9/22-23/01, by RyanDL
photos by Victor Y. and Michael Y.

Update 10/23/01: Video of on track action posted.Warning, adult language.

On the weekend of 7/15-16/00, the John Eagle Honda dealership of Houston, TX sponsored a driver's education event at the 2.9 mile road course at Texas World Speedway in College Station, TX. This event is designed to allow any driver with any vehicle to drive on a challenging road course in a safe environment while receiving instruction from professional instructors riding shotgun. Event participants were grouped according to their ability level, ranging from the green group (little or no experience) to the red group (instructors only). Two other groups were included, the blue (novice to intermediate) and the white (intermediate to advanced). The green and blue groups were the most crowded with 38 registrants per group. It seemed as though several people didn't attend the event, possibly due to the 9/11 attacks. There were supposed to be 120 entrants at this particular event.

People were lining up at the track entrance well before sunrise.

People spent the early morning prepping their cars. Tuan shows Ryan the ConeCam to be used to capture video footage.

The event itself was run in a very safe, controlled manner. Many of the instructors were from a group called The Driver's Edge, which runs a professional driving school tailored to the driver's specific wants and needs at several tracks here in Texas. On the first day, a classroom session for all green group drivers was held to show them the track details, road course basics, car physics/dynamics, hand signals, flag meanings, etc. All groups, including green, were treated to a driver's meeting before any driving just to reiterate the basics. On day 2, a driver's meeting was held to clear-up any misunderstandings and enforce rules that were not being followed correctly, such as passing signals, passing zones, and overall driving etiquette.

The lead instructor, Pat, gave an excellent driver's meeting. It was to the point and he stressed all the right things. First time track event drivers also attended an additional classroom session explaining the proper lines throughout the track.

John Eagle Honda brought a modified Prelude to show off, maybe as a way to say farewell to the car.

The tranny seized on this Cobra replica while on track. Spectators were treated to a nice display of tire smoke when it happened.