Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Graduates of the Three-Day Racing School automatically qualify to race in the Skip
Barber Race Series, North America's largest open-wheel amateur championship. Drivers
with career aspirations have long used the Race Series as their entrée into the sport, but most
of the drivers in the series are everyday folks. On these race weekends, which culminate in
four regional championships, Skip Barber brings the cars, the pit crews, and the fireproof
jumpsuits. All you do is show up. And fork over the $2,695 Race Weekend fee, plus $1,195
for the 80 miles of Friday practice—mandatory if it's your first time, and two advanced on-
track programs that cost an extra $2,190 to $3,195.
A ROLLING CLASSROOM
Your “classroom” at the Skip Barber Racing School is a Formula Dodge, a 2.0-liter
four-cylinder with 130 horsepower, high-performance street tires, and a four-speed
racing gearbox. It weighs just 1,100 pounds and can brake and turn better than even
the most extreme sports car. You sit inches off the ground in a semi-reclining pos-
ition. The steering wheel is only about 8 inches in diameter. You'll be able to hear
every gear shift, every squeal of the brake. “Racing car driving is not designed to be
quiet,” says the school's marketing director. “It's a very visceral experience.”
Skip Barber, a retired racecar driver himself, started his school in 1975 with four students
and a pair of borrowed race cars. By the end of the first year, he was $10,000 in debt. But the
same mentality that propelled his success as a professional driver wouldn't let him give up.
Today, the company (Barber sold it in 2002 to concentrate on the famous Lime Rock Park
racetrack that he was able to buy after the racing school took off) owns 200 high-performance
race cars.
The fee for the Three-Day Racing School is $3,995 and includes instruction in the
classroom and on the track. It's offered at its locations in Florida, Wisconsin, California, and
Connecticut hundreds of times a year.
