Sherri Masterson photo

LOOKINSIDE

Go play in the dirt: RallyCross looks fora spot they can call their own . . . . . Page 3

Member Profile: The Northwest Regionhas been the beneficiary of Dick Willy’sautocross enthusiasm. . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 6

Drift on by: Learn how to perfect andcontrol those powerslides . . . . . . . . Page 12

News from National: There’s a newmembership structure, referral awards and aNational Club Racing sponsor. . . . . Page 14

NORTHWEST SPORTS CAR

The official news source of SCCA’s Northwest Region — www.nwr-scca.org March 2010

NEWSINTENSE DRIVERS ED

Northwest Region coaches send 34 more Tire Rack StreetSurvival graduates onto the road with confidence. Page 7

BY KURT BATDORFNSCN editor

BREMERTON —This isn’t the kind ofdriving you learned in

driver’s ed, unless yourteacher raced at the 24 Hours ofDaytona.

With hazards such as drunkendrivers, texting and cell-phonecalls adding to the risks and dis-tractions inexperienced driversface, their skills need to be thatmuch sharper every time theyhit the road.

That’s why the Tire RackStreet Survival program gives

drivers real-world accident-avoidanceskills they didn’t learn in driver’s ed.

Drivers discover first-hand the handlinglimits of their own vehicles on a race track

where they can’t hit other cars while learn-ing how to anticipate and handle emergency

situations that might arise on the road.“This class puts something real in front of

you to deal with in order for you to prepare forthe unexpected,” said Sandra Byers, a Lake

Miles beyonddriver’s ed

Street Survival gradsleave class smiling,

confident

Sherri Masterson photo

March 2010 www.nwr-scca.org Northwest Sports Car News 7

8 Northwest Sports Car News www.nwr-scca.org March 2010

Stevens resident who took the North-west Region’s Street Survival class inFebruary. “Isn’t this what we wantfor our kids before we release them tothe world at large?”

Byers was among the 34 studentswho participated at the BremertonMotorsports Park events on Feb. 20and 21 and learned how to avoid ac-cidents and confidently control theirvehicles, while having fun learninghow their cars handle in extremeconditions.

The Northwest Region began offer-ing the program in 2007 and hasbeen offering it twice a year sincethen. The next class is scheduled forNov. 20.

Chad Taylor, 17, of UniversityPlace has been driving for a year andbrought his 1993 Toyota 4-Runnerduring day one’s classes. He said helearned a lot, even more than heexpected.

“I do use what I learned in StreetSurvival in my everyday driving, infact, every time I get into my car,” hesaid. “It was very instructive. It wasa ton of fun.”

SCCA and the BMW Car Club ofAmerica Foundation, Street Sur-vival’s sponsors, aim the class prima-rily at teenaged drivers who suffer adisproportionate number of injuriesand deaths on U.S. roads.

The Centers of Disease Control andPrevention reports vehicle crashes

are the No. 1 cause of death for teensin the United States. Per mile driven,drivers ages 16 to 19 are four timesmore likely than older drivers tocrash. In 2008, about 3,500 teensaged 15 to 19 were killed in vehiclecrashes.

Chad’s sister, Jennifer Schmid, 29,is one of those statistics. She had ahead-on collision eight days beforeher 18th birthday. The crash left herhusband of three days with a brokenjaw and seriously injured the driverand passenger in the other car.

“We were on a two-lane highway

and in front of me was a log truck,”Schmid said. “I wanted to pass andwas in a passing zone. I thought Icould pass and being in a new areaand a driver for about a year, Ithought that a ‘passing zone’ wasmeant for passing without any trou-ble. I was trying to think of all I wastaught in drivers ed. I rememberedthat you were to only go 10 miles overthe speed limit to pass. I sped up be-side the truck driver, he sped up also.There was a bend in the road and aswe were quickly approaching it, a lit-tle red car was coming at me. I looked

Frederic Lambert photos

Instructor David Jackson (center) tells Street Survival student Marc Lambert how to perform the first drivingexercise, a panic stop.

Sherri Masterson photo

Can you steer and turn? Jennifer Schmid finds out as she aims her ChryslerSebring into the stop box.

March 2010 www.nwr-scca.org Northwest Sports Car News 9

to the right and it was the log truck,so I thought I would go left and thered car would just drive on. As Iswerved left, the red car swervedright, and we had collided head on.”

Street Survival chief instructorDave Conover rounded up a dozenteacher-coaches for the weekend,most of them active SCCA racers orautocrossers. Dave Gaylord, mywife’s instructor, has raced at the 24Hours of Daytona. I acceptedConover’s invitation to teach, since Ihad prior track experience with himat Thunderhill Raceway in someMiata performance driving schools.

Day one’s 11 Street Survival stu-

dents, eight of them teenagers, ar-rived at the track in an array ofsedans, coupes, hatchbacks and acouple of SUVs, but the instructors’eyes all fell on the “Look at me!” or-ange Lotus Elise when it drove up.

Students start the day with class-room time learning about traction,braking, steering, acceleration andweight transfer — and how they con-trol those elements. They’re drilledon the dangerous distractions of cellphones and texting. They learn howto “look through” objects and spotbrake-light reflections to anticipateunseen hazards. They learn StreetSurvival isn’t a race or competition,

and speeds rarely exceed 50 mph.Instructor and student then meet

at the car. Students check tire pres-sures, adjust seats and mirrors andmake sure everything is safe beforethey line up for the driving exercises:panic braking, emergency lanechange, object avoidance, a tailgatingtest, slaloms and a figure-8 skidpad.

