Driven Radio Show #339: Mark Valentino of Radford Racing School
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Car
Ford Thunderbird
The Ford Thunderbird is an old car that was popular for being stylish and comfortable. It was made to be a luxury car, which means it was designed to look nice and feel good to drive.
Part
carburetor
A carburetor is a part of some engines that helps mix fuel and air so the engine can run. It's more common in older cars.
Term
CFM
CFM is a way to measure how much air a carburetor can move. More air generally means better performance for the engine, so it's an important number for tuning.
Part
mechanical fuel pump
A mechanical fuel pump helps move fuel from the tank to the engine so the car can run. It's usually found in older cars and is important for keeping the engine working properly.
Car
Chevrolet Express
The Chevrolet Express is a big van that can carry a lot of people or stuff. It's often used by businesses because it's reliable and has a lot of space inside.
Company
Iski Racing Cams
Iski Racing Cams makes special parts called camshafts that help engines perform better, especially in racing. The company has been around for a long time and is respected in the car community.
Term
cam grinding
Cam grinding is when a special part of the engine called a camshaft is shaped to help the engine run better. It's important for making cars faster, especially in races.
Term
Iski Cams
Iski Cams makes special parts for car engines that help them run better and faster. People who like to modify their cars often use these parts to improve performance.
Concept
classic car
A classic car is an older car that people often love because of its style and history. Many people like to fix them up and keep them in good shape.
Car
Chevrolet Corvette
The Chevrolet Corvette is a famous sports car from America that many people love for its speed and cool looks. It's been around for a long time and is often seen as a symbol of American automotive excellence.
Concept
Radford Motorsports Club
The Radford Motorsports Club is a place where car lovers can gather and participate in motorsport activities. It's like a country club, but for people who enjoy cars and racing.
Concept
Willow Springs
Willow Springs is a well-known racetrack in California where many races take place. It's important to motorsport fans because of its long history and variety of racing events.
Concept
Irwindale Speedway
Irwindale Speedway was a racetrack in California where many exciting races happened, including NASCAR. Its closing is sad for racing fans and the local community.
Concept
Mulsanne Strait
The Mulsanne Strait is a long, straight part of a racetrack in France where cars can go really fast. It's part of a famous race called the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Car
Ferrari Challenge
The Ferrari Challenge is a racing series where only Ferrari cars compete. It's for people who want to race and have fun with their Ferraris.
Car
NASCAR
NASCAR is a type of car racing that's very popular in the U.S. The cars used in NASCAR races are specially designed for speed and competition.
Car
Chevrolet Camaro
The Chevrolet Camaro is a sporty car that many people love for its speed and style. It's been around for a long time and is often seen as a classic American car.
Concept
Can-Am
Can-Am is a type of racing series that happened a long time ago, where very fast cars competed against each other. It was famous for having some of the most powerful cars ever built.
Term
1,100 horsepower
Horsepower is a way to measure how strong an engine is. A car with 1,100 horsepower is very powerful and can go really fast, which is important for racing.
Term
tech inspection
Tech inspection is a way to make sure a car is safe to drive on a racetrack. It checks things like brakes and tires to ensure everything is working properly before you hit the track.
Car
Chevrolet Corvette Stingray
The Chevrolet Corvette Stingray is a famous sports car from the 1960s. The 1965 version is known for its sleek look and strong engine, making it a favorite among car lovers.
Car
Dodge Challenger
The Dodge Challenger is a powerful car that looks like the classic muscle cars from the past. It's designed for speed and fun driving, making it a popular choice for people who enjoy a thrilling ride.
Car
Porsche
Porsche is a brand that makes sports cars, and older models used air to keep their engines cool instead of using water. This is a characteristic of classic Porsches.
Car
Dodge Custom
The Dodge Custom 880 is an older car that was made a long time ago. It's known for being big and comfortable, and people who like classic cars often find it interesting.
Car
Dodge Charger
The Dodge Charger is a big car that can fit a lot of people and stuff inside. It's known for being fast and powerful, which makes it exciting to drive.
Car
Porsche 914
The Porsche 914 is a small sports car made by Porsche in the early 1970s. It's known for its distinctive look and is popular among car enthusiasts for its fun driving experience.
Car
Alfa Romeo Stelvio
The Alfa Romeo Stelvio is a fancy SUV that looks really nice and drives well. It's designed to be both stylish and fun to drive, which makes it different from many other SUVs.
Car
AMC Eagle
The AMC Eagle is a car that was made by AMC, known for its unique design that mixed features of cars and SUVs. It was popular for its four-wheel drive capability.
Car
Porsche 911
The Porsche 911 is a famous sports car that many people admire for its speed and unique shape. It's been around for a long time and is known for being really fun to drive.
Car
Porsche 944
The Porsche 944 Turbo is a fast sports car made by Porsche. It has a turbocharged engine, which means it gets extra power to go faster, making it fun to drive.
Car
Mercury Mountaineer
The Mercury Mountaineer is a family-friendly SUV that has plenty of room for passengers and cargo. It's designed to be comfortable for long drives and everyday use.
Car
Nissan XTerra
The Nissan XTerra is a tough SUV that can handle rough roads and outdoor adventures. It's a good choice for people who like to go camping or explore nature.
LIVE
Hey, all you Gearheads and Carfeens, welcome to Driven Radio Show, your weekly automotive
happy hour.
I am Brett Hatfield, here with my co-host and motorcycle hunter extraordinaire, Mr.
Mark Groves.
To me, Mr. Salesman.
We are coming to you from the soon to be a whole lot warmer Driven Radio studios.
You see it was going to jump 20 degrees.
I don't even pay attention.
I avoid news right now and especially the weather.
Finally getting rid of all this snow.
No.
Yep.
Going away tomorrow, baby.
Oh.
Hot.
Damn.
I love it.
That's just...
Well, we need to get rid of all the snow and then we need two days of just drizzling
rain to get rid of all the sand and salt and garbage and then we can break out all the
fun stuff.
The cars and the motorcycles and possibly thunderbirds have you gotten it running?
No.
No, of course not.
What the hell?
It was an interesting, kind of a weird boo-boo yesterday which turned out great.
I saw on my phone, I was at work and had been doing a bunch of stuff, came back, quick
check on my phone, saw that Rick Hunter had called.
I'm like, oh.
Rick Hunter called you?
What's up with Rick?
Yeah, Rick Hunter.
