Members Page: Gary Felton

Over the years, I took 23 driving schools with numerous instructors, including Bobby Rahal, at tracks listed below.  This list included the famous 3-day Powell School for Corvette racing at Mosport in Canada.  I had just purchased a new 1990 Corvette and wanted to learn from the best school available for Corvette racers.

I drove the wheels off a 1990 Corvette on the track, my second one, and bought a 1994 to modify and race for nine years with SCCA.  That Corvette had about 400 hp and was a lot of fun on the track, except for the fires, and that is another story. My latest 2008 Corvette is modified at 500 RWHP with a Pfadt racing suspension and is used for Arizona Corvette Racing Time Trials.

Major accomplishments included duties as the Chief Driving Instructor for Professional Auto Sports, for seven years, and the Chief Driving Instructor for NASA-AZ.  I was the Director of Operations for NASA-AZ in Phoenix in 2006 and am now the Compliance Director-Chief of the Incident Review Board, for 2007-11.  I taught 16 test drivers for Chrysler at their Phoenix Proving Grounds in Arizona.  I designed a program especially for them to understand car control vehicle dynamics by using such techniques such as throttle steering and threshold braking.

I have been teaching Performance Driving and Racing for about 20 years now, since moving to Phoenix, and was asked to lead the instruction for Viper Days when they came to PIR.  I was asked about six years ago to become Viper Days’ Chief Driving Instructor and traveled with them all over the country to different tracks to teach people how to handle the Dodge Viper at 520 + hp SRT 10 cars and the SRT-4 cars on different road courses. ViperDays is an organization devoted to Dodge Viper racing and can be considered as a training series for the televised SCCA World Challenge events.

I now own a 2008 Corvette and run in the NASA Time Trial Series in a TTU modified class to race and teach.  I sold my highly modified 2003 Dodge SRT-4, “1/2 HEMI” four cylinder, 2.4 liter engine with 375 hp Stage III on race gas, that I used to both race and teach. It was fun to challenge the Corvettes.

I have also been teaching BMW performance driving for several years in Arizona, and was asked to teach BMW instructors in California at Buttonwillow.  I have consulted in track operations for INDE Motorsports Ranch, the newest race track in Arizona with 2.75 miles, 21 turns, and a lot of fun on a 2200 foot straight.  I love to teach there and have tried to help drivers of all skill levels.

I am enjoying my second term as V.P. of Arizona Corvette Racing trying to promote performance driving in Arizona.  I teach the Competition Racing School for NASA, AZ and work with advanced drivers in Pro Auto Sports as well.

Track Experience:
Mid-Ohio, Watkins Glen, Arizona Motorsports Park, Roebling Road, Putnam Park, Texas Motorsports Ranch, Texas Motor Speedway, Sebring, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Buttonwillow, Willow Springs, Phoenix International Raceway, Firebird International Raceway, Virginia International Raceway, Mid America Motorplex, Brainerd International Raceway, Mosport, Arroyo Seco, Laguna Seca, Gingerman Raceway, Nelson Ledges, INDE Motorsports Ranch and a few others.