[Mark in Baltimore]

I should also mention that a few of us hired phenomenally-fast Chris Cervelli out of Denver to help set up our cars and to coach our driving. Although my car was set up fairly well, Chris made some changes that really enhanced the corner stability that I thought I already had. More importantly, he showed us how to trail-brake, and I mean truly trail-brake to maximize corner entry speed. I won't give up all of his secrets, but it's not all about getting on the throttle sooner, the words sooner and later, of course, being relative.

Standard disclaimer: Driver's education is not about learning to race, and racing technique is not what Chris taught. The DE program is about safety, first and foremost. Green and blue students, who can read about trail-braking in books, should practice being comfortable at speed, and that includes keeping your braking in a straight line, as Jackie Stewart likes to teach.

For those of you wanting to get faster (and I know that comprises only a handful of people here, right? ), Chris is available for coaching. I cannot overemphasize what a great teacher he is, the words patient, present, incisive and challenging being just a few that would describe his style. I knew him as a well-respected driver who is renowned for his set-up abilities, but I half expected his teaching skills to be lacking. Fortunately, I was dead-wrong. My time with him definitely helped me become a better instructor by giving me another skill set to help my students.

A huge thanks to Potomac and Tom Trew for letting us learn even more. Jim Evans and I really wanted him for his set-up skills, but we walked away with a better understanding of how to take our driving to the next level, something that I have worked on all of last year through suspension tuning and, just as importantly, mental and gonad tuning. We hope to be able to impart some of Chris' knowledge to our Potomac colleagues.