Press Day – April 3rd
Danny McKeever
Senior Instructor Fast Lane Racing School

This is such an exciting day as the participants see the actual race track that they will compete on, cement walls and all! We take them out for four different sessions and lead them around in groups with an instructor leading the pack. Even though the race is eleven days out, most of the race track is up and functional. We start slow, build their confidence and their speed and during the last session, we let go off a bit on their own.

It’s always great to see everyone and catch up, but then the work begins. A FAST LANE instructor rides with each and every participant to see if they can help them quicken their lap times and make sure all of the lessons on “technique” have not gone out the window.

The track can be very intimidating, especially to someone who has never raced before. The concrete walls that surround the race track command respect and narrow the margin for error – just ask George. A street course forces you to be smooth and precise when you are behind the wheel of a race car.

When all was said and done, I was very pleased with how the day went. The returning participants (Dave Mirra, Martina, Joshua Morrow) are still strong – as they should be since they’ve not only seen the track but raced on it. And, of course, the pros did their thing as well. I was very impressed with the rest of the participants, who collectively have so much heart!

RJ Romero, the Toyota dealer, is a solid driver and if he works on his braking (sometimes he brakes too soon), he will be right there in the money.

John Salley does well and is always entertaining, but we’re trying to get him to race the track first and traffic second. (a common mistake, by the way)

Aisha talks the talk and when focused, she can walk the walk. Again, speed is not an issue for Aisha, managing that speed will put her to the test.

Kendra is doing awesome… sometimes I just wish I could give her more seat time, because I think she could really do something. Her go-kart background shows and I will be surprised if she isn’t up there at the front.

Annamarie continues to impress with her smooth driving and good lines. She has no fear and if she works on her braking a bit – look out!

Robin had a little taste of cement today and hopefully, she didn’t like it. Not a big hit, more of a “brush” coming out of Turn 3. She has a good feel for the track and just has to push her self a bit to get that speed up.

Scott Kelly has done so well, given the fact that he is up against some great drivers (Skinner and Lasek) and really has no experience with this road racing stuff. He is finding his way and will hold his own just fine.

Jerry continues to makes us laugh outside the car, but will he focus enough when he’s in the car? That is the million dollar question!

Kelly is doing awesome and her competitive nature will help her with her driving. She is solid when on her own, but sometimes gets distracted by the other cars on track. I think the more she goes out, the more comfortable she will become and she will do well.

Emily has made tremendous progress (remember, she didn’t even know how to drive a manual transmission). She is an attentive student and absorbs everything. She is very calculated about her driving and every lap she puts something else together in her head to go faster.

WE MADE IT THROUGH TRAINING!

Danny McKeever
Senior Instructor Fast Lane Racing School

MARCH 30, 2007 - Willow Springs International Raceway
The final weekend of training for the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race is complete. Overall, it was very successful. We had many participants with little or no skills driving racecars on a road course – in fact, one driver hadn’t ever driven a stick-shift before -- so there were a lot steep learning curves. A lot of enthusiasm and dedication on the race track, which always makes the driving instructors job easier.

Saturday is fun because it’s the first day when we have every competitor at the track at the same time. The corner workers from the TGPLB come out and give the participants a lesson in flags. Flags are the only way race officials can communicate with the drivers out on the track, so it’s an important day. For the first time in training, we run the race track counter-clockwise. This way the participants are constantly working on their technique and not simply memorizing the track configuration. We also start sending out the instructors in their own cars with the participants to get them used to running wheel-to-wheel with other cars.

On Sunday, we simulated the start of the race with practice starts. Robin Quivers had to leave a little early so she could make her on-air broadcast shift first thing Monday morning, but she left with renewed confidence, knowing that her skills negotiating New York traffic will surely serve her well when it comes to getting around other drivers at the start of the race (or, so she thinks). With unlimited passing allowed, drivers seem to raise the bar of competition, which is always fun to watch on that last day of training.

In the Celebrity category, I think the “most improved” belongs to Kathryn Morris, Robin Quivers and Emily Procter. These ladies all started out a bit apprehensive and unsure of their driving abilities, but by the end of the weekend, they were each running competitive speeds with the other celebrities and could not wait for their turns to drive.

Aisha Tyler certainly was not shy about the fact that she was there to race and kick some serious butt. Coming into training, she had high hopes she would gain the skills and confidence that could carry over to her “day job,” performing her own stunts. Determination and speed were not a problem for her! We actually had to slow her down a bit to work on technique. If she has her game-face on and shows some discipline, look out for her on race day!

John Salley (left) showed his competitive nature every morning as he sat in the back of the room and good-naturedly cracked about classroom time taking away from “track time.” John was eager to get onto the track and behind-the-wheel as soon as possible, whenever possible. That spirit will surely help him come race time.

Kelly Hu was another female participant who did not lack for competitive spirit, and I loved it! She really came together by the end of the weekend, fine tuning her driving skills and building her speed. Kelly needed to get used to having race traffic behind her, but once she learned not to focus on her mirrors too much, she did great!

Dave Mirra is another returning competitor who quickly got up to speed. He has natural talent and applied every bit of that on the track.

Due to bad weather, Martina got stuck in Philadelphia and missed all of Saturday’s training. A true competitor, she came out before anyone else on Sunday to get her track time in. As was the case last year, she is doing very well and shows great promise behind-the-wheel.

George Lucas was all smiles as he, too, returned to training as a repeat competitor in the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race. Behind–the-wheel, he is methodical and technical. His previous race experience will be very helpful, but if he wants to be a top contender, he will need to increase his speed…just a bit.

