the Bob Bondurant School has filed for bankruptcy, the Skip Barber Racing School filed for bankruptcy in May of 2017

In a difficult yet important step towards becoming a stronger company, Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, Inc. filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona on October 2, 2018. We will continue operating and serving our students and corporate groups as usual while we develop new business relationships to ensure the vitality of the Company in the future. For over 50 years, Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving has been a fixture in Arizona and renowned nationally and internationally in the world of racing, thanks to our loyal students, dedicated employees, and the Gila River Indian Community. The Chapter 11 ensures we will have sufficient time to reorganize and position the Company for sustained success. Our plan is to emerge from this process as a stronger company and continue to drive this Company into the next 50 years.

Though the school has operated for 50 years... yeah, wow... it's so far in debt 1-10 million vs income, I doubt chapter 11 is going to save it.


According to the Phoenix Business Journal and Jalopnik, the school owes between $1 million and $10 million dollars to between 50 and 100 creditors. They have about the same amount of money in assets.

Between between 50 and 100 creditors? That's a company that isn't paying their bills.

The school itself was started at Riverside International Raceway by Carroll Shelby in about 1961 as the Shelby School of High Performance Driving. Shelby hired Pete Brock to manage it and Bob Bondurant became one of the driving instructors.

The school officially became the Bondurant School in 1968

The list of big-name professional racers who have studied under Bondurant is staggering:
Tony Stewart,
Jimmie Johnson,
Jeff Gordon,
Rick Mears,
Kurt Busch,
Bill Elliott
Dale Earnhardt Jr.,
Dick Trickle,
Jimmie Johnson, assorted Waltrips and Wallaces and a couple of Gordons (Jeff and Robby),
Tony Stewart,
Kenny Bernstein,
Ron Fellows,
Scott Pruett,
Ivan Stewart,
Gary Gabelich,
Al Unser Jr.,
Chip Ganassi,
Lyn St. James

Bondurant's students have ranged from teenagers to treasury agents, from motorsports enthusiasts to motorsports superstars. The school trains chauffeurs in executive-protection techniques and commuters in surviving daily traffic. There is customized instruction for corporate customers, and a 200-vehicle fleet includes go-karts to Corvettes.

Over the years the school has been at Orange County International Raceway, Ontario Motor Speedway, Sears Point and, since 1990, at its current location, a purpose-built facility adjacent to Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, just south of Phoenix.

Located in the suburbs of Phoenix, the Bondurant School has a three-mile track and is the world’s largest high-performance driver-training facility, which is on a large parcel of land near Wild Horse Hotel and Casino.

For now Bondurant will operate as usual without any interruption to its classes, including customers who receive complimentary training after buying new Dodge SRT, Jeep SRT, and Fiat Abarth models.

The Ron Fellows Perf Driving School is still going strong, focusing on Corvettes   https://www.springmountainmotorsports.com/   at Spring Mountain, an hour north of Vegas

Roy Hill's drag racing school, also at 50 years, still in business https://royhilldragracingschool.com/

https://bondurant.com/bondurant-files-for-chapter-protection/
https://jalopnik.com/the-bob-bondurant-school-of-high-performance-driving-fi-1829509663
https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2018/10/03/bob-bondurant-school-of-high-performance-driving.html
https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1119149_bob-bondurant-driving-school-files-for-bankruptcy-protection
https://www.thegentlemanracer.com/2013/04/lost-california-shelby-school-of-high.html
https://autoweek.com/article/car-life/bondurant-school-bankrupt
http://www.thedrive.com/news/24023/world-famous-bondurant-racing-school-files-for-bankruptcy
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/bondurant-racing-school-bankrupt