Hello, I’m Brad, and I’m a track-aholic.
(chorus) “Hello, Brad.”
I am addicted to driving sports cars on racetracks, but I’m not headed to rehab anytime soon. I’ve been a regular at the track since the latter part of the 20th century. In 2000 I swapped seats to become a Right Seat Ranger, an in-car instructor at club driving schools on area road courses. I turned pro in 2013, working for Xtreme Xperience and in 2014 became their first Chief Instructor. Still with XX, I'm now a Senior Lead Instructor.
I’m a car guy. I own more driving shoes than dress shoes, teach heel-and-toe downshifting and how to dance through the climbing esses at VIR.
This blog is intended to be a place for track drivers to pick up a few pointers, express their opinions and help keep me on the right track as an instructor.
Of course, I should introduce myself. I’m Bradley S. Pines, once prematurely gray, and now always willing to spend time hooking others on my favorite passion - high performance racetrack driving.
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| Here I am doing by best Stig impression while instructing at a BMW CCA driving school. |
In 2014 I accepted the post as Chief Instructor at Xtreme Xperience, the nation's premier racetrack supercar experience. At Xtreme Xperience www.XXSpeed.com I work in a team of professional drivers and instructors in making sure each of our customers is safe and enjoys driving a supercar like a Ferrari 488 GTB on a twisty and challenging racetrack.
While living in Michigan, "back in the day," I returned to my old stomping grounds, Summit Point Raceway, outside Washington, D.C. to learn from two excellent chief instructors, Bruce Reichel and Miriam Schottland, at driving schools run by Bill Scott Racing. While there, instructor Barry Brown, an SCCA Showroom Stock racer, took me for a ride in my own unmodified Miata.
My instructors had been very positive during my first day, but riding with Barry, going around corners far quicker that I had, braking far harder, set off a light bulb in my head. “Oh, that’s fast,” I realized. And I was hooked.
Among the many things that I learned from Bruce was gentle brake release for optimum grip. "Melt off the brakes," is what he said to me and what I repeat to my students today. Miriam taught me to rotate the car through weight transfer. I was able to drive away from my racetrack buddies after she taught me to induce trailing throttle oversteer on Summit Point's tight Jefferson Circuit.
I owe Bruce, Miriam and Barry a debt of thanks that I try to repay each time I work with a new student. I spent several years attending track driving events before becoming an instructor myself at Virginia International Raceway in March, 2000.
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| John A. Lacko took this portrait of me instructing at a driving school at GingerMan Raceway in 2013. |
Wind swirled through the open roadster as we drove and the road seemed to rush by, inches from my outstretched fingers. The cut-down doors of the low slung MG and the smell of the canvas top made each ride with Dad a very special time.
My mother was the real 'car guy' in the family. She drove so fast on the Naval Air Station where I was born that the base cops, the shore patrol, called my father to ask her to keep it under 100-mph. They couldn't catch her in their jeeps, they said. She drove a Porsche around the Monte Carlo Grand Prix circuit when we lived in France, and she was fast through the Alps behind the wheel of her Volvo 122S Amazon, the BMW 2002 of its day.
My first car was a 1970 Mercury Cougar, with a 351 Cleveland V8 and a Hurst 4-speed. It was followed by a trio of Datsun Z-cars, the last a 1978 280Z. I've never owned a car with an automatic transmission. (My son's car doesn't count).
On October 5, 1991, I left Stetson Chapel in Kalamazoo with a new bride on my arm, and new car key in my pocket. Outside the chapel I was surprised to find a new, bright red sports car, a wedding day gift from my wife, Joyce. Never has a groom flown away on a Hawaiian honeymoon with such mixed feelings. A friend sheltered “Mrs. Peel,” my new Miata, in his garage until our return.
On October 5, 1991, I left Stetson Chapel in Kalamazoo with a new bride on my arm, and new car key in my pocket. Outside the chapel I was surprised to find a new, bright red sports car, a wedding day gift from my wife, Joyce. Never has a groom flown away on a Hawaiian honeymoon with such mixed feelings. A friend sheltered “Mrs. Peel,” my new Miata, in his garage until our return.
Today, I'm often driving a car I bought at the tail end of a reverse midlife crisis. Since I already had a blonde trophy wife and a red convertible, I needed a grown-up car that would seat five and have a real trunk. I’d been driving nothing but two-seaters since college.
So, after a wide search, I bought a car club member’s well cared-for 1998 BMW M3 in 2006. I promptly turned to my Grassroots Motorsports magazine library for their project car stories and began upgrading the brakes, tires and suspension. In German, the color is called 'Hellrot,' or bright red, so I'm always sure to obey all traffic laws.
So, after a wide search, I bought a car club member’s well cared-for 1998 BMW M3 in 2006. I promptly turned to my Grassroots Motorsports magazine library for their project car stories and began upgrading the brakes, tires and suspension. In German, the color is called 'Hellrot,' or bright red, so I'm always sure to obey all traffic laws.
Yes, I still have the Miata. When people ask how long we've been married, I reply, "About 175,000 miles, so far." As I write this, we're headed for my Miata's "Mrs. Peel's" 30th birthday.
In the many years that I've been in the right seat, instructing my drivers on their first day of a driving school, I remember how I felt in their place. I've ridden in many BMWs, Porsches, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Audis, Mercedes, WRX-STis, Miatas, RX7 & RX8s, EVOs, Corvettes, Vipers, American muscle cars, Honda S2000s, and even economy hatchbacks and sedans at the track.
Just as I constantly strive to improve my driving, so too do I try to improve my instructing. That’s where, you, dear reader, come into play. If you see something that makes sense to you, or something that doesn’t, sound off, please post a comment or send me an email to let me know.
Just as I constantly strive to improve my driving, so too do I try to improve my instructing. That’s where, you, dear reader, come into play. If you see something that makes sense to you, or something that doesn’t, sound off, please post a comment or send me an email to let me know.
I look forward to seeing you at the track, always improving, and here at the OneTrackMInd blog.
Brad Pines
Brad, thanks for sharing your roots and motivation for instructing. I really like your writing style and look forward to future posts. The ESP blog was really good, it articulates well, the fundamentals of going fast. I find having simple triggers to remind myself of technique work well, as they are timely when at speed on track !!! What you're delivering is useful to drivers from all levels of experience.
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