Bondurant High-Performance Driving School Goes Bankrupt, Says It’ll Return

One of America’s foremost driving and racing schools has gone bankrupt. But it’s committed to restructuring and returning, stronger than ever.

According to a statement issued late last week on its website, the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving filed for Chapter 11 in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona on October 2. Automotive News reports that the school has amassed millions in debt, owed to between 50 and 99 creditors.

“We will continue operating and serving our students and corporate groups as usual,” however, noted the organization, “while we develop new business relationships to ensure the vitality of the company in the future.”

The Bondurant school traces its roots back to 1961, when Carroll Shelby founded it at Riverside International Raceway, east of Los Angeles. He hired Bob Bondurant, one of his most talented drivers, as one of its first instructors. Bondurant took it over in 1968 after his promising racing career ended with a crash while driving a McLaren at Watkins Glen.

In the decades since, the Bondurant school has instructed hundreds of celebrities, professional racing drivers, and others on how to get the most out of their cars. Among its graduates, the school counts notable household names ranging from Paul Newman and Tom Cruise to Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon.

It’s not the first major American driving school to file for bankruptcy. Last year, Skip Barber – one of Bondurant’s biggest competitors – went belly-up as well. Barber was ultimately acquired by DeMonte Motorsports, another rival school, and has since returned to operation. Here’s hoping Bondurant will as well.