The Skip Barber Racing School is one of the largest racing schools in the world. It conducted racing schools, defensive and high-performance driving schools, amateur and professional racing championships and corporate entertainment schools. Skip Barber started the school in 1975 with two borrowed Formula Ford race cars and four students and at one time trained more motorsports winners and champions than any other organization of its kind. Skip Barber alumni race and win in every major event and championship, from NASCAR's Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series to Formula One, the Indy 500, American Le Mans, and the IndyCar Series. Since 1983, the Skip Barber Racing School has trained over one-third of all Indy 500 competitors and one-quarter of the NASCAR Sprint Cup competitors. Skip Barber Racing alumni have won every major U.S. auto racing championship.
Overview
Since 1975, Skip Barber Racing School has operated a fully integrated system of racing schools, driving schools, racing championships, corporate events and OEM events across North America, teaching emergency braking, skid and slide control, proper cornering techniques, an understanding of vehicle dynamics, and a variety of other car-control skills.
History
In 1975, with two borrowed Lola Formula Fords and four eager students, Skip Barber started the Skip Barber School of High Performance Driving. In 1976, it was renamed the Skip Barber Racing School and that same year, he created the Skip Barber Race Series. Within a decade of its founding, Skip Barber Racing became the largest racing and driving school in the world. Despite selling the school in 1999 and having no connections with it, Barber remains active in motorsports today as the owner and operator of Lime Rock Park, the famous road racing venue in the northwest hills of Connecticut. He lives in the nearby town of Sharon, with wife Judy. On May 9, 2011, the racing school announced it would move its corporate headquarters to its Road Atlanta facility in Braselton, Georgia. On May 22, 2017, the school filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. On December 19, 2017, Skip Barber Racing School was acquired by DeMonte Motorsports, a successful race school operator based out of the Northeast. Current owner Anthony DeMonte is a former NASCAR driver and also the current owner of the auto body shop, DeMonte motorsports on Long Island. Anthony is a retired city police officer and now also works for a computer software company. Anthony lives at home with his two children and wife.
In "The Chinese Woman", "The Jimmy", "The Wig Master", “The Summer of George”, and "The Voice" episodes of Seinfeld, a magnet for the school is displayed on Jerry's refrigerator. Skip Barber Racing School is featured in the children's educational TV showReal Wheels episode There Goes A Race Car.
