Ross Bentley Speed Secrets news 2010-01-28

Bentley Has a Season to Remember;
Coached Wide Variety of Winning Drivers

SURREY, B.C, Canada, Jan. 28 - Regardless of what form of motorsports they compete in, drivers who want to step up their game in 2010 would do well to check out Ross Bentley's Speed Secrets Driver Development Services.

Last year Bentley coached drivers who won races sanctioned by NASCAR, the Indy Racing League, the ALMS, AMA motorcycle racing and AHDRA Top Fuel drag racing.

The list of racers and their accomplishments in 2009 is impressive:

* Colin Braun - Michigan NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race winner; five pole positions.

* Daniel Herrington - Chicago Firestone Indy Lights race winner.

* Gruppe Orange - Lime Rock ALMS Challenge race winner.

* Joe Kopp - Daytona and Grove City AMA Flat Track race winner.

* Taylor Knapp - Virginia International Raceway AMA Sportbike superpole winner.

* Steve Dorn - AHDRA Top Fuel champion (with two victories).

* Team Seattle - Ninth place finish in 24 Hours of Le Mans with three rookie drivers (Patrick Dempsey, Joe Foster and Don Kitch).

Bentley also watched drivers that he's coached and mentored in the past achieve great results, such as Jonathon Summerton (runner-up in Atlantics); Team USA Scholarship winner Brett Smrz, or Caelin Gabriel, a middle-aged businessman who took up racing less than five years ago yet won the ICSCC Pro 3 championship in 2009.

"I really enjoy the variety; it's great that I get to work with racers from so many different racing disciplines," said Bentley. "What I learn in each situation helps my coaching be more effective in all areas of my business."

It's also made for some busy weekends with lots of long-distance calls.

While coaching the Team Seattle drivers at Le Mans he received a text message telling him that Colin Braun had won his first NASCAR race at Michigan. Within seconds he was talking with Braun (who has been coached by Bentley since he was 13) while the young Roush-Fenway driver was celebrating in victory lane. "Michigan and Le Mans... NASCAR and endurance racing... they never seemed so close as they did that weekend," Bentley said with pride.

In August Bentley was at Virginia International Raceway coaching Taylor Knapp to his first-ever AMA pole position and best finishing position (fourth). In between sessions he talked with Joe Kopp as he prepared to compete in the AMA Flat Track race at Grove City, Ohio. Kopp not only won the race, but did so by what many believe was the biggest margin in the history of flat track motorcycle racing.

"Joe has been working to take his racing to an all-new level - something pretty darn impressive for someone his age [39] - and he certainly did that that weekend," Bentley said. "He dominated the race, and that's a testament to the commitment he's put into the program I've had him on for the past two years."

The 2009 season demonstrates the versatility of Bentley's and Speed Secrets' coaching approach. Amateurs, professionals, oval racers, road racers, drag racers, sprint racing, endurance racing, cars, motorcycles, NASCAR, open-wheel; young drivers, old drivers....the only thing they had in common is they won in 2009 after being coached by Ross Bentley.

Information on Ross Bentley and Speed Secrets Driver Development Services may be obtained through the company's Web site at speedsecrets.com. One-on-one coaching and seminars are available that elaborate on the ideas presented in Bentley's groundbreaking driver development Speed Secrets books.

-source: restart communications