Ross Bentley

“I love helping drivers & instructors like you perform even better.”

“What drives me? What am I passionate about? Helping others perform better. Whether you’re an elite-level professional race driver, a car club DE or track-day driver, a club racer, motorcycle racer, drifter, rally driver, road racer, oval racer, or you come from any walk of life, I love to help.

“I’ve driven and raced a lot of cars through the years. When I was a kid, my dream was to race Indy cars. While I never raced a well-funded Indy car, through a lot of hard work, sacrifice, and commitment to learning to be better, I did achieve my goal. And I learned a ton from racing with the likes of Michael Andretti, Al Unser Jr., Nigel Mansell, Rick Mears, Bobby Rahal, Jimmy Vasser, Paul Tracy, and Emerson Fittipaldi. Okay, I didn’t win against those guys, but I observed things that very few have a had a chance to, just by being there. I learned lessons that could only have been learned by being there.

“Those few years of struggling to get results in a couple-of-generations-old Indy car taught me a lot:

  • How to get the best performance out of myself through the use of my mind.
  • What works and what doesn’t work in the world of motorsport sponsorship/marketing.
  • How to get the best out of the people around me, especially my team.
  • What a driver needs to do to get the very last ounce out of a car.

“My time in Indy cars led to being hired to drive sports cars. I drove some of the coolest prototype and GT sports cars, like the Ferrari 333SP and the factory BMW M3. I won the 1998 United State Road Racing Championship (the precursor to Grand-Am), and the 2003 Daytona 24-Hour race in SRP-II. And yes, I was getting paid to drive race cars!

“Writing about driving has become a passion of mine. I learn so much from it. Having an experience as a driver or a coach, then trying to figure out how to explain things in writing has been enlightening. Whether it’s my Speed Secrets books, a driving tip article, or in Speed Secrets Weekly, I enjoy the challenge of finding the right way to put into words what we so often feel through the seat of our pants.

“Everyone has their sweet spot – what they do best. Mine is coaching. And it doesn’t matter whether I’m working with a brand-new driver just starting out, a professional, a young teen looking to make a career in racing, or someone just taking up the sport late in life. All that matters to me is that the driver is open to learning.

“If I can’t be at the track coaching or driving, I like to be talking about driving. The common denominator is that it’s all about learning to drive or instruct better. Getting together with other people who have a passion for driving, conducting seminars and workshops, or presenting a keynote talk – that’s fun. And I guess I must be okay at it because people and groups keep asking me back.

“I’m a pretty lucky guy to have found my passion, and be able to share with others what I do best.”

– Ross Bentley

“Ross Bentley is an outstanding speaker because of his easy-going presentation style. With his experience, he relates very well to the audience regardless of their previous background. And when he shares some of his ‘speed secrets,’ they seem so simple, and yet I find myself asking, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ I look forward to having him speak at another of our seminars in the future.”

Andy Collins

Armadillo Racing

“We had a great time being coached by Ross. His approach is exactly as I expected. I wanted somebody who can give Robin the proper tools for his racing career not just showing the racing line around a track and Ross is definitely the right coach for this. It would be excellent if he could test a Champ Car Atlantic car with Ross coaching…”

Renaldi Hutasoit

Manager for driver Robin Tato, Asian Formula Renault