October 27, 2001- South Haven, MI 
The SCMC announces its first "SCMC High Performance Driving School" at Gingerman Raceway.
 
(photo link at the bottom) 
I attended this event. And for being the first driving school for this club, 
they did an OUTSTANDING job! Everything ran quite smoothe, and you could tell 
a lot of work went into the planning. 

The trip (from Detroit to the west side of Michigan) was a white knuckle ride. 
I was using the wife's Aerostar 4WD 4.0L to tow my Mustang. With 30mph headwinds 
and about 20 rain/snow squals, it was not a relaxing drive. 

Got to a Holiday Inn in South Haven (not the official: Courtyard by Marriott in 
Benton Harbor, MI).   Am I a professional driver... "No, but I stayed at a Holiday 
Express"  :)

Saturday morning, watched the weather channel one more time, and was disappointed. 
Looks like a crummy 35'F day with snow showeres and rain mix (and it was).  Got to 
the track at 7:00am and unloaded the Mustang in the dark with a 1/2" of snow on it. 

Went thru a rigorous tech inspection, and a drivers meeting. Met some folks that 
I have talked to on the internet for years, and finally put a face on them. That 
was cool. 

I happened to get 4 students (one Cobra was being shared). We drove a few instructional
laps around the track in the Aerostar, just to show the track, and describe the line. 
My students were good listeners, and really wanted to learn, I like that (rather than 
someone with with a bunch of hp, and speeding tickets, and an ego...). 

We took them out in the light drizzle, and the rain kept the speeds down. This was 
fine. You get to learn more on a wet track. Not as fun, but you learn to be smoothe. 
Students ranged from Bondurant graduates, to first timers that were a little timid. 
Everyone had fun. I made sure I asked that, and everyone came back to the pits with a 
big smile. (My job was done). 

In the afternoon, the clouds thinned, but right before my session, it sleeted (again). 
I went out anyways, and practiced driving sideways! Yeah, it was slick enough, that I 
was on the back straight in 4th, and could break the tires loose! I also tried, and 
just about managed to drive the car fishtailing from turn 2 ALL the way to turn 3 
(down the straight) hanging the back end out (had to shift into 4th) but I think I 
successfuly did it.  

All in all it was a great day. Met a lot of first-timers, and think they will come 
back. Put faces on email-id's, and made sure all my students had smiles. 

Ok, now onto the photos: www.dariusrudis.com