And so I gave Rick a call back and I said, hey, Rick, how's it going?
What's going on?
He's like, ah, nothing, man.
What's going on?
Nothing, Rick.
What's going on?
You called me.
So I called.
Yeah.
And he's like, well, you called me.
And then we're like, I come to find out that apparently somebody, Mark G, called and one
of his people at Hot Rod Express said, hey, man, Mark G called, he's like, oh, that's
Mark Groves, which I love that he thought of me, but it wasn't me.
So, but he was like, hey, how's that T-Bird going?
So we had a quick chat because I've still been such a wuss about pulling the carb and
getting all that done.
And that's one of the great things about Rick Hunter at Hot Rod Express, by the way, because
the guy can talk to you and he makes you feel like, oh, crap, that's actually really doable,
isn't it?
Yeah.
Because, you know, I'm sitting here going, oh my God, I don't know my ass from a hole
in the ground.
And I'm going to screw up everything and it's just going to catch fire.
And he's like, no, no, you do this, no, no, no.
What kind of carb rear did you get?
Well, how much is CFM on that?
And we just had a quick but good chat.
And he gave you a five minute rundown that is a year's worth of banging around online.
And it just makes you feel capable, you know?
So I started looking into it.
Do I need to come to your house with wrenches this weekend?
Not wrenches.
I've got to order a couple extra parts because looking at it, come to find out this thing,
it's a 600 CFM carburetor, but it's got dual fuel inputs.
So you've got two fuel lines on it.
Yeah, two fuel lines.
So they create...
On a 600 CFM car?
That's what it says.
Usually that's for like a dominator or a demon or something.
Yeah.
I went and looked, I was going to try to do it on the cheap and it's just not going to
work.
I'm going to assume you haven't put a lot more effort into your motorcycle search.
You know, I save things, but I save them from Facebook.
You've got to get it done like soon because things are going to start going back up.
You know what?
If I have to wait another season, then I have to wait another season.
I'm cool with that.
I've got more money to put into the T-bird because I also am going to have to get a mechanical
fuel pump.
So the F-ing wipers will work.
Really?
Yeah, the guy who I bought it from, he neglected to tell me the wipers didn't work.
Oh, well, this is just like problem four of 173 we're going to find out.
But it's all steps that have to get done before I get it licensed.
Okay.
So...
Well, that's right.
Missouri actually inspects cars where Kansas really just kind of go, is your title okay?
Has it been stolen?
Are you insured?
You're good.
It hasn't been stolen a whole lot lately.
Okay, well, fine.
So I've got plenty to do.
I can help you with your bike search, sir.
You've shown me pretty pictures.
Yeah.
I finally caved in about a motorcycle table this week because they got so stinkin' cheap
at Harbor Freight, I couldn't pass it up.
Now, all of you who know the saga of Harbor Freight jack stands, I don't need mass e-mailings
and messages about, it's going to fall over on you.
You are going to die.
I don't jack it that far off the floor anyway.
I just sit there in an office chair next to it cleaning the bike.
The bike has got a fresh service on it, I found.
Service was done in August at...
Hey, there you go.
Service was done on it in August at the shop that I would take it to at Turkey Creek.
No kidding.
Yeah, and I trust those guys.
They do good work.
Shout out to Paul and Ben at Turkey Creek Cycles over in Leavenworth.
They did the three-hole service on it.
It's had all the fluids changed, so I just have to make sure that the oil is topped off.
Now, it has dribbled a pretty good puddle underneath it, but it hasn't been ridden in
months and months and months, so not surprised that the seals are a little dried up.
I think we need to top it back off, ride it around, top it back off, and just get everything
wet again so it'll stay put.
But the bike is slowly but surely coming around, I'm cleaning off years with a grease and dirt
and grime, and it's starting to look pretty good, and I'd sure love it if I had a home
for it before I was finished.
And I would love to turn you into a giant Harley weenie like the rest of us.
It could happen.
It could happen.
Well, and I have a price on it.
You're not going to be able to resist.
It'll be exactly what I've got in it.
Nice.
I appreciate that.
I got this thing right, so I would really like to find it a good home, and I think you
would be a good owner for it.
Now, is it in Bar's Leak Stop Leak?
Is that what you need to just dump into it to get it to stop?
No.
No, I'm going to put oil in it.
Is it doing sawdust?
No, I'm going to do none of the above.
I'm going to fill it with good old-fashioned Harley Davidson fluids, and I'm going to ride
it for a weekend.
I'll use that for my sole transportation to get all the seals wet and make sure everything
works and make sure everything's been adjusted properly, and then it will be ready for you.
Speaking of Hot Rod Express, Dad's truck that I showed you a video of just before we went
on is over at Hot Rod Express.
That was looking pretty sweet.
Yeah, Rick sent me a video a couple of days ago, and that truck didn't look that good
when it was new at Ford, and I think that Harley Davidson edition is going to turn out nice.
That black and silver looks great.
It looks so glossy.
Oh, nice.
So pretty, so very pretty.
So and that'll be a nice surprise for my father, who's been going through a lot of stuff with
with he and my mom and everything else.
So anyway, good news for you, Dad.
Your truck's coming.
It's coming, and it's pretty.
From Hagerty, we have a bit of sad news.
Speedparts innovator, entrepreneur, and hot rodding legend Ed Iskandarian passed away today.
We're recording this Wednesday, February 4th, five months short of his one hundred and
fifth birthday.
Dang, dude.
Well done.
And it's like our guest asked me, what do you die of?
Well, he dumped his Harley at Bike Week.
He's 105.
He smoked cigars his whole stinking life.
He got he milked all of it.
He was jumping 20 buses.
Yeah.
He got 19 of them.
Uh-huh.
You know, it's always that last bus.
A native Californian, Ed was mentored by Ed Winfield, who helped him start a can see
Afghan grinding business that would eventually snowball into one of the best known Speedparts
companies during Southern California's post-war racing boom.
Easy for me to say.
Iski Racing Cams, now run by his sons, his sons, hell his sons are probably in their
70s.
Can you imagine?
Yeah, maybe 80s.
Iski Racing Cams remains a powerhouse in the industry.
Iskandarian was involved in dry likes racing before serving in the U.S. Army Air Force
during World War II.
He returned from the Pacific to start the cam grinding business in Gardena, California in
between L.A. and Long Beach in 1947.
He and his wife, Alice, were married and remained together until her passing last year or 2024.
