GRADUATION DAYS OF THUNDER; NASCAR upstarts get road-racing pointers from the pros.(Motorsports)

Byline: TOM TRACE

Dale Earnhardt Inc. is trying to stay a step ahead of the competition. With the 2005 racing season rapidly approaching and a new road race in Mexico City slated for the NASCAR Busch Series schedule, DEI recently enrolled members of its driver development program into the Advanced Road Racing two-day session at the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving near Phoenix. The goal was to sharpen the drivers' road-race skills under the supervision of some serious road-course masters.

The students included Shane Hmiel, who has shown great promise since joining the Busch Series at the end of 2001, and Ryan Moore, a 21-year-old upstart who only recently signed with DEI after earning Busch North Series rookie-of-the-year honors in 2003. Driver Paul Menard, another DEI hopeful, was also on hand for a day of instruction.

To help accelerate the learning curve, GM Racing called upon veteran Corvette driver Ron Fellows. Fellows' role was to assist Bondurant's expert team in teaching advanced road-racing skills to the DEI drivers in both the classroom and on the track.

"These guys are quick learners and definitely aren't afraid to go fast,'' said Fellows. "In fact, we've told them to slow down and concentrate on being as smooth as possible. Be smooth, and the fast part will follow.

"It's mainly a matter of patience, practice and being able to carry out some tricky techniques that are quite different from those used in oval-track racing,'' Fellows added.

Heel-toe shifting was clear-ly the most challenging technique for the students to master. They readily admitted the method seemed basic when it was explained in the classroom, but that when it came time to drive, it was difficult to execute.