About the Clinics

The Thunderhill Raceway Car Control Clinic gives students real-world, hands-on experience behind the wheel of their own cars. Thunderhill Raceway’s Teen Car Control Clinic is in cooperation with the California Highway Patrol. Although the course is targeted towards the teen driver, all ages and experience levels are welcome to participate.

Drivers schools do a great job of teaching the rules of the road, but they don’t have access to the type of facility required to safely teach car control. Thunderhill Raceway Park’s expansive facility allows us to teach the skills required in an emergency. We see this as an important community service activity, as more teens are killed in accidents every year than by any other means.

2022 dates are November 25 and December 11.

Use the forms below to sign up. Download the form below, then scan and email the completed form to drivingclinic@thunderhill.com

Car Control Clinic Registration Form

Minor’s Release Form for Clinic

THE DAY:

The day begins with driver check in. We will provide you a DOT approved helmet if you already don’t have one. This is followed by a driver orientation meeting. The students are then divided into 4 different groups. Each group is sent to one of the 4 car control exercises. The students will go through each car control exercise twice.

SLALOM COURSE:

A slalom is a good way to introduce drivers to the feeling of lateral weight transfer. A slalom packs a lot of direction changes into a short distance; as the driver increases speed, the weight transfer will be more and more pronounced. The slalom is also employed to make drivers exceed lateral grip capabilities of their vehicles and observe resulting vehicle behavior.

EMERGENCY BRAKING/ BRAKE AND STEER:

Emergency braking means coming to a stop…fast. We have all been in situations where bringing the vehicle to an immediate stop is necessary to avoid a collision. Any hesitation could mean the difference between a near miss and a nasty crash. New drivers are typically not prepared for this type of braking. I cannot think of anything more important than teaching your teen how to brake out of dangerous situations. Your teen also needs to know how their car will behave while emergency braking. There are also situations in which you must brake and steer around an obstacle at the same time. The student will accelerate, emergency brake and while the car is under full braking, they will steer around the obstacle. It’s critical that the student understand that they can brake and steer at the same time with modern ABS equipped cars.

EMERGENCY LANE CHANGE:

Imagine that your teen is happily cruising down the interstate at 65mph with the music blasting. They don’t notice that they have crept up a little too close to the car in front of them. That car stops suddenly, by the time they see it, there isn’t enough space to stop in time. However, an alternative lane to the left or right is free. You need to execute an emergency lane change. This helpful technique teaches you to change lanes quickly and safely in the event of brake failure, a tire blowout, a sudden obstacle in the road, or other similar emergency.

SKID CONTROL:

Losing control of your car is a scary experience. Hitting the brakes or turning the wheel and not having the car respond as it should makes you feel helpless. But, simply hoping that your car will never skid is not the answer to feeling more in control. Understanding what makes your car skid and learning how to prevent it are the first steps. You must also learn how to steer out of skid. Finally, you must practice. You cannot hope that your teenager will be prepared to handle a skidding situation just by talking about it.

LUNCH:

We will only have 30 minutes for lunch. You may either bring your own or purchase one from the track café. There will not be enough time to run into town for lunch.

DISTRACTED DRIVING PRESENTATION:

Distracted driving is the primary cause of accidents on todays roads. The California Highway Patrol will go over techniques to prevent distracted driving as well as traffic stop etiquette just in case the student wasn’t paying complete attention to the message.

AFTERNOON SESSSIONS:

The students are once more divided into their respective groups. While one group is on track, the other 3 groups have the option of practicing their parallel parking and reversing safely.

TWO WHEELS OFF THE ROAD RECOVERY AND CAR DYNAMICS:

We move to the Thunderhill racetrack for these exercises. Each student is assigned an instructor that they will follow around the racetrack. Each student will receive two racetrack sessions. The track portion will allow the students to put two wheels off the paved surface of the track at 35mph and learn how to safely recover. The track sessions will also allow the students to experience vehicle dynamics, weight transfer, braking and accelerating on the twisty Thunderhill racetrack. The top speed limited to 55mph, but the student’s comfort level determines the actual speed at any point during the exercise.

PARALLEL PARKING AND REVERSING SAFELY:

Between track sessions, the students will be able to work on their parallel parking and reversing skills. Being able to drive in reverse is an extremely important skill. Many of us drive in reverse several times a day in crowded areas such as parking lots. For these exercises, we create an obstacle course using cones that the student must maneuver through. There is a good chance that you may reverse more times in a day than you parallel park in an entire month. But, for some reason, parents tend to become obsessed with teaching parallel parking. And we empathize completely. For many parents, parallel parking was their roadblock to passing the behind-the-wheel test. And yes, parallel parking is important.

GRADUATION CERTIFICATE:

Once you complete your second track session, you may return to the diver’s lounge, return your helmet and pick up your graduation certificate. At the end of the day, each student receives a certificate signed by the President of the raceway. You will also have enough time to head over to the raceway souvenir shop to get a t-shirt, hat or other item as a conversation starter with your friends about spending a day at Thunderhill Raceway Park and driving on their racetrack and skid pad!

REQUIREMENTS:

To participate you must have the following: A minimum of a signed Learners Permit. Your own street legal, registered and insured vehicle (cars, trucks and SUVs are allowed.) Using the vehicle that the student drives or will be driving in the future is highly recommended.

This course is valuable for anyone of any age, as car control can’t be practiced on the street and it’s always good to sharpen your skills. Having parents participate also sends a message as to the importance of these skills. However, each participant must have their own car. Cars cannot be shared between students.

We see the clinic as an important community service, so the cost is kept to a minimum. The fee for the entire day is only $129.00 per driver and car.

Thunderhill Raceway offers these Car Control Clinics because it’s our belief that we can make the streets safer for everyone, and at the same time, help save the lives of all drivers. It is our mission to help prevent as many avoidable accidents as possible!

For questions regarding our Car Control Clinics please email Drivingclinic@Thunderhill.com