you can't drive.
A few weeks ago I went to Summit Point Raceway for "Friday At The Track". For $200, you get classroom time, time on their skidpad, and four 20-minute sessions on the track with an instructor. I've wanted to do one of these driving classes for a while. My dead-stock Jetta wasn't exactly a force to be reckoned with (though better tires alone would have made a huge difference) but DAMN that was fun. I'm never going again, lest I sell everything I own and build a track car.
The scene was pretty interesting: old guys in Corvettes and Porsches, young guys in Subaru WRX's and hopped-up beater Acuras. And the one guy -- this guy looked like a dentist on vacation, pleated shorts and tucked-in golf shirt -- who drove up in a brand-new F250 towing his supercharged Z06 Corvette in an enclosed racing trailer, complete with fold-down awning. His wife wore a flame-retardant pit crew jumpsuit all day. It looked like he bought the entire rig as a kit.
One of my track instructors mentioned that the guys who run the class are probably some of the best drivers in the world, period. Maybe not the best race drivers, but these folks teach a lot more than racing. They teach evasive driving to high-level security people -- how to get away from terrorists, 180-degree turns at speed, that kind of thing. They teach cops to manuever Crown Vics while going backwards at 50mph. They do armored vehicle training, off-road driving and recoveries, high-speed interception, they blow up explosives around the track while you're chasing someone at 100mph. Oh, and they teach advanced tactical firearms courses too.
Most people think they're "good drivers". They're wrong. If you can parallel park with ease, provide a smooth ride to passengers, drive in a straight line without little adjustments on the gas or wheel, you're a competent driver. But a good driver knows exactly what to do when something unexpected happens, and that's much much harder. I know about one good driver, and he's a competitive racer.
Anyway, it was neat to talk to some of these guys, guys that are unbelievably good at controlling all kinds of motor vehicles in any situation.