Good Open wheel schools?

[SlammedE30]

A bit of background info: I've been club racing off and on in E30 325's for about two years now, and I want to try my hand at an open wheel setup. I've been given advice to rent a local club ford or something along those lines, but I'd like to take a multi-day school before diving in. I'm not really one to try something without learning about it first. I'm only 21 and I've been told I have some talent and could go somewhere with this racing gig, so I just want to get into as many different cars as I can while I am still building my skill set. I just want to know what the best school for me is. Travelling isn't an issue (I'm in WA state), and price isn't a major issue either, if it's worth it. Any advice would be appreciated Thanks,
-Ted Anthony

[vodomagoo]

skip barber close? if so there def good

[jonmacs22]

Russell Racing at Infineon. Best damned three days of my adulthood.

Seriously it is a blast and the instructors are top notch. Track time is non-stop from the second you get there.

[putnampunk]

oh Ted. you crazy bastard. good luck. and have a blast.

[SlammedE30]

Sounds like Russell @ Infineon is the way to go? There's also Barber @ Laguna Seca IIRC. Anyone else have input on which of these is best? Thanks
-Ted

[pig4bill]

Skip Barber. If you have talent you can then run in their arrive-and-drive series. Doing well in that series can be a stepping stone to bigger things.

[nsk223]

I hate to be the cynic here, but at 21 its too late for you to get anywhere really with open-wheel cars. Most professional open wheel drivers started in karts, did some formula ford or zetec in europe or the formula ladder we have here in the US, however they all either made it or failed out by around your age....so just merely testing the waters with only two years of club racing experience, though surely fun, isn't likely to take you anywhere.

That said, you WILL find that the two years of racing experience under your belt has put you leaps and bounds above the average skip barber of jim russell school student. You think D.E's are a pain in the ass, wait till you spend a third to half the day in a classroom learning about the racing line, looking where you want to go, and how there is a 'string' which attaches the wheel and the throttle.... Furthermore, with 10 or so other significantly slower people on track you'll never get clear laps and will most likely be subjected to designated passing zones and stuff like that.

So I would say renting a formula ford for a weekend would be the way to go. If you do choose to go the skip barber or jim russel route, don't underestimate the complete lack of skills which other drivers in your class will have and consequently how your fun will be seriously limited.

You might find that the skippy 2 day advanced racing school is more to your taste.

I did the skippy 3 day racing school a few years ago and wasn't really impressed. Though there isnt much seat time in anything, the skippy car control clinic is a fun way to spend a day. PM me for details if you want.

[B.Watts]

I hate to be the cynic here, but at 21 its too late for you to get anywhere really with open-wheel cars.

Bingo. I was in the same boat as you (and about the same age) when I started renting a Formula Mazda for SCCA National events...hell, I even sat on pole in my first Star Mazda Pro race. It was a great experience, but I was WAY behind the guys who were 2-4 years younger and had been racing for 8-12 years. That said, getting some experience in open wheel cars really improved my driving. I'd run open wheel again if the opportunity and funds presented themselves, but I know my best chance at Pro racing is in Sports/GT/Touring cars.

If you have dreams of getting paid to drive cars, be aware that you are getting in the game WAY late. You either need to drop EVERYTHING (your relationships, your job, your school, etc) and commit every resource you have to becoming a professional racecar driver, understanding that you have maybe a 1% chance of succeeding, or you simply need to give open wheel cars a try as a way to further your driving and racing skills (as you suggested), and have a lot of fun. If you want to race professionally, you are probably better off committing more time to building sponsorship relationships or making $$ than by trying to "get noticed" by a team owner.

[tylerAWe36m3]

i never saw that he was wanting to be a pro or get paid to race. you guys are always so fast to knock someone down. oh your too old, you need to start at 8 years old to succeed, even then you have a 1% chance of making it, blah blah. a perfect example is daren manning. he got his degree in hotel management and was working at a hotel when he decided to pick up racing. he drives for chip ganassi, one of the biggest car owners in north american open wheel racing.

it doesn't seem like money is an issue w/ this gentleman so maybe he just wants to race to have fun and not get paid to do it.

he was looking for a good school to learn open wheel skills, not become the next scott speed.

[B.Watts]

i never saw that he was wanting to be a pro or get paid to race.

I'm only 21 and I've been told I have some talent and could go somewhere with this racing gig, so I just want to get into as many different cars as I can while I am still building my skill set.

