Gary Curtis of Brainerd International Raceway will speak to the Rotary Club of Edina March 5

Gary Curtis of the Performance Driving School at Brainerd International Raceway will be the program speaker at the Rotary Club of Edina's meeting Thursday, March 5. Curtis is the lead instructor and owner of the BIR Performance Driving School.

 

Beginning in the '70s, Curtis raced motorcycles, earning two state and three regional championships along with 69 wins and 188 top five finishes in state, regional and national competition. From this start, Curtis moved on to compete in the Bondurant Racing School Pro Search program. The following year, he successfully competed in formula 2000 races in both the US and Canada.

 

By the '90s, Curtis was winning SCCA races, and in 1992 Donnybrooke Motorsports became his primary sponsor. In 1997 and 1998 he won his class in the Minneapolis Grand Prix. And in 2000 and 2001 you could have watched him on the SPEED Channel, winning races in the American Le Mans Panoz GTS Pro Series. In fact, Curtis won that series in 2001. He is currently the lead instructor and owner of the BIR Performance Driving School.

 

The BIR Performance Driving School offers four distinct schools covering a wide range of different skill sets. There is the BIR Performance Driving School, which is open to the general public and features anything from driving a race car to corporate events. StreetSmarts is a advanced driving course for teens. SafeGuard is a threat protection driving course that teaches someone offensive and defensive maneuvering. SafePursuit is a emergency vehicle operators course.