mechanical problems while we were there.There are 4 tracks out there we got to use 2 of them.They also have a drag strip and , a super kart track.Weather was perfect for racing about 65 70 degrees every day plenty of sunshine.I had the pleasure of meeting Bob Bondurant very nice soft spoken kind of guy.My opion is that you get what you pay for ,yes its expensive but you see quick positive results.I would not hesitate to sign up for next year for the 2 day advanced course. tommachine73

raddox · #14 (**permalink**) 04-12-2003, 03:21 PM

I just got back from the Bondurant 4 day Grand Prix course and it was an unbelieveable experience. They are still using the Mustangs and will be for a few more weeks. Since some people are waiting for the Vettes, there were only 3 guys in my class. We had a blast! There was some introductory classroom time before each exercise but mostly we were driving. I thought I knew how to drive before this, but I was wrong. With the Mustangs and the Formula Fords, most of the time was on the track but we also did some autocross just to mix things up. With only three of us we each went through the course 8 times with no waiting in between. Driving the Formula Ford was a real eye opener. The rear engine makes handling a bit different but the tires really stick to the track. It is either full throttle while running through the gears or applying brake for the next turn. There is no in-between.
The whole school is absolutely first class. The cars are very well maintained. and the instructors are as good as I could imagine. I'm planning to go back.

Bill