I still got myself in 2025.
So what a nice long marriage.
That's really impressive.
We're talking about an accomplishment.
Wow.
Well done, Ed.
Yeah.
Fantastic.
Anybody who's been a hot rod at any time in their life knows Iski Cams.
And so really amazing that he made it as long as he did.
Very sad to hear of his passing, but 104 is a hell of a ride.
That's a good run.
That's a good long time.
Our special guest this week is Mark Valentino, Radford Racing School Director of Business
Development.
Mark hails from a family of car fanatics.
He's spent more than 25 years in the commercial insurance biz.
Seven of those with Haggerty working with motorsports teams, racetracks and racing
events.
That background has built relationships with motorsports companies, teams and drivers.
Mark, welcome to Driven Radio.
Thank you very much, gentlemen.
Mark, when did you know you were a car guy?
Well, when do we all know?
I guess my first love about cars is when I was a little kid, let's go all the way back.
I would get, you know, for birthdays or Christmas, little toy model cars.
And I was always one that would just take one model and blend it into another model
and create something new.
And I was hot rotting things all the way back then with plastic models.
And I grew up back in New York and there were some great old racetracks back there.
Bridge Hampton was still open.
There was a drag strip out on the east end of Long Island that we'd go to and see the
great ones, the great racers and drivers.
So I've always had the the bug to follow racing and motorsports and cars.
So really, I'd have to say probably four or five years old.
When did when do we all know?
I knew when my dad kept yelling at me, quit touching that you'll get grease on it.
Yeah, I think we've all held the the the wrench or the flashlight for our dads
in the garage and, you know, don't this is what I'm working on.
So it's my first apprenticeship when you're dead.
Hold it still. Hold it steady.
The lights over here, young man.
So what I assume your dad was an early influence.
Yeah, he was. He was a vet guy.
He would buy, you know, he would go through cars.
You know, we he was a smoker.
So we would say they actually would fill up in the car and be for sale.
So he had, you know, poor vets and, you know, he dabbled in a number of different
cars and sports cars had a Porsche had a Thunderbird.
So he's gone through all those things.
The great thing, the inspiration for me is he did his own work.
Yeah, you'd have to take it out for some mechanical.
But, you know, if it was an old car, whose bodywork he would, you know,
the fiberglass vets with the spider cracks, he would do all those.
Oh, yeah.
Inspired inspired me to say if I ever got my own, you know, classic car,
if I ever get something like that, a race car, I want to have the ability
to do my own work.
So that was pretty much, I would say, the starting of my car bug.
So did the Corvette thing stick with you or did you go a different direction?
I appreciated them for a while.
And then not really.
I, you know, I started seeing the silly side of it to say, oh, look at that.
There's a European car.
Hey, there's something that's going to lose value as soon as they buy it.
So sure.
See, here's, here's the the limitation of the zoom camera.
Mark's not seeing the Corvette t-shirt that I'm wearing.
Wrong answer, sir.
Oh, the cracks on the top.
I didn't know if the call was going to end or I was going to, you know,
click. Wow, we seem to have lost him.
Yeah, not just yet.
We only got 18 minutes of show.
So what is the checkered flag 200 at the Peterson Auto Museum?
And how did you become a member?
Well, I've supported the checkered flag and it's it's interesting that
Radford Racing School, they're a great partner of ours.
And I've known them for my days at Haverty.
Checkered flag is a program that, you know, a big supporter of because of what
it does for the car community, what it does for the future of the car community,
the educational program.
So it's definitely preparing the next generation of car fanatics,
I guess you could say, but they also put on a really good rally.
They're a good group of people.
If you wanted to talk about cars and driving and racing,
it's something that I highly recommend people looking at the Peterson Museum.
It's just a shrine for car people.
So that's definitely something I'm glad you asked about that.
And you're a member strictly because of Radford?
Well, we're friends, friends of the museum.
So I've known them for quite a while, but Radford, they're they're a good,
strong partner of ours.
And yeah, that's that's how I've gotten involved with them.
Good.
So another club, what is the Radford Racing School members club?
And why did you start it?
Well, when I came into Radford initially, there were
times I would support the track from years ago, and I would come down
afternoons and, you know, watch them, watch the different courses go on.
And then at about four o'clock when classes were over, it was quiet.
And the one thing when I came on board a couple of years ago, I was asked the
question, and what would you like to do?
What's, you know, a creative new development program?
And I said, we need to open this track up after hours.
We need to bring the car community, which is so robust here.
And bring them out to this legendary facility.
So similar to other country club or subscription club venues.
I said, we need to start the Radford Motorsports Club.
Small annual fee, people come out, they use, we have three race tracks
and a drag strip, they come out with their own car.
And after hours, we drive around the tracks, a lot of fun.
And I'm trying to find the name of the race track.
I saw this article earlier today.
Was it Chuck Walla?
Hemmings had an article about another race track that's gone up for sale for 26.
It was Chuck Walla.
And, you know, the importance of having Radford open and available
to car clubs and to other people who want to spend time on that track after hours.
I think that's fantastic because a lot of our race tracks are starting to go away.
It was a, didn't Willow Springs go on sale last year?
Well, Willow Springs changed as well.
They were purchased by, it's a brilliant plan for their future, a group
of people that want to preserve it, and that's what they're going to do.
So we're thankful for that.
Chuck Walla, hopefully the same thing happens with a track like that.
Some of the other legendary tracks that we did lose Erwin Dale.
I mean, it's just history.
Yeah, Erwin Dale went away.
So a lot of the tracks are starting to become rather endangered.
This is a great idea for Radford.
Yeah, the school is still there during the day.
And then literally what the biggest advantage is, is it's bringing
the community into where they've taken a class, now where they're going to go.
So our fortunate, most fortunate thing that we have is proximity to the city limits.
We're right outside of Phoenix, we're about 15 minutes away from the airport.
So people from all over town, they can literally spend the day at the office,
come on over with their Porsche, rip around the track for a few hours, go into
the night because we have lights on our tracks.
So this is going to be good for summertime and then they drive home.
Now they've had members tell me, you know what, my wife knows exactly
when I come out for the track because I come home smiling.
Um, I've never run a track at night.
Is the visually, is it different?
Do you have problems with shadows or what's the difference
between running during the day and at night?
Well, your, your sight line is a little bit more tunnel.
It's as literally as wide as your, you know, your driving lights.
