Bruce MacInnes feels likewise. Along with his fellow instructors he, too, has mentored top racers. “Through the years we’ve had hundreds of great race drivers come through the Skip Barber programme,” he says. “We are honoured that world champions Mario Andretti and Phil Hill, as well as Dan Gurney and numerous other famous race drivers have put their sons on it. We’ve taught two generations and five Andrettis at Skip Barber. Teaching those kids was an honour and very gratifying for me. A driver’s measure of success is racing the best people in the toughest class you can find and without exception, our successful scholars and graduates have done just that.”
From NASCAR Skip Barber’s instructors have taught about a third of the field including Jeff Gordon, this year’s champion Joey Logano, AJ Allmendinger, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Noah Gragson, Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne. From IMSA they’ve tutored racers and champions including Jordan and Ricky Taylor, Colon Braun and Andy Lally.
“Most all of these drivers started with our Three-day Racing School before progressing to our Two-day Advanced School, while many also competed in the Skip Barber Race Series,” says MacInnes.
Female drivers passing through the Skip Barber Racing School include Danica Patrick, Janet Guthrie, Lyn St James, Katherine Legge, Taylor Hagler, Shea Holbrook and Julia Landauer. Celebrities with a passion for racing have also been tutored by MacInnes and his colleagues. They include movie stars Paul Newman, who also had a successful racing career and founded his own very successful team, and Tom Cruise and musicians Mick Fleetwood, Brian Johnson, Vince Gill and Vince Neil.
Reflecting on the great drivers he’s instructed, Earwood singles out one for particular praise. “Gar Robinson had, and I’m being facetious when I say this, what I can only describe as attention deficit disorder. He had an attention span of no more than 30 seconds! As a result, we instructors spent an awful lot of time with him, carefully coaching him because we could see his potential in the way he could always make those subtle steering and pedal adjustments we asked for. He didn’t disappoint us, winning two Trans-Am championships. It helped that he’s a very likeable man, too.”