I’d like to start this article off with a little bit of a confession. If I was your instructor in 2016 you were among my first students. The fact that none of you appeared to realize that I was a new instructor is a testament to CVR’s instructor training program.
Several years ago, when I first started club racing, CVR’s then Chief of Instructor Development, Don Schneider, casually asked me if I would be interested in becoming an instructor. As the instructor who taught me the correct line for the uphill at Lime Rock I had a lot of respect Don. He told me that he thought that I was coming along as a driver, but most of all, I had the correct temperament to be an instructor. For most of my life people have used the adjective “temperament” in a pejorative sense when describing me. I was flattered and told him I was interested.

Many of our long-time instructors may have forgotten what it was like to be a new driver. I still remember my first time on track a little over ten years ago, trundling around Lime Rock in a heavy all-wheel drive Audi A4, with all-season tires screaming at every steering input. The next time I came to the track I had jettisoned the rear seat, spare tire, and anything else I could easily strip out of the car. The following season I had new wheels, performance tires, and a performance tune to get a little more power out of the tired 1.8 liter turbocharged motor.
A few years later the Audi gave up the ghost in a shower of oil while repassing a BMW that had the temerity to inch ahead of me on the Merritt Parkway. I consoled myself that after 200k+ miles I had gotten my money’s worth and the Audi’s final act had been to spew its life blood onto a BMW. A 1987 Porsche 944 Turbo DE car, 2006 Cayman S race car, Ford F350 diesel tow vehicle, and a series of open and enclosed trailers soon followed. As the famed automotive journalist Peter Egan once said, “Racing makes heroin addiction look like a vague desire for something salty…” At this point there was no cure for my addiction as the disease had firmly taken root in my psyche.

Through my journey from green run group to club racer I always admired, respected, and remained in a little bit of awe of the instructors. When I joined CVR, about six years ago, I looked at the instructor corps as an elite fraternity – something akin to a group of fighter pilots. The red wrist band indicated to me the chasm between my skill level and that of a top tier driver.
As I made my way from green, to yellow, to yellow solo, I can’t say I had a single instructor who wasn’t really talented. Sure, there were variations in teaching styles, but universally, every instructor I drove with was very consistent. While I consider myself a safe and predictable driver I was always amazed at how calm all my instructors were. They all appeared to have what I think of as the “pilot voice” while speaking on the intercom.
John Bares, as an example, is the instructor who finally taught me how to heel/toe properly. On my first attempt at heel/toe I came flying into Big Bend, and instead of pressing down on the gas to match the revs, I merely popped the clutch, causing the car to go into a spin. We pulled into the pits, the track steward checked the car for grass and damage, and then John indicated we should try again. There was no hesitation – just a run through of what went wrong. His sense of calm calmed me. By the end of the day, I may not have been the smoothest, but I was able to heel/toe. That’s a good instructor!

In addition to the CVR instructors, I have also driven with several professional instructors, and have worked most consistently with an instructor named Grant Maiman when I began club racing. Most people view getting “signed off” into a solo run group as freedom. What I learned through club racing was that the top drivers, the people who consistently won races, all had driver coaches. When I look at my first season of club racing, where I did not have Grant coaching me, and later seasons where I was consistently coached, there are miles of difference in my driving skill. I wanted to help people make that jump as well.
I also drew experience from the classroom talks given by CVR Chief Instructor Spencer Cox. Being a talented driver does not always translate into being an effective teacher. Fortunately for CVR, Spencer is able to combine his extensive experience, which includes numerous PCA club racing wins, championships, and even a drive in the famed 24 Hours of Daytona, with an ability to convey his experience in a way which is understandable to all levels of drivers. These classes were an important part of my development as a driver, and later, I drew upon them as an instructor.
When it came time for me to begin my instructor training I was nervous. Would I be able to remain calm? Would I be able to take my experience and convey it properly to my students? Would I be a good instructor? Rick Canter, who is CVR’s current Chief of Instructor Development, ran the program and classroom training, and assured everyone that once we completed training we would feel confident in our abilities. Rick’s calm, Zen-like approach, inspired a sense of confidence in all of us.

Role playing is a huge part of learning how to be an instructor. An instructor candidate sits in the right seat, and a current instructor plays the role of a student, who then proceeds to mimic the actions of a new driver. Tests of our ability to handle students competently run the gamut from the “student” failing to buckle their helmet strap, to the student approaching a turn at a speed much greater than a green run group student should. In both cases you need to know how to help convey the proper instructions to the student.
My first time out on track as an instructor candidate was at Lime Rock where, aside from the front straight, there is little time to gather your thoughts. Just as you finish coming out of Big Bend, you are approaching the Left Hander, which leads quickly into No Name Straight. That first time out I sounded much like an auctioneer trying to belt out one instruction after another. Learning a rhythm, what to say and when to say it, is crucial to becoming an effective instructor. The more times I went out with instructors the smoother my delivery became.
After many laps with instructors playing the role of students the instructor candidate needs to get signed off similar to a promotion to a higher run group. The instructor mimicking a student’s behavior, for these final tests, will try every trick in the book – leaving their hand on the shifter, staying in the same gear all the way around the track, not giving point-bys, etc. Fail to pick up on some of these items and you don’t get promoted.

Once I passed this portion of training, and was signed off to instruct a real student, the next part of the test began. Those comment cards that all beginner drivers and instructors fill out at the end of a track day work two ways. The instructor comments let future instructors know what to expect of a student, and if the student should be considered for promotion. The student comments, which are confidential, let the Chief Instructor know if the instructor is being effective, helpful and courteous. In the case of a probationary instructor, the students, surprisingly, are the final arbiters of who gets to be an instructor. Only when an instructor candidate completes six days with a student, and receives overall positive comments, will they be promoted to full instructor.
Due to the fact that I missed a few track days with CVR because of conflicts with club races, my last few students as a probationary instructor lasted until the beginning of 2017. Once I was signed off there was a written test, which, if you had been paying attention in the instructor training class, was pretty straight forward. At the instructor meeting before my next track day I was given my instructor hat and welcomed into the fraternity that I have admired for the past ten years.
Since becoming an instructor Rick has routinely asked me “are you having fun?” and “do you find it rewarding?” The answer has always been yes to both questions. Most importantly to me, I wanted to give back in return for all the instruction I received on my way up the ladder. It has been a rewarding journey every step of the way.
The last two people I wanted to thank for this journey are Dave and Susan Vaccaro. As Track Chair Dave is the one who is primarily responsible for keeping everyone safe out on track and making sure everyone has a positive track experience. Susan’s role is to assign the instructor and student pairings and it is apparent that a lot of thought goes into those decisions. Matching instructors to students with similar cars helps the instructor personalize the experience and provide better input to the student. Both Dave and Susan are instrumental to the fun, yet professional, atmosphere of CVR track events.

There are many people, including every single instructor who has driven with me, who helped me on my journey to becoming an instructor. If you aren’t mentioned by name in this short article it was merely the wish not to make this article even longer. More importantly, if you are a driver in an advanced run group, and are approached to train as an instructor, I hope this article will help convey how rewarding of an experience it can be. New instructors, as well as new students, are the life blood of CVR’s Driver’s Education program.