Yeah.
So it is a little bit more focused.
People slow down a little bit.
You know, it's a well lit track.
It's, um, it's definitely got some shady shadowy corners, but that's
kind of the excitement.
Uh, when the drivers are playing around at night, uh, it gives them the ability
to think, all right, I'm going down the Mulsanne Strait at 180 miles an hour.
He's in that little, uh, fantasy direction there.
But, um, yeah, it's the greatest thing about it is that we are not limited
by right now in Arizona, it's dark at 530, uh, in the winter time.
And then in the summertime, it's still 130.
So we can drive until, you know, 10 o'clock at night when it's much cooler.
But it's a nice feature because we're, we're so close to town.
So being able to come out there in the evenings and when the, when classes
aren't going on, is that the primary reason to join the club?
No, I guess the biggest thing, that's a nice feature.
The primary reason is to get with the car culture.
Uh, we have some people come out, they'll just do a couple of sessions, and
then they just hang out in the pits with everybody.
And we're just sitting there talking about our fastest laps and we're talking
about cars that we've had or underbirds that are never fully restored.
That sort of thing.
Is that how we're going to play it?
Yeah.
He slipped that right in didn't he?
I'm bleeding and I don't know from where.
We all have that project.
I don't never get done.
So I'm, I'm guilty of that myself, but I guess it finished that question.
The, uh, the primary reason is to say that you've got an outlet that's
affordable to go out and race your car and go out and, uh, be with other motor
sports enthusiasts and it's not going to break the bank.
What are some of the other benefits of joining?
Some of the other benefits are we have a lot of partners at the school.
So when you join, there's events that we host co-host events with other
organizations in town as a wonderful one called the warehouse.
And we've done tours to where we spend a little time on the track to about a
50 or 60 mile, you know, spirited drive through the hills.
And then we end up at a wonderful facility called the warehouse for dinner.
So those are experiences and cultivated events that we put together.
Uh, we'll also have speakers come in from time to time.
Uh, for example, good year is going to come down and, uh, address our members
on tire compounds, you know, things like that.
And then you get a discount on the tires.
So things along those lines, we want to make sure that we have that.
It's not just track time.
It's track time and unique experiences or advantages to things that you're just
not going to get anywhere else.
Very cool.
Very cool.
Up next, Mark Valentino, Randford racing school director of business
development fills us in on the types of cars you can drive when you become a
member and you're going to love this selection is awesome.
Let's take a break for some commercials about cool car people stuff.
Driven radio show will be right back.
All right, all right, all right.
Be a lot cooler if it was exactly what you wanted.
That's what they do at hot rod express at 51 05 West 40 highway in
Blue Springs, Missouri.
They listen to what customers want.
It's kind of cool because you can go to hot rod express talk to any of them there.
You can go to their parts department.
They have a speed shop.
You can stop in and talk parts and they will help guide you to the ones that you
really, really need and the stuff they only work with top notch components.
They listen to what you want.
They don't just try to turn your car into something that they like.
They make a car, your truck, your SUV become the dream vehicle you've always
wanted at hot rod express.
They listen, they figure out how to make it happen.
And the coolest part, you drive a home happy.
Now that's why they've been in business for 30 years.
Hot Rod Express in Blue Springs, Missouri.
Call 816-224-9597 online at hotrodexpress.com.
Hot Rod Express.
They make friends fast.
And now back to more driven radio show.
Mark, what types of vehicles do Radford Racing School club members have access to?
Well, what's great about the school is we're a dodge shop.
So dodge is our biggest supplier vehicle.
Do you need some alone time now?
No, no, I just feel vindicated.
It's more far around.
But what's funny about the club is you'll see a mix of everything.
So we'll have, you know, late model Porsches to some guys bring up Ferrari
Challenge cars.
But the ones that are the most fun are the Spectmiatus when they come out and
test in tune.
I like seeing the fact that members will bring out something, you know, unusual.
We have a young guy that comes out and he's got a NASCAR powered 1981 or 82
Camaro, a little bit of everything out there.
You know, we've had a radical or two out there, new Ferraris, old Ferraris.
We've got a Can-Am, McLaren coming out with a good friend, Nicole Johnson.
She's going to be playing out there this coming Friday.
So a little bit of everything.
If you've got it, we'll take it.
Now, if people drag in their own iron, do they have to sign some extra affidavits
and waivers and stuff?
Well, I'm sure you have to go through some safety protocols.
Yeah.
I mean, like, how do you, how do you inspect the car?
Because if somebody brings it something that you wouldn't let your worst enemy
drive, can they take it for a round or two?
No, that's a great question, a great point.
Because what we do, there is an application process.
So we want to, one, make sure that you're safe to be actually out on the track.
If there's somebody that applies, it's, you know, this is my first time.
I got my 1,100 horsepower car.
Have to either go through the class or you just might be provisional.
Tech inspection, we go through with tech inspection every time they come out.
We'll check tire pressure, clean the windshield.
Make sure your cars would look at the dash.
Make sure there's no warning lights.
And if there's a warning light, just put a sticker over it.
Nobody will see it.
And that's what electrical tapes for.
Sure, we just make sure everybody's safe and ready to go.
We haven't had a problem yet, but yeah, it's safety.
It's a great track because there's a lot of runoff.
The track was built to be a training facility.
Yeah. So it's very technical.
So literally any car on it is going to feel like you're getting a workout.
Oh, that's cool.
That's what's good about it.
So it's got those big rubber bumpers on the side of it, like that one alley
at the bowling alley.
No, damn it.
Exactly.
Exactly.
No.
You know, I'm I'm with Mark.
I have a car I'd love to bring down there, one that looks fast and isn't.
And yeah, I got a 65 Stingray
three twenty seven with a four speed and already got my the knockoff safety wired.
That would be a lot of fun around that truck.
There's a lot of twists and turns and it's a enough straightaway to get you
get you excited and then, you know, with multiple tracks,
you can get a little different flavor every time you come out.
Well, it's what that car can do on the drag strip.
Not much. It's the whole old cars, you know, slow car fast rather than fast cars,
low thing. That's what I am.
It looks cool and sounds cool.
And it sounds like you're going really fast.
You're not.
You're not.
So do members get to drive most anything at the school?
They bring their own cars out, and that's the great thing about it.
It's it's an outlet for you to bring your car out.
OK.
Take it on a controlled environment so you're you're not going to jail with tickets.
