I went thru the Russell Racing School in 93 when they were still at
Laguna Seca. I also had a blast. They were still using old Formula
Fords at that time. My head instructor was Jon Beekhus. I've heard it
said that Russell teaches technique, while Barber teaches aggression,
and that either one can be used to win a race. ;=) I can't vouch for
this not having done Barber. Russell does teach technique. I only did
the first 3-day class, not the advanced class.
Here's a funny story. We had a little old lady in the class. Her
husband had signed up for some event in Europe where both parties had to
have a racing license. She was ready to quit after the first day, but
the whole class encouraged her to stay. Rumor was she had never even
driven a stick shift, let alone a Hewland! At one point, I was in a
minivan with several other students watching other students take one
corner. We were not yet given the run of the course. They short
circuited part of the course to concentrate on one or two turns. Well,
the LOL missed the turnaround and went bombing away down the full
course. Jon Beekhus was at the wheel of the minivan. He gets a message
over the radio that one of the students is missing down course. He
fires up the minivan and off we go in HOT pursuit. I'm hanging on for
dear life while Jon Beekhus is drifting a minivan thru turn 2 at Laguna
thinking to myself, "I can trust this man. He IS a professional." =:0
He caught up with the errant Formula Ford and escorted her back to the
paddock. She was the first one of us who got to drive the whole course.
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