FAST NEWS Photos and intro by Dwight Drum Web work by Larsen and Drum
Derek Bernstein has taken his passion for sports from graduate school at the University of Florida in Gainesville to an internship in the Tampa Bay area. Here Bernstein isn't far from school as he reports about the thoughts of drag racing teachers, Doug Foley and Jack Beckman.
Racetake.com welcomes Bernstein to the motorsports world where like all sports, speed always matters. Whether it's foot speed or throttle speed, someone is always trying to win something. It's likely too that someone will always be writing about the quest to triumph and the thrill of victory. We hope Bernstein has a long and successful career.
School is NOT out for Summer!
By: Derek Bernstein
"You want to practice parallel parking?" Something you might have heard growing up when you first sat behind the wheel of a car. But this infamous quote won't be heard at the driving school these two men attend, where they teach drivers the ins and outs of becoming a drag racer.
The first professor of speed is top fuel dragster Doug Foley who describes the first ride he puts his students in as "It's going to scare you!" "It's a good adrenaline rush" That's at130 mph. When describing driving his car at over 300mph he can only describe it as "You definitely look back and say, what am I nuts?" Unlike some other teachers Foley is also a racer himself. ""Actually it's a benefit, because you get to watch other people and the things they go through, mentally, physically, everything. We learn just as much as they do.
" So what does he teach his students at the two day school? "In the school you're trying to focus on so many things, getting a good reaction time to keeping the car exactly in the groove and all that", said Foley "That stuff comes in time. In a brief one or two day school, it's hard to do that. Foley adds that after getting racing under their belts drivers can return to the school to fine tune their skills.
Driving is not only Foley's job it's his passion. Foley says not everyone can wake up and do exactly what they love to do. "This is my seventeenth year at the Gatornationals running everything from Sportsman classes up to Top Fuel. It is a treat," added Foley. "A lot of people don't realize its hard work. You've got to marketing going and meeting with sponsors and doing all this stuff, creating new relationships with sponsorships. It's a big job."
The second Dr. of drag is Don Schumacher Racing, Funny car driver, Jack Beckman. Nothing is funny about Beckman when he gets students behind the wheel. Beckman has taught over 7,000 students at the Frank Hawley School for racing. "We're big on the mental approach. We're huge on that. I think it's great. I so enjoy the teaching, especially now that I'm driving a pro car. Every time I'm teaching a class, I say wow; it's the same thing I go through in the Funny Car. Everything you tell your students you need put into practice for yourself."
One thing that Beckman loves about drag racing is that anyone can do it. You don't need to have a 300mph beast in your driveway to participate, but warns just like Pringles says "Once you pop you just can't stop"." It's the one motorsport where you can take your street car to a local track and participate tomorrow, if you want to. You have to pass a minimal safety inspection for stock vehicles. NASCAR is a wonderful program. The average person will never, ever be able to participate in a NASCAR race. The average person is not going to drive a nitro Funny Car. But they can go down the very same drag strip a week after they've watched their hero's race at 330 mph. The great thing about drag racing is the accessibility to anybody who would like to come try it. Its lots of fun. The warning is that it is highly addictive. So be prepared for that."
So if you're up for the task, take your ticket get in line at this high risk, high adrenaline DMV and see what you're made of. For these two racers, being a teacher is just another way to do what they love. Unlike at a normal DMV where the only thing you dread is a bad picture, this school might have you dreading soiling your pants the first time you step on the gas.
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