Eddie Alterman
Skip School
The first time I slid behind the wheel of a track car, I was a mere pup, a lad of just 17, freshly licensed and unleashed on a world unprepared for my innovative approach to road usage. My friend Nick Coburn and I decided we were going to become racing drivers, and so we begrudgingly admitted that we needed training. Nick’s dad, Ron, suggested that we enroll ourselves in a Skip Barber three-day course, as he had done, to see if we had a racer’s determination, focus, and ability to attract the opposite sex while wearing open-face helmets. Ron told us: “Now, after a few laps in those low, open-wheel Formula Fords, you guys are going to think you have just traveled faster than any man in the history of the universe. You will have gone 40 miles an hour.”I couldn’t wait. I had prepared a presentation for my dad about how his small investment in my future would pay him back a thousandfold, as he’d soon be sitting in the Ferrari pit during the Monaco race, knocking back shots of Cynar with Enzo. But I needed to warm him up first. “Dad, Nick and I think it would be really good if we did a Skip Barber course because . . . ”
“It sure would be!” he said. “Can I come?”
What ensued led not to a paid racing seat for yours truly, but to an adulthood filled with great track experiences. What I learned in those 110-hp Formula Fords has stuck with me through every press event, every lap, and every high-pressure situation I’ve ever encountered. It introduced me to the idea that there is no personal growth or grown-up fun without some sacrifice and discomfort. This is something I never would have learned doing calculus homework. It led, also, to a friendship that’s lasted 25 years. Ron and Nick did go on to race seriously, campaigning vintage endurance and Can-Am cars in national events. We’ve all had more than our fair share of adventure together.
This is all a long way of delivering the news that we at Car and Driver are partnering with Skip Barber to develop exclusive on-track experiences for our readers. Because Barber is the only truly national racing school, we will come to you at classic venues, such as Lime Rock, Road Atlanta, and Sebring. We are kicking off this partnership with a visitor’s guide to one of Barber’s preeminent tracks (and one of our favorites), Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Of course, it’s no substitute for getting in a car and driving the track yourself.
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