We've got some folks that literally just drive right out their street tires
or some that bring in.
We have plenty of rooms if you want to bring in your trailer.
Oh, sure.
Tires out, do their own work.
Again, it's just making the track available to where, you know,
people need to get that speed fix.
All right. And speaking of which, there are some new experiences
at Radford Racing School.
Can you tell us about the fun new stuff for students and members?
Oh, yeah. One of them, that that's actually one of my favorites that
because of the fact that we have so many diverse types of classes,
a new experience.
If you like F4, you want to be an F1 driver, you like drag racing,
you like road course racing.
Well, we have one that's called the Triple Threat.
So it's a three day program.
You get one day out on the drive strip.
You get one day in the road course and you get one day in the F4 car.
And something like that is basically everybody's bucket list item.
There are one day experiences.
If you just want to drive the F4 or the drag racing,
if you want to get into the Daemon 170,
there are programs that we offer for the experiences.
And then one of the great things is if you have a group of people together,
we can do that experience.
Everything from, you know, catered dinner,
bachelor parties are very popular lately.
You go out in a different kind of driving range.
You go out and use our cars for that type of experience.
So, yeah, there's a lot of new things that are popping up.
I thought you were going to say it was a Hellcat powered Dodge Caravan.
I was going to be so happy there for just a second.
You and 12 of your best friends go.
Three of us can find a Hellcat motor
to put into the big, giant panel van and put it really out there.
I'd pay money to do that.
We can scare the bejesus out of you 10 at a time.
It sounds like a good time to be had.
Only you would think of that.
It was right up there.
I'm like, that sounds brilliant.
Well, you and Christopher Michaels.
OK, that's you two would both think of that.
So what about stuff for newbie drivers?
Do you have what programs do you have for the novice?
So that's a great question because when people here racing school,
they think, OK, they're just going to do race cars
and they're just going to see the F4 cars.
But the majority of our students that come out don't want to be a race car driver.
They'll come out for a two day or three day defensive driving course.
They can learn skills such as accident avoidance,
braking techniques, car control.
Now you're in one of our challengers, our wide body challengers.
You're in a high horsepower car,
but to have that ability to learn car control
when you get back into my Honda or my Hyundai or whatever,
you're that much better of a driver because you're learning the techniques
to be a better driver on the roadway.
So we don't actually call it a team driving program
because we want to pigeonhole it to think that it's just teams
because, you know, might be somebody a little bit older.
Now they're driving on the major highway to go to a new job.
Well, you know what, I should brush up on my driving skills.
And so we offer a number of different forces that are not just for racing.
All righty.
And real quick before the break,
if you could choose any car to take to a members club day,
what would it be and why?
Well, as I said, we got a lot of late model cars that come out of there,
but you'll learn I'm a classic car guy.
Yeah.
So if you gave me an old air cooled Porsche,
an old Lotus or I'm an Alfa Romeo guy,
if you give me one of those ready for the track,
I'm the slow car fast, go through the gears.
I know how to push a third pedal.
That's the kind of thing that I'm going to go out there and do.
Listen to the car, listen to what it's doing, feel everything moving around.
Yep. The experience of it all.
That's what driving is all about.
There you go.
Up next, Mark Valentino is going to talk with us about the parties that are coming up
and famous people you might get to rub elbows with.
Let's take a break for some commercials about cool car people stuff.
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Mark, in the future, do you plan to have Radford sponsored rallies and social events?
Yeah, absolutely.
Because of the fact that it's such a great area for driving.
We've got some roads that go out of town to Sedona and Flagstaff and whatnot.
This thing's lovely that what I like to do is bring people out to the track.
We'll maybe give them an hour or two fun little lesson, put them out on the track
and then we get out on the road.
And we'll do like I mentioned earlier, 50, 60 miles or maybe even more than that
and just spend the day out on the road together.
And then, of course, we'll wind back at the track or find another fun place to go to
and just have our own little mini car show dinner.
Or we've done these things for breakfast time, get up early, cars and coffee
then you end up at the track.
So look out for more of those.
They'll be coming up again soon.
Yeah, if you run that highway north out of Phoenix, like you're going to Payson
might be able to find some fun mountain roads up there.
Absolutely.
I've I've driven those a few times, maybe a little bit over the speed limit.
And yeah, that's that's a really, really fun highway for
cheese, like 100 miles of just twists and curves and all the way up into the mountains.
You think you're in Colorado by the time you get stopped.
Can you tell us about any of the media personalities or celebrities who have
attended Radford?
Have you trained trained anyone to drive in the movies?
Well, actually, how much longer do we have on the show?
Because we can literally go decades.
Have at it.
Since, I mean, literally in the 58 years of our existence, we've had
all sorts of pro drivers.
We've had drag race drivers.
Tony Stewart was out last year and literally drove our
charger electric vehicle.
And so that's kind of a, you know, a different thing.
We've had a lot of actors that have come out preparing for roles.
You know, Ford versus Ferrari, those guys came out and learn how to drive on the track.
So that was pretty exciting.
But on the other side, I'm almost going to look at it's what our
instructors have done to their contribution.
They've actually done stunt driving for, you know, some of the big Hollywood
productions, they'll do TV shows and stunt driving and driving consulting
to the film and movie industry.
So I'd say our biggest celebrities are our instructors because that's
that's how they make, you know, Keanu Reeves and whoever else it might
be look good, they've got to come and learn somewhere.
So we can literally go through the list of celebrities that have come to us.
But, you know, I look at what we've done for the industry because of our
expertise.
Are you allowed to say among celebrities who might have been the best and worst?
Let's say I would, I would say, you could probably say best.
It'd probably be best not to say worst.
Well, I can't say the worst because we're a school.
We're going to try and make them the best.
Yes.
Yeah, I know.
And it would sound bad.
And plus you don't want to get serious.
Who doesn't have potential?
Well, I've heard rumors, but honestly, I couldn't really say who the worst was.
But some of the best are, you know, drivers that, you know, they just get it.
It's his name from who played Ken Miles.
I just hear the instructors have talked about Christian Bale.
Was an incredible student and did very, very well.
But maybe his co-star wasn't that great.
We'll just leave it at that.
Yeah, that's what I was going to say.
That's what I was going to say.
I was a kid.
Well, he couldn't reach the pedals.
He couldn't see over the wheel.
We wouldn't know.
Exactly.
Is Radford open year round?