After an hour or so of driving, it’sback to the classroom to talk aboutwhat the students learned before it’stime to hit the exercises again, thistime with a little more speed andconfidence.

Schmid, my first student of theweekend, was initially timid with her

Sherri Masterson photos

Tire Rack Street Survival chief instructors David Jackson (left) and Dave Conover (right) tell day one students whatthey’ll be learning later on the track.

Frederic Lambert photo

Marc Lambert spins his BMW 318 on the skidpad.

10 Northwest Sports Car News www.nwr-scca.org March 2010

braking, a remnant of the crash inwhich she said she bruised her footstomping on the brake pedal beforeimpact. Gradually, she managed tohit the brakes harder the more timesshe did the exercise, finally gettingthe tires to lock up and discoveringthat the Chrysler Sebring she used todrive here before she moved to Chica-go didn’t have anti-lock brakes likeshe thought.

“I liked the class. We were able toget behind the wheel and apply whatthey were talking about,” Schmidsaid. “I loved the obstacle courseafter going around several times,learning what the car can and can’tdo, and what’s the best way to controlit. It was a really great time. I tookthe course with my younger brother(Chad) and we drove home together.I loved hearing how excited he was.He suggested we do this course as atest drive when buying a new car.”

Just six months after learning howto drive and three days after her firstexperience with a clutch, AlyssaDrummond, 16, of Spokane waswheeling around in her uncle DaveGaylord’s blue Mazda Miata as hespent the day instructing my wife,Christine Valdez, 47.

Drummond said she learned how touse anti-lock brakes, how to steerwhile braking, how to compensate forchanging weather, and when to slowdown and when to speed up.

“It’s really, really fun, especially fornew drivers,” she said. “For me, beinga new driver, it taught me how to bea better driver.”

Drummond was the only teenagerdriving one of 19 Miatas on day two,

since almost everyone was connectedto the enthusiast group Club MiataNorthwest. A Honda Civic, a BMWconvertible, a Mini Cooper S and mywife in our hulking Subaru Baja of-fered contrast to tiny Miatas buzzingand squealing around (and over)cones all day.

It was the diligence of Club MiataNorthwest members who quicklyfilled most of the registration spots toget the day of instruction, saidConover, a Snohomish resident andSpec Miata racer.

Even older people can find theirdriving skills dulled by time, which iswhat led to a day of classes for veter-an drivers. Besides, Conover said,parents had been itching for an adultclass as they got to watch what theirkids were learning behind the wheel.

Byers was one of my two studentson day two. I’m proud to say she re-

ported driving home a more confidentdriver, just like Schmid.

“I am a tried and true fan and stu-dent of self-improvement,” Byerssaid. “I figured this class would atleast get me driving (my Miata) andI’d have the opportunity to ask someexperienced sports-car drivers abouthow to build my confidence.”

As I rode shotgun to give instruc-tions and feedback (“Turn now, now,now,” “Steer, steer more, good,” “Re-member, hands at 3 and 9,” “Lookahead,” “Stop!”), Byers’ driving gotsteadily smoother and her reactionsimproved.

She pushed her Miata harder andfaster during the day, and shelearned to adapt her driving stylewhen the tires kept locking up inpanic stops despite ABS. One exer-cise quickly taught her she couldbrake hard or steer, but not both as

Frederic Lambert photo

Jonathan Peterson points his Oldsmobile Alero around the skidpad.

Alyssa Drummond goes through the slalom in her uncle Dave Gaylord’s Mazda Miata.

March 2010 www.nwr-scca.org Northwest Sports Car News 11

her car plowed straight into a line ofcones from 40 mph.

“I really had no idea what wewould be actually doing in the class,”she said. “I knew we’d be driving, butdidn’t know we’d be doing the kind of‘extreme’ driving we did.”

Later, I told Byers to get up to asteady cornering speed on the skid-pad, then let off the gas. I yanked onthe handbrake so she could feel aspin that might happen if she tried tostop quickly in mid-corner. StreetSurvival moments like that helpdrivers feel how their cars will re-spond in emergency situations, andhow their reactions can keep the carunder control.

“At first I thought I was learning toavoid running over cones, and learn-ing how to go faster than I wanted to,stop really fast and make noise andsmoke,” Byers said. “I was able to letloose and have fun with my car. Ifound the car could and would dowhat I wanted, if I knew how to tell itwhat I wanted.”

Byers, a driver of 29 years, saidshe’ll recommend Street Survival toany driver. So will Schmid.

“I would recommend this class, it’sreally for all ages,” Schmid said.“Everyone can walk away with some-thing whether you’re learning new

skills or brushing up your skills. It’snice to see how your car and the wayyou handle your car impacts yourdaily commute.”

Awareness was the theme that ranthrough everything we taught inStreet Survival, a lesson that my wifesays she’s reminded of every time shedrives now. In fact, she says she’sready to recommend the class toeveryone she meets as she’s drivingdown I-5.

“I’m more aware of the movementof the steering wheel in my hands,the feel of brake and gas pedalsunder my feet, and I’m really awareof how much bad driving is going onall around me,” she said. “I wish Ihad Street Survival flyers to toss topeople as I’m driving down the free-way.”

Northwest Sports Car News editor Kurt Batdorf:kurtbatdorf@earthlink.net.

Jeff Dunning photo

The second day of instruction done, your author (riding shotgun) and his wife Christine head back to the pits afterfun laps in my Miata. Christine spent the day in our Subaru Baja getting coached by Dave Gaylord.

Chad Taylor hurls his Toyota 4-Runner around the skidpad.