Wayne Wilson adjusts his helmet prior to a recent run at the Fast Track Driving School.
But this is no ordinary tour. This group is the latest class of Hillenburg’s Fast Track Driving School, which holds classes at the track several times a year.
The “students,” clad in black racing suits, listen intently as Hillenburg explains the best driving line at the track. On cue, an instructor passes by in the track’s pickup truck, demonstrating where to drive in the turns, how to ease up to the back straightaway, how to ease back down into Turns 3 and 4, how to ease back up to the front straightaway.
“Stay off the apron,” Hillenburg cautions. “And when you see the checkered flag, that doesn’t mean you’re done. You still have to get back around the racetrack, safely enter the pits, and come to a safe stop.”
For many of the students, the chance to spend the day at the racetrack and learn how to drive a race car is a dream come true.
Wayne Wilson, a local sales manager for Cheerwine, made sure he ended up in a car sponsored by his company. Wilson said there was a lot more to race car driving than he thought.
“There’s a lot to remember,” Wilson said as he slipped on a headsock and put his helmet back on for another run at The Rock. “I can’t imagine putting all this stuff on and doing this for three hours every week.”
It’s that kind of experience Hillenburg tries to provide for students who show up for a day’s racing.
Customers at the school range from corporate clients, to those just looking to experience the thrill of auto racing, to budding race car drivers looking to enter a racing circuit.
Fast Track is the official driving school of the ARCA Series: any driver wanting to run in the series has to complete the Fast Track course first.
That’s what prospective ARCA driver Austin Ames of Dallas, Texas was doing at the school last week. A driver in the NASCAR K&N Series, Ames has been racing since age 8, and is just now making the jump to stock cars.
He hopes to run at least 10 races in the ARCA series this season.
“This course will give me everything I need to nake a smooth transition,” Ames said.
The course, after beginning with a bit of classroom instruction on the basics of race cars, leads students out to the track pretty quickly. Students take a lap on the track in their personal vehicle, with an instructor in the passenger seat, to learn the track.
Later, students will put on a helmet, strap into a race car, and - again with an instructor riding shotgun - hit the track.
But this time, they’ll be going a little faster.
And if that goes well - the next time out, they’re on their own, allowed to drive as fast as they feel comfortable, for runs of 10 laps or more, often topping 100 mph on the front or back straightaways.
For Wayne Decker of Big Rock Sports, the day was a chance to get a taste of what goes on at the racetrack.
And Decker said he left with a greater appreciation of what race car drivers do.
“There’s so much more to this than you might think,” Decker said.
Contact sports editor David Vantress at 997-3111, ext. 14 or via email at dvantress@yourdailyjournal.com.
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