Instructor Training with Hooked on Driving and NASA

It’s been a while since my last article and you might be wondering what’s going on over here. Mostly I’ve been doing non-aero experiments based on driver mod, rather than car mod. I’ll report back on that when I have some reliable data, but the spring weather (rain) has made data gathering difficult.

As part of this driver mod theme, the last couple weeks I’ve volunteered as a mentor to do instructor training with NASA and Hooked on Driving. The programs are a little different, but the mentoring part is quite similar, and quite a lot of fun.

National Auto Sport Association Northeast

Last week Ed Cangialosi of NASA Northeast sent out a plea for additional mentors to help with their instructor training event at NJMP Lightning. My wife was out of town, so I heeded the call. This wasn’t entirely out of generosity, as I always learn some nugget from my student or other coaches.

The trip down to Millville is 275 miles, and I averaged 32 mpg in my Veloster N. It occurred to me that I burn more gas in two 20-minute track sessions at Watkins Glen than I do driving all the way to NJMP. Wild.

The NJMP instructor training is designed to get new instructors into the game. I don’t believe any of the students have instructed before, and so this is to simply gain provisional instructor status. And NASA needs a lot of instructors, partly because of Toyota’s GR program. If you buy a new GR86, GR Corolla, or GR Supra, you get a free NASA track day. This puts a lot of pressure on the already oversold novice group, and so many more instructors are needed.

I applaud Toyota for having a program like this, but “Oh What a Feeling!” it would be if they could build some track-ready cars! The Subaru engines in the GR86s are well known for their oil pan problems, and Toyota is well known for not warrantying them. So why do they give away a track day for a car that can un-warranty itself on track? The GR Corolla has a more reliable engine, but it’s also known to overheat its rear diff, thereby becoming a front-wheel drive car after a few hot laps. I guess the GR Supra is the car to have then, but the one GR Supra student I instructed had already done a 550 hp Stage 2 tune before his first track day, and while I’m not going to paint all the Supra owners with the same brush, I have seen more than a few novices with modified Supras.

But to get back to the point of this post, to become a NASA instructor, there’s some pre-work you must do, and then take the in-person class. During the class the chief instructor hits the high points in a lecture format, but most of the education is hands-on with mentors.

As a mentor, my role is to drive the car as a student would, play-acting three types of student. The instructor candidate (my student, as it were) sits in the right seat and coaches me through some typical personality types.

• Novice, timid – The first type of novice is what we refer to as a never-never, as they’ve never been on track before. They don’t know the limits of their car, they don’t know the jargon, and may not even know how to buckle their helmet.
• Novice, aggressive – The next type of novice has more confidence than skill. They have strong inputs that engage the car’s stability and traction control systems, and they don’t listen to you. This is a deadly combination the instructor needs to control.
• Novice, skilled – This driver has been to a couple track days and has the skills and jargon down. They need more refined instruction, and might be ready to advance to the solo group if they have awareness and play well with others.

Hooked on Driving MSF Level 2

The Motorsport Safety Foundation is a national organization that seeks to formalize the requirements for different levels of instructors, by establishing a path of continuing education, and providing a formal record of achievement for HPDE instructors.

Unlike the NASA training, MSF Level 2 assumes the student has done some instructing before, and passing this course means you earn more than a provisional status; MSF2 means you can instruct with any group that recognizes these credentials. And that is a lot of HPDE groups nationwide, and so earning your MSF2 is a pretty big deal.

For that reason, the training is more intense. There’s a full day of classroom, with slides, discussion, and poignant stories from the trenches. Added to that, you also have six sessions on track with a mentor, who now plays six different roles, not just the three with NASA.

Hooked on Driving did their training at Pocono North, which if I’m being brutally honest, isn’t a great track. The transitions from the banking to the infield are abrupt, and lowered track cars with splitters will absolutely hit bottom here. The banking is fast, the infield is slow, and there’s not enough variation to get anything more than a low grade from this sourpuss.

Anyway, I wasn’t there to drive the track, I was there to instruct two students. I started the day with one student, and then half way through the day, switched students with another mentor. This is something HoD does, and I love it. Not only does the instructor candidate get two different coaches, but there’s less chance of favoritism when it comes time to pass or fail the student.

Not every student passes, and it’s difficult to be the mentor that fails their student. In fact I didn’t pass mine, I asked that he work with HoD a few more times and get more mentoring before he gets his MSF2 badge. I know he’s going to be a good coach, but that level of certification has to mean something, and my guy was close, but not quite over the bar.

Play acting

I come from a family of actors. My dad was an amateur actor his whole life, and my sister Mia Korf (IMDB) was on soap operas and other stuff. So maybe it comes naturally to me to act out the characters, and so I do some pretty funny shit in the car. I’m still laughing about it now.

• When the instructor says “open the wheel” I take both hands off the wheel.
• At times I won’t listen to anything the instructor says. I’ll shut down and say nothing when they ask me questions.
• I’ll shift to 2nd and 3rd and back to 2nd in the middle of a corner.
• I leave my hand on the shifter the whole time.
• I steer with one hand on the wheel. Or I’ll shuffle steer, and then justify it by saying that’s what Randy Pobst does.
• I hide my phone under my left leg and time my laps.
• I leave things in the car that rattle around, usually under the passenger seat.
• I intentionally drive off the track and into the grass at least once. Sometimes twice.

There are other things I do, but they don’t come out of left field. I make sure I’m in character during the pre-drive interview, and even while waiting on the grid. “Oh, that’s Mikey ahead of us, he says he’s going to do a 1:20, so we’re going to do a 1:19.” If you hear that shit, we’re going flat out.

Advice

Get your MSF Level 1 or sign up with NASA and become a provisional instructor. I started my journey with Chin Track Days, but there are many organizations that will let you instruct with them, and then mentor you along the way.

As an instructor, you’ll start seeing patterns and learn to anticipate your student. The most common safety issue I see in novice drivers is that they don’t brake hard enough. Many are afraid to engage the ABS, and so they carry 30% brake pressure all the way into the corner, and beyond. If you’re a new instructor, get the students to engage the ABS as early in the day as you can. Once the student realizes they can’t break the car by braking, they’ll achieve a necessary level of confidence that both of you will benefit from.

Another thing I do with most students is to stop them from shifting altogether. If it’s possible, run the entire track in one gear, as tall as possible. This one change can keep a hot-head under control, and can later be used with intermediate drivers to make them corner faster.

The one thing I disagree with in HPDE curriculums is to “drive the racing line.” But because I’m there to instruct under their umbrella, I abide by their rules. Mostly. The one subtle rebellion I have is that I don’t make students steer to the track-out cone. I just don’t see the purpose of adding distance for no reason. Instead, I get them to gradually add more and more throttle, and eventually we find the corner exit as a natural course of action. Now the racing line becomes a result of inputs, not a goal in and of itself.

The most common problem I see with new instructors is they provide too much information. For example a recent instructor candidate told me to “get on the brakes early to load up the front tires so that you gain more traction for turning in.” I mean, yes that’s true, but that’s a conversation for the parking lot. Instead, tell the driver to make an input based on a reference. My version of his directions was “Brake at the bridge.”

Becoming an instructor has many benefits, not the least of which is free track time. But you’ll also find the rare student that suddenly “gets it,” and the pride is felt equally in both seats when that happens. Believe me, this is as rewarding as setting a personal best lap. Through this journey you’ll also become a better driver yourself. Because, as the saying goes, “You never really know something until you teach it.”