When Two for the Road faces the LAW

May 19, 2009
Scottsdale Arizona

Every once in a while one gets and opportunity to meet someone that is completely thrilled with what they do in life and Cathy and I met one of those very special people today at our May Phoenix Automotive Press Association meeting. His name is Darren Law and if you’re even remotely familiar with endurance racing, you know of whom I speak. Darren is one of those rare people that knew what he wanted to do from early childhood, and then set out paying his dues to become on of the top drivers in the world. Darren began racing karts at age 11 and after winning several championships he worked his way into full-fledged racing where he continued and continues his winning ways.

It’s important for me to point out here that while doing what Darren and other professional race car drivers do is thrilling and exciting and a serious adrenalin rush, it doesn’t come without years of paying dues to learn the skills required to handle unbelievably powerful machines running at speeds over 150 miles an hour, screaming in and out of hair pin turns during 6, 8 and 24 hour endurance races; races that many times, after all those hours at top speeds, are won by mere seconds.

I’ve had the immense pleasure of spending time behind the wheel of very fast cars on the track at Bondurant and what I learned was that after 20 or 25 laps at speeds that honestly, a professional would chuckle at, I was exhausted from the stress and focus required to try and hit apexes to get in and out of turns at just the right point to maximize speed. It’s impossible to explain just how much focus and concentration it takes to hit those points at just the right moments and at just the right speed. Learning the art of heel-toeing, down-shifting, trail braking and squeezing the accelerator and up-shifting at exactly the right moment takes thousands of miles worth of racing at top speeds to master. It is simply stated an amazing feat. After winning the 2008 American Le Mans series GT2 championship, Darren and the team are off to his first 24 hours of Le Mans which needless to say he’s just a tad excited about.

We also had an opportunity to spend some time with the man that helped give Darren his start in endurance racing and that would be racing legend Bob Bondurant. Bob is recognized internationally as the go to guy on advanced driver training. For over 40 years the Bondurant school has trained over 85,000 students ranging from little old me, to race car drivers throughout the world. He’s also trained celebrities the likes of Paul Newman and Tom Cruise as well as teenagers, police officers and professional drivers. The school is world renowned and I can testify to just how important the skills I learned are. I always considered myself a very good driver until... I took the highway safety course at Bondurant. The things I learned during the course without a doubt make me a better, safer driver and oh by the way, I’d been driving for well over 40 years before I took the course. So if you have a teenager driving, check out the courses offered for teens. You'll more than likely find that you'll want to take it with your teenager.


You can find out a whole lot more about Darren at; http://www.darrenlaw.com/.
Find out more about Bob Bondurant at; http://www.bondurant.com/

Woody Car Show Benefits Vicki’s Cure

May 15, 2009
By: Cathy D and Bill Z

Retired firefighter Jerry Witt of Phoenix, Arizona has been battling fires and making our city a safe place to live for most of his life. However, his real battle was the one he shared with his beautiful wife Vicki Witt since l972.

Witt’s wife Vicki suffered from NF1, a tumor disorder that occurs in one out of every 3,000 births. Vicki’s wish was to make awareness of this disorder and raise funds for research and clinics, as well as assisting other family members whose loved ones suffer from the disorder. This was her dream, and the Witt family is making it come true through the Children’s Tumor Foundation and the Arizona chapter, Vicki’s Cure.

On May l5th, Jerry Witt and his sons along with Sanderson Ford and KOOL radio raised money to bring awareness to this disorder and show off some of the classic Woody automobiles in Arizona. Jerry is the president of the Woody’s Car Clubs of America, and his gorgeous ‘46 Mercury was a prize possession of his and his wife Vicki. They drove their Merc everywhere and had fun wherever they went.

As Jerry emerges as an advocate for the Children’s Tumor Foundation and travels all over to raise funds and speak on behalf of Vicki’s Cure, he shared his story briefly at the Sanderson Ford Woody Event. Along with David Kimmerle, the owner of Sanderson Ford and Tom Peake from KOOL radio, Wally Cahill of Motorsports Mania the KOOL oldies band and a gift from Hawaiian Airlines over one thousand dollars was raised.

For more information on Vicki’s Cure, NF1, Jerry, Vicki and their family, go to http://www.vickiscure.org/. You can also donate to this cause on the website.

Jerry Witt and Dave Kimmerle in front of Jerry's
'46 Merc Woody. Jerry will be on Interviewed
on Two for the Road USA in June.

DID YOU KNOW - By Julia Droz

To understand why Ford built woody’s in the first place, you must understand the peculiar nature of Henry Ford. He believed that his company should be completely self-sufficient, from mining ore and operating rubber plantations to growing maple, birch, gum, and basswood for Model T floorboards and body frames. In its quest for self-sufficiency, Ford Motor Company bought vast forest reserves on the rugged Upper Michigan Peninsula some 500 miles northwest of Detroit, and constructed a plant there, at Iron Mountain, in 1920. Ford grew its own trees, cut its own timber, ran its own sawmill, and cut and formed its own wooden body parts. But no matter how many Tin Lizzies the assembly lines turned out, they never seemed to exhaust the company's forests. Typically, Henry wasted nothing: even sawdust and leftover wood pieces were turned into Ford Charcoal Briquettes. It was almost inevitable that the Iron Mountain operation would be tapped for production of wood station wagon bodies.

Welcome to Julia’s Garage both inside and out!