On the professional racing circuit, the winner’s circle skews young: NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon is 35, the Indy 500’s Dario Franchitti is 34. But when it comes to recreational high-speed driving, baby boomers dominate. At the Sports Car Club of America, 64.5 percent of members are over 40. “Racing is expensive, so it’s not until they’re successful and have time and money that they can fulfill what they’ve been thinking about since they were 7,” says Rick Roso, Skip Barber’s public-relations director.
For Matt Parman, a grape farmer in Lodi, Calif., the racing experience is all about the adrenaline rush. Once a year, Parman heads to the Bondurant Racing School (www.bondurant.com) in Phoenix, and eases behind the wheel of a Corvette. “There’s a car a foot in front of you, a car two feet to the side of you, and you’re going around a corner at 80 miles an hour,” says Parman, 45. “That’s an incredible feeling.” For $4,525, Parman spends four days at the Bondurant tracks, perfecting heel-and-toe downshifts, racing etiquette and cornering techniques.
At Skip Barber, which has racing schools across the country, one of the most popular classes among boomers is the High Performance Driving course ($1,595 for one day, $2,895 for two), where students choose three cars from a fantasy menu of Porsches, BMWs and Corvettes. Feel like driving an autocross session? Then slip into a Porsche 911 for a solo race against the clock. Thinking about buying a BMW M3? Go out for a day and take it for a high-speed test drive. Skip Barber also lets boomers race in formula or sports cars, offering Masters (over 40) and Grand Masters (over 50) series. Type-A personalities might appreciate the Jim Russell Racing School (www.jimrussellusa.com), which offers both a kart (a small, open-wheel car) and a formula series.
While racing may be a mental escape, it’s hard on the wallet. Lippert says that participation in a full season runs him between $50,000 and $60,000—and that’s “with minimal crash damage.” Skip Barber’s average client earns more than $200,000 a year, with serious racers often earning more. “Those are the people who are entrepreneurs or high-level executives and are self-made in some fashion,” says Roso. “This is their boat, this is their airplane.”
For some, exclusivity is half the fun. Ferrari owners who participate in the Ferrari Driving Experience (experienceferrari.com) spend $8,200 for a weekend at Mont Tremblant, a Quebec resort town, rubbing shoulders with fellow magnates (average annual income of a Ferrari owner: more than $1 million) and speeding around a 15-corner circuit—with multiple elevation changes and blind corners—that meets Formula 1 standards. After a day of exertion, they can repair to the chateau-like Hotel Quintessence, enjoy a Bordeaux out of the wine bar’s 5,000-bottle cellar and shift into low gear.
