RACING FOR EVERYONE.(Revs)(services of Mario Andretti Racing School)

Byline: MARK VAUGHN

The Mario Andretti Racing School (formerly CART 101) has taken one of the most difficult and potentially dangerous sports on earth and made it accessible to the average schmoe.

This is both good and bad.

If you are looking for heel-and-toe shifting, 18,000-rpm redlines, Tilton racing clutches and methanol fuel, you will be disappointed. The Andretti experience is not meant as a replacement for the Derek Daly, Jim Russell, Bob Bondurant models of driving schools. If you're looking for that, call Derek, Jim, Bob, or one of the other myriad driving schools. Rather, the Andretti school is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for the average race fan to get a taste of what his or her oval-track heroes experience.

We drove in the Andretti school at both California Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Mario himself showed up at Las Vegas.

"This is something very affordable, very quick,'' said the man whose name is on the sign. "This is fun!''

And the experience has been made fairly safe. Instead of race tires that get slippery when they're cold, these cars, though wide-tired, use more of a street compound. Instead of a manual gearbox and racing ...