There comes a time in an athlete's career when he or she replaces
active participation with different aspects of professional life. The
stick-and-ball player, once he hangs up his uniform, may move into
broadcasting, business or coaching. The last of these options is not as
common among race drivers.
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Ross Bentley. Photo by Uncredited.
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During a career that spanned more than two decades, while competing
in Indy cars and sportscars, coaching became an interest for Canadian
Ross Bentley. Bentley pursued driver coaching after he was offered a
position as an instructor at a local driving school, and has parlayed
his expertise into a premier driver development program called Speed
Secrets.
The company coaches drivers in a number of different areas, not just in
how to hone their skills behind the wheel. Speed Secrets students also
learn the intricacies and nuances of the business side of the sport.
Among the items Bentley and his fellow Speed Secrets coaches address
are how to work with team members, how to sell themselves to potential
sponsors, how to develop good relationships with the media and how best
to prepare for advancement based on available opportunities.
Bentley discusses how he gained interest in the unique science of driver
coaching. "To go way back, I was offered a job as an instructor to
support my own racing, like a lot of race drivers," Bentley recalls.
"When I was racing in Indy cars, I got used to the sports psychology
side of driving, and it made a big difference in my driving, and then
into sportscars. As I started to do that, I found that next to driving a
car the coolest thing in the world is coaching someone else."
"I'm as excited about coaching as I am about driving. It's not quite as
good as driving a race car, but it's really close. So I started studying
the art of coaching, sports psychology, the whole study of how our
brains work, human performance and the like. For me, it's more than just
something to do when I am not driving a car."
"We started Speed Secrets to provide the very best coaching available
to any driver. The whole concept was to replicate myself -- not just
as an underemployed race driver, but as professional coaches who had
gone through training and learned the science behind it as well. One
of the things that we do more than other coaches, we will work on more
than just the line and technique. We teach how to interact with the team
(and) media people, the right program for fitness, and how (the driver)
looks after himself, whether it's a professional or an amateur, as young
as 13 and as old as into their 70s."
Drivers who have gone through Speed Secrets have often seen marked
improvements in their careers, not only from a driving perspective but
in other aspects. The coaches offer their support and keys for success
but in the end it is the driver's job and responsibility to take that
and build from it, according to Bentley. "The easy answer is we've never
worked with a driver we haven't made huge improvements with," Bentley
observes. "A lot of it comes down to work; we can give them the tools
and the info, the knowledge and strategies. But in the end the driver
has to do all the work."
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Ross Bentley. Photo by Uncredited.
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"I worked with a driver last year who was 66 and (had) only taken it up
a year before, and worked with him for a few races. He was in the top
half of the field after that. He was almost in tears he was so excited,
because racing was his life, and now he was becoming competitive."
Bentley stresses how being a race driver requires a business plan
for how to accomplish all the driver wants based on the available
opportunities. "To make a career as a race driver, not only do you need
to be technically savvy, a great team builder, great on the marketing-PR
side, but you have to know how to manage your career," Bentley says.
"The driver needs to be very entrepreneurial. You wouldn't start a
business without a business plan, but as a driver you are a business. We
basically help them put it together, but things will change throughout
a driver's career. What was good two years ago might not still be
around today. It's how to best take advantage of the opportunity as
well as developing the driver off the track." Bentley brings this into
Speed Secrets' unique career-planning program, which gives drivers the
opportunity to work with the program's coaches and examine potential
series down the road.
Bentley mentioned Colin Braun, Adrian Carrio, Liam Kenney, Carl
Skerlong and Sean Macintosh among some of his notable proteges. Bentley
has worked with Braun since the Texan was 13, and raves about his
dedication. "He's probably the hardest-working driver I've ever had. He
took every single nuance, every little word, every detail and expanded
on it."
Carrio and Kenney also offer conclusive testimonies about how Speed
Secrets has helped their careers to this point. "It's been a great
experience working with Gord (Bentley, Ross's brother and fellow coach)
and the whole Speed Secrets team. They watch out for everything you
do on and off the track and they're very thorough about it and it has
improved me as a driver," Kenney says. "They improved the mental,
physical and the business side of things," Carrio adds. "Ross went on
board with me at Fontana in Formula Renault 1600 and helped quite a bit,
and definitely broadened my horizons."
Bentley's experience came in handy when he was called upon to be
the mentor and co-driver to a trio of sixteen-year-olds at the 2005
Rolex 24 at Daytona, working with Braun, Carrio and Brad Coleman. The
much-publicized TRG "Team 16" effort saw Bentley and the three teens
drive an outstanding race, finishing 17th overall and seventh in class.
"It was a combination of factors. I'd worked a bunch with Colin and
somewhat with Adrian; but to be honest, it was the three dads that
started talking and thought it would be good to have someone mentor the
drivers," Bentley reflects.
"It was one of the most rewarding experiences in my life. Before the
start of the race, there were even some rumors in the garage. People
were betting whether they would use their headlights. The three of them
drove a perfect 24-hour race. If there were no mechanical issues. We
would have been on the podium for sure. Considering it was the first
time they ever got into a Porsche, (they) had never used a right foot
brake or clutch, or (done) pit stops, it was a real steep learning
curve. But they did a fantastic job."
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#84 Farnbacher Loles Porsche GT3 Cup: Ross Bentley, Don Kitch Jr., Steve Miller, Chris Pallis. Photo by Eric Gilbert.
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Bentley's plans for 2008 called for him to participate, once again, in
the Rolex 24 at Daytona, an event he has previously won. Bentley raced
for the Farnbacher Loles racing team in partnership with Team Seattle in
the GT class, a unique agreement which saw each of the seven FLR Porsche
GT3 cars raising money for the Seattle Children's Hospital. Team Seattle
has run the Rolex the last 12 years but this year was the effort's swan
song. "The goal this year for Team Seattle is to raise enough pledges
at $1000 a lap," Bentley says. "Every single lap we do is great; racing
can be selfish but when you add this component it makes it much more
rewarding." This year's Rolex netted the charity $439,000 among all
seven cars.
And next up for Speed Secrets is an Inner Speed Secrets day-long
workshop, to be held March 10 at Sebring, before the 12-hour enduro.
"This is a day-long seminar on how to use your brains to be a better
race driver," Bentley says. "There is one on March 10 at Sebring. It's
a program where I started working with Colin (Braun), (Sean) Macintosh,
etc. They started out with one of our Inner Speed Secrets workshops."
"Most drivers will spend hours and lots of money about line and
technique, but the one thing that has the most impact is their time,"
says Bentley, "and this is the most valuable investment that can help
them the rest of their racing careers." It is apparent from his devotion
to seeing the next generation of drivers succeed, Ross Bentley has
maximized his time with Speed Secrets.