You're right in that he seems to have the right attitude. I was simply reinforcing some of the things said on the thread and providing additional info to help him make his decision...he did say that any advice would be appreciated. My advice just happened to revolve around keeping expectations in check as I have been in his exact shoes before and spent a lot of $$ at it (none of which I regret). Who pulled your thong so far up your crack tonight?

Here's some more advice: don't waste your time with an open wheel school as you'll spend much less time driving the car and a lot of time learning driving basics you already know as Gvl pointed out. Find a good rental company in your area and see if they ever run private test days. If not a private test day, a SCCA test day before a race weekend is a good time to get comfortable with a car. You'll quickly adapt the skills you learned in your E30's to an open wheel car...no need to spend $1000's on a school. If you don't want wings, start in Formula Ford. If you want a winged car, Formula Mazda is probably a more economical choice over Formula Continental.

[MoreGs]

I have no idea whether you have hopes of getting paid to drive or whether that is even remotely possible. But you can certainly have a blast trying, assuming you keep your day job.

Renting a car and going out for a test and tune would be the most economical but you might also consider calling up Russell Racing and giving them an overview of your experience and get into their advanced racing course. They run these in their Formula Mazda cars at Infineon. I did the intro to racing course in their Formula Russells and they let us do a few laps in the Mazdas. Lots of track time with timed laps to see how you compare to the others in identical cars. And those cars and that track are a blast. If you like it, you can go back and rent a car from them for one of their Formula Mazda races. There are a number of young aspiring drivers in their program so this would also give you an idea of how competitive you currently are. I've heard lots of good things about Skip Barbers program but have no experience there.

To reiterate what people are saying about being late, check out Carl Skerlong's results in the Formula TR Pro Series. He is 17 years old and just moved up from karts this year to Formula TR and has won 5 of his first 8 races and as you saw at Portland, these guys are serious. He was first and second in the two races at Portland with the fast lap time. In karts, he would trounce the older guys by up to two seconds per lap in Rotax spec karts.

[SlammedE30]

Thanks for posting Bryan, I was hoping you'd see this thread. I am not looking at professionally racing open wheel cars, I just intend on using them to build my skills. However, I DO want to professionally race GT cars. I also realize I am coming into the game late, but I did not have the experience or the resources to go anywhere earlier. I really appreciate the advice. I just need to start seriously thinking about how to make the jump from club racing to the next level. Thanks to everyone, and keep it coming!
-Ted

[bbg325is]

Russell Racing at Infineon. Best damned three days of my adulthood.

Seriously it is a blast and the instructors are top notch. Track time is non-stop from the second you get there.

Yes, exactly, tru dat, couldn't have put it better..go for it Ted!

(BTW, who gives a sh*t what others say, you're doing this for you and no one else.)





P.S.: I better get a ride when you hit the big time!

[Chris Huff]

We just got a KHS (I think) racing Shifter Kart. It is a 30-35 hp 125cc Honda. I drove it for the first time yesterday. All I can say is WOW!!!!!!!!. That was litteraly the quickest thing I have ever driven. We have an autocross that a Subaru WRX STI on Pilot Sport 2's ran in 38.5 sec. The Kart was 33.3 sec.

You have to have good instincts and great reflexes to drive that thing. It will spin you around so fast it isn't funny if you let it get away from you.

What is bad is I drove the Z-06 today and it feels slow.

The entire Kart brand new with 5 sets of tires was under $10,000. Best training tool out there.

I know Bob Bondurant has a Kart school and I think there are others, so you might look into that first.

Thanks for posting Bryan, I was hoping you'd see this thread. I am not looking at professionally racing open wheel cars, I just intend on using them to build my skills. However, I DO want to professionally race GT cars. I also realize I am coming into the game late, but I did not have the experience or the resources to go anywhere earlier. I really appreciate the advice. I just need to start seriously thinking about how to make the jump from club racing to the next level. Thanks to everyone, and keep it coming!
-Ted

[vodomagoo]

skip barber advanced school gives you tons of time as well. there more basic ones lack though in time

[Number9]

The advanced racing school at either Russell or Barber are fine and provide ample seat time (in a formula car with wings and slicks) but if you're already experienced you might want to call them to see if they'll waive their standard requirements and let you do the so called "open lapping" days. Pretty much all seat time there and the other participants are generally more experienced and faster than in the racing school.

[nickmpower]

i am getting into kart racing but i dont know how much it teaches you about driving a car, its quite a bit different.

To the guy talking about the autox i think the kart should have been a lot faster then that