As famed Road & Track columnist Peter Egan once joked, sadly there’s no relationship between your driving instructor’s race record and your own competition success. I know that all too well.
When I graduated from college, my parents gave me perhaps the best present ever: a half-day session at the Skip Barber Racing School. I was going to drive a …
NASCAR Road Racer in 1995? Seems like yesterday I was watching that on TV. 
I agree and didnt have a chance after my Skip Barber. Bruce MacInnes, Duck Waddle, Terry Earwood and Jeremy Dale at Sebring in 1988 for a 3 day school. I was in total amazement the whole weekend.
Back in '79 I think it was I did a 3 day Skippy school at Mid Ohio. Bruce MacInnes was my instructor. I caught up with Bruce last year. I called him out of the blue once I found his website. He still does some driver coaching but has other interests other then motorsports.
I got to ride shotgun with Boris at Putnam Park Road Course in a supercharged Mustang GT. It was impressive to watch him work.
First SCCA driver school in a D/SR at Mid-Ohio in the spring of '89. Driving instructor was Michael Shank, S2 National driver then. He went on to better things and success.
That's what Boris said.
@ David: I think everyone remembers there first. I have had many instructors over the years. Some have gone on to be famous. I had one by the name of Ed Tinsdale (sp). That I will never forget. Best instructor I ever had. That was almost 30 years ago.
My ex-wife tells me about riding around in the Skippy van with Bruce driving and talking while jumping curbs and driving the line. I also remember coming back from lunch with Jeremy and threading the needle in his M3 at the front gate to Sebring. It was a great weekend and helped me to convince my ex to go racing in Sports Renault the next season. The rest is history....
The one I remember with Ed was after a couple of laps we started talking about what each of us did for work and other stuff completely unrelated to racing and I then proceeded to click off my fastest laps of the weekend. Learned a Huge lesson that day. Relax and don't over drive the car. That lesson has stuck with me and helped me many many times.
I'm pretty sure I peeled Boris's name off some TransAm bodywork in 1999 from where he'd driven the car in 1998. I don't remember if he drove one of our cars that year or we just saw him a lot in the paddock. Always seemed like a fun and cool guy.
In 2000 I worked with a guy who was Boris's instructor at a driver school many years earlier. He said he took one lap with him and basically signed off on his license. "There's nothing I can teach him" or something to that effect.
Cool, glad you guys enjoyed it. Thank you. I saw Boris last year fall at the Hilton Head Concours. Nice to see him getting his due.
Middletown Speedway NY my brother said Hot shoe Shoe was racing Boris was the first racer we followed in Nascar
My first track experience was a 3 hour Skippy School at Bridgehampton in the early 90's. After the classroom session, one of the instructors took us all out on the track in a tired old 3 or 4 row full size Dodge van, ostensible to demonstrate braking and turn in points etc. Well that nutter bombed the track, with a full load of us flailing around in the bench seats. "I do that lap time in a van" indeed.
A short time later I'm sitting in the Skippy Formula Ford, engine idling, and all sort of bits rattling, excitedly waiting to go on track, and this mop head dude straddles the nose of the car, looks me square in the eye, and shouts "NO GUTS, NO GLORY!!", as his clenched fists hit the top of my helmet.
At the time, I had no idea who he was, but I've been a Fan of Boris ever since. ;)
You'll need to log in to post.