We are. We are.
Hello, it's open year round.
The one of the, as I mentioned, you guys off the air earlier, it gets hot out here.
Yes, it does.
We're pretty, we're pretty blessed that we have products that we can run all year long.
You know, those Dodge cars, those motors that you love, Mark, are, they're robust.
They'll run in 110 degree heat with the air conditioning running.
And when people say, oh, do you close down?
No, we just keep running on going.
Oh, I thought he was going to mention Radford water park that was next door.
They'll teach you how to race wave runners.
That's, you know, that's something in development, right?
And all that.
But what we also do, because the drag racing is so hot during the summertime,
and it almost makes it difficult and dangerous to drive,
we've gone up to Spokane, Washington, taking the drag racing program on the road
and the Demon 170s and some road cars.
And we'll spend a couple of months in the cooler climate.
So some that say, well, I want to, you know, take the drag racing course
or they're part of the SRT or the Demon 170 program.
Look out for that, because we might be going back up to a cooler climate.
And but the road courses all year long, the motorsports club, all year long.
Come on out.
Are there plans to open a more permanent
Radford location in Washington?
Not necessarily plans to open up a permanent location,
as long as we can be a guest at some of the tracks out there.
It's it's they're very generous to us.
And they're they're it's a lot of fun to go up to a different location.
But our home, our facility is hard to beat
because we're a purpose built facility with all forms of racing.
And we'll always keep Chandler as our hub.
I would imagine those employees who get to get out of town
during the hotter months and go to Washington are damn grateful for it.
Yes, it's a difficult thing because they're away from home.
But the cooler weather is definitely appreciated.
I've spent some time doing a little bit of light construction
in Tucson in late May and early June, and it's stinking warm.
And Tucson's cooler than we are.
So it's saying a lot.
Not by tons, a little bit.
Their humidity is lower.
Anything over one hundred and five is just a number.
Yeah, I've experienced that number.
It's what's weird is, especially for people in the Midwest,
you know, we get triple digit weather here
and it has lots of inherent humidity that goes with it.
In the desert, if you're working and it's one hundred and seven out,
it's stinking warm.
It really is.
If you step into the shade with just a little bit of breeze,
you can't believe the difference.
You step into the shade here.
It's just you're not directly in front of the cutting torch.
So, yeah, I absolutely understand that one hundred percent.
So, Mark, now we're going to get into the personal stuff.
All right, what is in your stable right now?
Let's just say the current stable has a little mixture.
I just actually bought from a good friend of mine, a 1974 Porsche 914
survivor car.
Cool.
I bought here in a Porsche dealership that's no longer in existence.
Got off the road in 1984, turned into a rat condominium,
found it. It's original paint.
It's in your mechanically.
Everything's been completely restored and people say you're going to repaint it.
No, it's got the right amount of patina.
Perfect. It's got a story to tell.
I'm also a glutton for punishment.
I've got a couple of alpha Romeos.
I've got a 76 Spider that's also a survivor and then an Alfetta GTB,
which is the easiest thing to maintain, because when it's no longer leaking oil,
that means it's empty and you just refill it.
It's a self-sustaining vehicle.
Yeah, same thing with old Harleys.
Exactly. When it's done leaking, you just refill it.
And then I just recently had one of the greatest cars out there, another alpha
Romeo, the Stelvio Quadrifoglio, which is one of the greatest things
where we're talking about the Peterson when we do rallies with them.
It keeps up with everything and everybody.
And, you know, so those are just a few.
If we said which cars that I let go that I regret,
oh, there's a lot of regrets and things I've let go.
How about a couple?
Let's say an odd one, the most odd, obscure one.
I had way back in the day, an AMC Eagle.
You remember one of those?
Yes.
This four-wheel drive Eagle, which I had because that thing was so much fun.
It had that Jeep inline six motor and all-wheel drive adjustable suspension.
I would also say, you know, an old 911 that went away and you look at it now
to say it went away at a very low price and, you know, you can't buy a bad one.
That's affordable anymore.
So literally, there's a lot of cars that have come and gone.
I tell you, I would love to have an old 63 split window.
I'm a fan of all the funky cars that have the issues like the split window
or the flying mirror Testerosa or the Lamborghini Perscopico,
things that are just mistakes.
Yeah, but doesn't it seem like those oddball mistakes down the road
always wind up bringing monster money?
Exactly. And that's why I don't have them.
And the Testerosa's with a single rear view mirror, the Montespecchia's.
Those things, they bring a premium now.
Split windows, too.
And the Periscopos, all that stuff brings brings great money now.
And though that's not why you buy a car, it's still cool to have some of the funky stuff.
Well, I like the stories behind every car.
We could probably go on for days saying, tell me the story about this.
Tell me the story about that.
That's why we're here.
And that's why you're here.
And that's why we have the club.
Because again, some people just, you know, sit around and talk about cars,
fishing and car clothes.
Yeah, tell about your lap and how big your last fish was.
Yeah, well, that's exactly why we're here.
And to that end, sir, what is the dumbest thing you've ever done in a car?
And don't worry about the statute of limitations.
We won't tell anybody.
Well, first of all, it depends on what you consider dumb.
But, um, yeah, there's surprises.
What do you consider dumb?
Well, it's funny.
We, I think the dumb thing is more of a, why did I just go ahead and do that?
For whatever reason, donuts, you spend a boatload of money on tires, and then you
just do donuts just to show off and make smoke.
And now the dumb thing is you've got to go buy new tires.
Not everybody's got a tire contract.
So, um, that's some of the things that I've considered dumb.
Or restoring something that doesn't need to be restored.
You pull it all apart and realize it's never going to go back together the same way.
So, uh, on my older cars, you'd say, well, I was dumb.
All right.
Well, then, uh, let me narrow it down for you.
Best or worst speeding ticket story?
Oh, boy.
Um, I would say probably one of the most legendary is, um, we were coming, my
wife and I were coming back from Palm Springs and we were probably doing about
130 on that stretch of desert highway.
What are we in?
We literally got pulled over and the cops said, uh, you know, how fast you were
going?
I said, I know how fast I was going.
What were you driving?
About 99 and a half miles per hour.
So I just got a real stern ticket and, uh, you know, had to go back to that area
of California, but, um, yeah, that, that was one that you just kind of wiped
your brow and say, well, I got lucky on that one.
What were you driving?
Uh, it was a Lexus.
It was an older, it was back in the day.