In the Pro category, the recognition for “most improved” belongs to Champion Drag Racer Scott Kelley, who had no road racing experience at all. By the end of training, he was running competitive speeds and even commented that he “liked this road racing stuff" and wanted to pursue further road this after the TGPLB. My comment that, "Anyone can go straight but going around corners takes skill," could have been his biggest motivating factor.

Mike Skinner and Todd Bodine arrived late on Saturday, but with very good reason. They finished first and second, respectively, at the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race the night before at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. As a returning participant, Todd stepped right into his Scion tC and was up to speed right away.

One of our auction winners, Annamarie Dean, could end up being the sleeper of this event. At a glance she is a soft-spoken, polite and sweet – but behind-the-wheel of her Scion tC, she comes to life. As long as she keeps her nose clean during the race, she will be one to watch with her unassuming competitiveness.

The second auction winner, Jerry Westlund, is…well, pretty much the exact opposite. He has a great sense of humor and was a blast to be around, but he’d better put his game-face on to back up his words if he is going to be a contender. The technique is there; he just needs to stay focused on the task at hand.

This is my 22nd year of training for the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race, and each year, everyone knows I’m guilty of saying “this is my favorite group yet” – but it’s always true! I think the most impressive thing to watch is the bonding that takes place off the race track. They were such a diversified group, but really, really enjoyed being together and having fun.

Bottom line…. our students performed well and they are ready to hit the streets of downtown Long Beach.

Training ongoing at
Willow Spring International Raceway

	MARCH 17, 2007 - Willow Springs International Raceway Training is underway for this year's Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race, set for April 14 in conjunction with the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Spirits are high and the competitive juices are flowing as participants go through intense training to prepare for the big race. See photos Danny McKeever and his FAST LANE team lead the instruction. Racers are learning everything from proper seating position, to high speed cornering techniques, flags and passing. New this year is an online racing blog to help fans follow their favorite celebrity's experiences. The blog will contain a mix of celebrity blog entries, video and photos.

Danny McKeever
Senior Instructor Fast Lane Racing School

First full weekend of celebrity race traing

(03/14/07) We have successfully completed the first training weekend for the Toyota Pro/Celebrity race. The weather in the desert was picture perfect (and this is not always the case in lovely downtown Rosamond, CA). Our Saturday and Sunday participants were Mike Skinner, Martina Navratilova, Joshua Morrow, Robin Quivers, Kendra Wilkinson, and Kathryn Morris.

Full blog entry

Women racers have an impact

(03/12/07) I think this year’s field for the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race is shaping up to be quite interesting. When I first started training celebrities for the race 22 years ago, there weren’t any women. Over the years, we trained a few – Cameron Diaz, Martina Navratilova, Mary Lou Retton come to mind – but it was still a race dominated by men.

This year, about half the field is made up of beautiful, intriguing and competitive women with amazingly successful careers.

It’s going to be fun and exciting. Racing can be a very humbling experience, especially the first ride you take in a car on an actual racetrack. The straightaways and turns go by in a blur as the car bounces around and the wind blows past the open top. It’s definitely an adrenaline rush. Guys tend to humble themselves more frequently because they don’t listen as well as women. They think they know how to handle the car and are only interested in how fast they can go.

To hear the roar of the engines as cars thunder by awestruck fans…the danger…the fame – no wonder celebrities are attracted to the electrifying world of race car driving! As a racing instructor to the stars I’ve found that the drivers who come out on top are not necessarily the fastest on the first or second day of training. The ones who excel really focus on learning the technique. Race car driving is a mental exercise.

Full blog entry

Bucky Lasek
Returning Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race Champion

Sports . . . Excitement . . . Racing . . .

(03/12/07) People ask me why I got into this auto racing thing. Basically I was inspired by any type of activity that brought about competition and excitement. From the time I was a kid I was into everything…you know, I played baseball a little bit, and then I kind of got out of that and I started riding bikes, got into dirt jumping, and then from there I got into skateboarding, and I used to breakdance and do all that other stuff.

But mainly it was just anything that caught my attention, and skateboarding held it the longest.

I wasn’t really into racing until I was a little bit older. I mean, I was always into muscle cars when I was growing up. A lot of my uncles did quarter-mile racing. I guess I used to pay attention to NASCAR a little bit, too.

Besides that, it was basically when I was around 18 -- when I started driving --that I became inspired to start hitting the track and kind of pursuing behind-the-wheel opportunities instead of just looking out at something that I liked.

And then came the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race.

I think the race is a good bridge and entry point into professional racing because you get out there, and – take me for instance – I didn’t have any race knowledge at all, aside from going to the track and trying to improve lap times. Last year was my first time out there and it was a great experience, and it let me know that I do have potential to go further in this. And that’s it. I think that’s probably what everybody else captured from it, too.

This year, since I’ll be in the “Pro” category, my strategy is to stick to the pack as close as I can, try to get through traffic quickly and just hold better lines than everyone else.

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03/17/07
Photos: Scions at play

Celebrity Drivers

Kelly Hu
George Lucas
Dave Mirra
Kathryn Morris
Joshua Morrow
Martina Navratilova
Emily Procter
Robin Quivers
John Salley
Aisha Tyler
Kendra Wilkinson

Pro Drivers

Todd Bodine
Scott Kelley
Bucky Lasek
RJ Romero
Mike Skinner

Charity Auction Winners

Annamarie Dean
Jerry Westlund

FastLane Instructors

Danny McKeever