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By
SALLY HAWKINS - ABC News
June 18, 2007
Some men buy flashy sports cars. Some take
up hunting wild animals, and others more
simply turn to lifting weights to lose the
extra padding they've added since they hit
40.
And then, there's something thousands of
other guys do to spice up the monotony of
midlife, to experience something other than
a day at the office, chaperoning their daughter's
school dance or a weekend trip to The Home
Depot.
These men head to one of the dozens of
race-car-driving schools around the country
where average Joes can speed around a track
at upward of 170 mph in authentic stock
cars once driven by some of today's top
racers.
Others might make a trip to one of the
10 Mario Andretti Racing Schools in the
United States to get behind the wheel of
a 600-plus horsepower Indy-style race car
that drives "like it has a jet engine,"
as one student described.
Recently, the school in Charlotte, N.C.,
held a "Mario Andretti Fantasy Day,"
where, for roughly $1,000, students could
drive eight laps in an Indy-style race car
and then meet Andretti trackside for a photo-op.
Students could also choose to ride as a
passenger in an Indy car driven by Andretti,
but with no meeting or photo-op.
Rafael Fernandez, 44, is a father of five
from southeast Florida, who runs a successful
business and says he works "a lot."
As an early Father's Day gift from his wife,
he traveled to Charlotte for the Fantasy
Day and opted to experience the thrill of
driving an Indy car for himself.
"It was one of those 'Thank you, Lord'
moments," he said. "It was like
I was flying. It was incredible."
Fernandez says he averaged 154 mph during
his eight laps, but quickly pointed out
that "average" means he went a
lot faster at times.
"I love cars," he said. "I've
got two Alfa Romeos, an old 1969 Jaguar
and a 1960 Cadillac limo that I had to build
a special carport for."
His experience racing in Charlotte was
so life-changing that he's now contemplating
buying one of his own Formula race cars.
Meeting Andretti was an even bigger dream
come true for Fernandez.
"He was really down to earth, very
friendly with everybody," Fernandez
said. "He's small, at first. I'm 5
feet, 10 inches and he's shorter than me.
But, he's a giant in my heart."
Steve Haight traveled all the way to North
Carolina from Calgary, Alberta, Canada,
for the Andretti adventure. Haight said
he'd been a car enthusiast and Indy fan
since he was "knee high to a grasshopper"
but it's never too late to fulfill a childhood
dream.
The trip was a present from his wife who,
he said, "must have gotten tired of
me returning the ties."
So, she purchased the Fantasy Day for him
and slipped the school's brochure in his
birthday card, and watched as Haight processed
the magnitude of the gift he was receiving.
"I was thrilled … floored,"
he said. "Meeting Mario Andretti. …
He's one of my biggest heroes!"
North Carolina resident Greg Hill, 54,
also received a day at the school as a gift
from his wife of more than 20 years. He
opted for the meet-and-greet with Andretti
and to take a few laps as his passenger.
"Talk about a fantasy!" he said.
"I just didn't think that sort of thing
could even happen. It's so far beyond anything
I could have imagined."
Hill, who runs a medical transcription
business, said he worked seven days a week
and needed a break. The morning of the event
he anxiously watched from the stands as
more than a dozen people "took their
ride" before him. Finally, it was his
turn.
"Mario sits in front of you, you sit
behind him," he said. "We didn't
get a chance to talk. But, when we got going
I was screaming like a little girl, like
when you're on a roller coaster."
And, with Hill screaming in the back seat,
Andretti clocked more than 180 mph.
So, how did the amateur race-car-driving
business for lawyers, insurance brokers,
teachers and people like Hill begin?
Bob Lutz, owner of both the Mario Andretti
Racing School and the Jeff Gordon Racing
School for NASCAR fans, started the Andretti
School when he was just 28 years old.
Lutz's father owned short tracks in upstate
New York, and from age 8 he spent his summers
doing everything from "emptying the
garbage to making hot dogs 12 to 16 hours
a day" for his dad.
"My father was a great businessman,"
he said. "I raced go-carts as a kid,
but I always knew that I wanted to be involved
in the business side of things like him."
At 19, Lutz moved to Charlotte where he
met a young aspiring stock-car driver named
Jeff Gordon.
"Jeff and I became good friends and
then roommates from 1990 to 1993,"
he said.
While Gordon worked on his racing skills,
Lutz founded the Richard Petty Driving Experience,
an amateur stock-car-racing school, when
he was just 23. The school was a huge success
but Lutz sold it four years later after
getting "an offer I couldn't refuse"
from a faithful customer Leo Hendry, a former
CEO of TCI Cable Systems.
"He came to the school about 30 times
and I guess he got hooked," Lutz said.
So, a 27-year-old Lutz suddenly found himself
retired and with more money he could ever
imagine in his bank account, but there was
a problem.
He was bored and missed "putting smiles
on people's faces," and there was another
problem. Lutz had signed a noncompete clause
when he sold the Richard Petty Driving School
so he couldn't get back into the stock-car
business for several years.
His solution was expensive and risky, but
paid off enormously for Lutz in the long
run.
Only a year after his so-called "retirement,"
Lutz moved to Las Vegas where he teamed
up with a group of engineers and car builders
and started the first-ever Indy racing school.
At a price tag of $1.2 million to build
their first Indy car — Indy cars are
more complex than stock cars — it was
a costly investment.
But, when superstar racer Mario Andretti
signed on to be a part of the business,
an overnight hit among dedicated Indy fans
was born. Lutz said even today the school
was the only place in the world where students
could drive full-size Indy cars.
As soon as Lutz's noncompete clause with
the new owner of the Richard Petty Driving
School had expired, he sped back into the
stock-car business as well. Lutz's old roommate
Jeff Gordon was, by now, a NASCAR megastar
but didn't have a driving school named after
him, yet.
So, the Jeff Gordon Racing School for stock-car
fans was formed as the sister school to
the Mario Andretti Racing School for the
Indy fans.
"When I owned the Richard Petty School,
we built all the cars in-house," he
said, "but, now the NASCAR teams have
so many cars — and they cycle through
them so fast — that it allows me to
use the cars that were driven directly by
the pros and buy them when they're done."
Lutz said a typical NASCAR team in the
early to mid-1990s would have eight to 12
cars. Today, a team can go through 30 cars
in a season.
"If a driver decides he doesn't like
some of the cars that are built, I can move
in and buy them," said Lutz.
Today, the race-car-school industry for
amateur racers, started by the young and
eager 23-year-old Bob Lutz, has grown to
dozens of racing schools of all kinds that
stretch across every corner of the United
States. Most are schools that cater to NASCAR
fans looking for the excitement of speeding
around a track in a stock car like Gordon's.
For Haight, Fernandez and Hill, the thrill
of driving an Indy-style race car more than
twice the speed limit while hobnobbing with
one of the biggest legends in racing was
an experience of a lifetime that might seem
like a distant dream next time they have
a dull day at the office or find themselves
standing in line at The Home Depot.
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