Uh, it's the, I think it was the Lexus GS 500, but that thing was fast and smooth.
It was a favorite car bars at the time.
Nice.
So buck 30 down to 99 and a half.
Did they write it for 99 and a half?
Because of your brake triple digits, you have to go see a magistrate.
I think that was the case.
I still had to pay a whopper of the fine and got a point, but it was a story to
say, uh, I didn't have to go to, I didn't get a wonderful pair of steel bracelets
that night.
They match though.
What was the cop angry at you or just curious?
I think it might have been more impressed.
But, uh, all you kids out there don't think about that.
But yeah, it was, um, I would say that's the, uh, the speeding story.
I try and keep it under at least a jailable offense.
See, and that's a sad thing.
Uh, most of the, uh, most of the, the police, uh, departments and
sheriffs, highway patrol, they all have something that's got enough motor in it
that can catch most anything these days.
I'm old enough to remember, which means you and Mark are old enough to remember
that there was a time the cops weren't going to catch you.
You know, Dodge diplomat will only go so fast.
And if he's driving an 85 diplomat and you're driving an 88 Corvette, he ain't
going to catch it.
Hey, it was dusk.
He probably doesn't see the license.
Just floor it and keep going.
So, uh, I, I remember those.
You can't do that now.
The cops probably will catch you.
There's a good chance.
Uh, and, and furthermore, never can't outrun the radio.
That's also depressing.
Damn it.
Therefore, therefore to get that need for speed, we have
Raptor motors.
See, this is why it ties it all in full circle on it right there.
Way to go.
Mark, I teed it up and you hit her out of the park.
We've been speaking with Mark Valentino, director of business development
at Radford racing school.
Mark, way to go, pal.
Tell us where we can find you online and on social media.
Uh, social media would be Bradford racing school.
You'd also see that Bradford racing school.com is a website.
Uh, literally everything that we talked about here is visible on the site.
And, um, you know, definitely, um, how people take a look.
We'd love to hear from them.
If they, uh, mentioned the show, we'll definitely take care of them on a price.
So, uh, let's, uh, let's get you guys out there as well.
Hear that folks.
Mention driven radio show and you catch a break when you go to
Radford racing school.
Mark, thank you so much for being with us.
We appreciate you taking the time.
Thank you gentlemen.
Look forward to seeing you soon.
So always great to have somebody on from Radford.
Yeah.
They keep inviting us.
I keep, I keep dangling that I'm fishing for an invitation.
It's so subtle.
Yes, subtlety of a brick.
Oh, you know, hey, gotta be a mover and shaker.
It's not it.
I'll tell you what it is.
I really have wanted to go to a driving school for most of my life and I haven't done it yet.
I think that's one of the things that we ought to do.
You know, I, you know, I kind of make fun of myself for, well, for a number of reasons,
but they're all valid and I'm not wrong, but you're going out to one of these schools
and being able to learn about it in, for me, a slightly different environment.
Now, you know, I say all this stuff about what I've become.
It was after I had kids, I just really slowed everything down and then stayed there.
But, uh, you know, when I was a kid kid, hell, I didn't know what death meant.
And I drove, I drove that 55 Plymouth like a moron.
Well, you drove your pickup like a moron.
You drove. Yeah, yeah.
I drove while my mom and dad's pickup.
I wasn't as bad with the one that I had.
Well, because you were paying for it.
Well, yeah, there is that.
Mom and dad's had that 350.
You had a GEO that you didn't drive, particularly.
I was, I pushed that one to its limits, yes.
And which was really on a Suzu I mark underneath.
But anyway, but it went, it went cute and fast.
And, uh, you know, it was that, that whole thing.
Like you said, you can drive a slow car fast and it's fun.
Yeah. And it had that little five speed in it.
It wasn't an automatic.
And, uh, yeah, I threw it into some corners and did some silly stuff.
There's a real interesting distinction.
And it usually comes when we can afford to get a little bit nicer transportation.
But I had a lot of, a lot of cars, a lot of some of them were cool.
Some of them were fun cars.
But the first car I had that had any real power to it.
And that, again, it's relative to the time was at 87 Corvette Ragtop.
Yeah. And that was faster than everything around it.
Yeah. With very few exceptions.
You weren't finding too many other cars on the road that would keep up with that thing.
You look back now and you're like, well, wouldn't that face?
It was certainly fast for what it was.
There was an RX seven, a little Mazda RX seven.
Those things were a blast.
My brother's first wife had had one.
And when they were fiancees, Jesus, this was 1981 going into 1982.
Yeah, but I hadn't even graduated high school.
Those were quick little cars for the time. Oh, yeah.
We went out. We were visiting the parents, you know, I hear meet my bride.
And my brother's like, I got to get out of here for a minute.
And I'm like, I'll go with you.
So we took her little red Mazda RX seven out to your brother ditched his fiancee
with your parents, they'll give them time.
And yeah, he just he needed to get out of the whole sea.
Merciless. I did tell you they're not married, right?
First wife, not second.
The second one was the good one. OK.
But we shot out to Tiborock Lake in Branson, Missouri.
And there's twisty Highway 65 was this way, that way, just snake trails
the let out to the dam.
And he let me drive my brother, who was, you know, Johnny Badass
with white knuckling it a lot of the way, because I didn't know what slow meant.
And it was the first time you've ever gotten that taste of that was so fun.
The one point that he did kind of go, dude, you really got to slow down.
We went zipping across the bridge and there was pretty much an 80 to 90 degree
turn at the end of it. And I'm clipping at 70, starting to go into that turn.
He's got you got to you got to stop and I got this.
I got this loaded down and then we hit the G's going into the curve.
I'm like, yeah, OK, he was right.
I think I need to kind of pull his back just a little bit.
Craft myself because it was it was right on that edge of I'm going to slide.
And I'm like, you know what, I'm not that cool.
So my uncle, Mike, years and years and years ago had a little 944 turbo.
And those were fun cars, super, super fun cars.
They didn't weigh much.
They didn't have to have a ton of power and they had pretty good power.
But the other thing about the 944 was
just handling was the most communicative thing I'd driven up to that point.
And I've only driven a couple cars since then that I thought would have been
its match or better. Another one was another Porsche.
And I took my my aunt Kathy out in that car and asked her I took her out
someplace where there were some curves close to my folks home
and asked her if I could drive fast.
And she said, oh, your uncle Mike drives us all the time.
