HIGH-PERFORMANCE DRIVING SCHOOL INSTRUCTOR MIKE MC GOVERN: THE LIFE AND LAPS STORY
Copyright: Loretta Martinez-Acosta When a 20 -year-old Mike McGovern, now a 37+ year veteran and Chief Driving Instructor at Bondurant High-Performance Driving School, started putting feelers out for a summer job, he never realized how much it would shape his life. And he certainly didn’t know the shape would be an oval that measured a quarter-mile.
their classes, and learned everything he could. “I earned my chops as an instructor, and I taught law enforcement and performance classes. It was a dream job, and I loved it.” It was his beloved position as an instructor that led him to love of another kind.
LAP 1: Just a kid lookin’ for a job A friend told McGovern about a guy who was looking for someone to help him take care of his car. Young McGovern, already a muscle car enthusiast, applied Mike McGovern for the job. I showed up and interviewed with a guy named Bob Bondurant,” said McGovern. “I had no idea who he was or why it was a big deal to work for him.” McGovern got the job and started running errands for Bondurant and doing miscellaneous work around the shop. A few weeks into his new job, an instructor took him on a hot lap around the track. It was at that moment that McGovern was all-in when it came to the track. “I was hooked after that,” said McGovern. “I was just so taken with it all.” So taken, in fact, that he almost risked his employment the third week in, when he decided to take his Camaro out on the track with no warning, permission, or authorization. “I thought I was going to lose my job,” said McGovern. “Fortunately, they took mercy on me and let me hang around. And, after about six months, Bob let me go through the school.”
LAP 2: From behind the wheel to head of the class With proper training under his belt, McGovern now had the all-clear to drive the track as much as he wanted. Anyways, he did just that, getting behind the wheel as much as he could and earning the seat time it takes to become a good driver. “They must have seen something in me because, after a while, I was asked to be an instructor.” McGovern jumped at the chance, started hanging around the other instructors, went to
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LAP 3: Love of the track turns into the love of his life Fast forward a few years when Marcia, also an employee of the school, took the driver’s course in another instructor’s class. Marcia had a little trouble, and, as fate would have it, ended up training with Mike. “We hung out all day that day, started dating and spending most of our time together.” Two years later, Mike and Marcia were married at the Bondurant School in a wedding suitable for the bride and groom. The school’s cars were on display, and the bride and groom drove around the track in Bondurant style before walking down the aisle. Marcia and her parents were driven into the arena by none other than Bob Bondurant himself. Not long after their nuptials, McGovern was asked to be the Chief Instructor at Bondurant. Naturally, the answer to that question was also “I will.”
LAP 4: Practice goes pro Just as life hit a rhythm, things changed again. John Lee, a car dealer in