Mistake, shouldn't have done that one.
And as as an 18 year old, I showed her what it was like to truly see God.
Oh, oh, no.
Oh, yeah, you can drift that car at 60 miles an hour.
I had to do it just fine.
Oh, and yeah, she we came back and I was I think it was 17 or 18 years old.
She won't ride in a car that I'm driving today.
Well, that was almost 40 years ago.
She still will not ride in a car that I'm driving.
So sorry, Kathy, if you're listening to the show, I apologize.
That was a lot of fun.
And I still remember that half hour of driving.
And I'm really sorry.
I scared a few years off the end of your life.
Let's hope it's the really crummy ones.
Nice. Maybe I did your favor.
Who knows? Yeah, yeah, you know, I'm a good guy.
But what we were talking about is you don't, you know,
you have a lot of cars that are kind of fun, sprightly.
A lot of times when you're younger, they might be cheaper cars.
So smaller imports, stuff like that.
And they seem like a lot of fun and they seem like they were fast
until you get hold of something that has real power.
Yep. And then you realize, oh, OK, so it gets squarely over 50, huh?
OK, squarely over 60, maybe more.
When you start getting home, when you can afford to have
cars that got a little bit more under the hood, you know,
a little hairier chested, you start finding out what really fast is.
Yeah. And with me, if some of it was cars, because, you know,
always been around Corvette, so occasionally you get one that's faster.
Like I tell everybody about that 65, it looks a lot faster than it is.
65 Stingray is not that fast.
It sounds like it's fast and it feels like you're having a ball
and you're doing extra legal stuff.
And then you look down at the speed limit and you're like,
well, that's not that bad a ticket. That's that's OK.
With me, I wound up getting my hands on motorcycles that I shouldn't have
and had bikes that were truly stupidly scary.
Yeah. I had one that had been modified to the point that it would run
well into the nine second quarter mile range when nothing ran nine second quarters.
You know, now you can go buy a Kawasaki H2 that'll do it.
But at that time, plus it was it was not a smooth progression of power
like a new modern stock sport bike would be.
This thing had an on off switch of 5,500 RPM
up to then pretty mild.
5,500. Hope you're hanging on.
That's what it inhales and then really goes.
You know, that's why it's got that that cowl over the passenger seat
behind you with the little pad.
It's to hold your ass on a motorcycle.
And my hats off to another friend of mine, guy named Walt Bickley,
who built that bike, Walt still with us.
I haven't seen him in a couple of years.
Talk about a savant.
That guy could do stuff with sport bikes you just couldn't believe.
And that bike was truly evil.
And I had enough sense to keep it two and a half months.
And then it something woke up my brain and said, hey, stupid.
Wife, kid, mortgage, maybe ought to get rid of this.
It's funny what happens if you spawn and there's a party that goes,
you know what, maybe I do need to survive.
I do have a little self-preservation nodule in my head.
And every now and this is, you know, you might want to consider not being such a moron.
It's like a fresh battery in your smoke detector.
Oh, hey, there are everything reset.
Yeah, not sure how we got off on that.
Thanks, Mark Valentino, for being on the show.
Mark Valentino, you're the guy that we talked to a while ago.
I really appreciate it 20 minutes ago.
Truth. Speaking of appreciation.
Hey, thank you so much for spending time with Driven Radio.
We love what we do and we wouldn't be able to do it without the support of our
listeners, and that is absolutely genuine.
This is still, as I tell you, every week when we finish up more walking out of the
studio, still my favorite thing to do all week long.
And I love that we have people that will join us and listen to us.
Praddle on about our crap.
Amen.
You can find us online at drivenradioshow.com.
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at Driven Radio Show and on
LinkedIn as Driven Radio Show podcast.
If you have a story you would like to tell or someone you would like us to
interview and some of you folks are sending those in.
Yep. Love it.
Thank you.
Still haven't heard back from the one guy we're trying to land, but we're
working on that.
Contact me at Brett, B-R-E-T-T at drivenradioshow.com.
I am Brett Hatfield from Mark L Groves at Thunderbird.
We'll run soon.
You're damn right.
Thank you for listening and we'll see you next time here on Driven Radio.
You know, Darrell Osipic might just be the most interesting man on earth.
Might be.
If you look at his collection of vehicles, you'll realize this is a
Renaissance man from weird old beaters to serious performance hot rods.
All in one place.
Owner of Osipic Automotive, Darrell is the car whisperer practicing voodoo that
brings vehicles back from the dead.
Just for, for us here on this show, Darrell has worked on Mercury
Mountaineer, classic Corvettes, Nissan Xterra, unusual Mercedes cars and a 64
Dodge Custom 880.
Neither of ours anymore.
No, not, not no, Moe.
But you know why it ran?
Darrell Osipic.
That's right.
In other words, we come to him with our whining issues and he comes back to
us with shiny, fixed automobiles.
It is like magic.
Darrell has ASC certified mechanics and happily gives binding estimates.
You might not know he's happy, but that might be because he sees us coming in
and it erases all of his joy.
You'll watch that face drop.
Darrell will explain what he finds, what he plans on doing and lets you make
your decisions.
Nothing hidden, no mechanic bait and switch.
He's straight up and even guarantees all work for at least one month or 1,000
miles.
Osipic Automotive, that's OSI, PIK, Automotive 5920 Merriam Drive in
Merriam, Kansas called Darrell at 913-831-3613.
What was that number?
913-831-3613.
Don't even have to read it.
It's been in my head for a while now.
Back of my skull.
Ask for the big D and tell him Brett sent you.
After he sighs heavily, he'll get you taken care of 913-831-3613 Osipic Automotive.
About this episode
Mark Valentino, the Director of Business Development at Radford Racing School, joins the Driven Radio Show to share his journey in the automotive world, influenced by his car enthusiast family. With over 25 years in commercial insurance, including a stint at Hagerty, he discusses his passion for racing and motorsports. The episode also touches on personal stories about car projects, the legacy of Ed Iskandarian, and the importance of hands-on experience in car maintenance. Listeners can expect a mix of nostalgia, industry insights, and practical advice.
Original notes
Brett and Mark welcome Mark Valentino, Radford Racing School Director of Business Development to discuss the Radford Racing School Members Club, new driving experiences at the school, and training celebrities to look like professional drivers. All this and much more on this week's Driven Radio Show!
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Driven Radio Show
Brett Hatfield
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