Skip Barber Racing School Collapses Under Massive Debt

There are plenty of racing schools you can go to across the United States to learn how to drive fast. Few of them are as well established or as well known as Skip Barber, but the latest word has it that the entire company has gone belly-up.

According to The Drive, the network of advanced driving schools has filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 in the Southern District of New York after accruing tens of millions in debt – estimated to range from $10 million to as much as $50 million.

The largest creditors appear to be the tracks where the school offers its programs, each of which is owed tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in track rental fees. Somewhat ironically among them is Lime Rock Park in Connecticut, which just so happens to be owned by Skip Barber himself – unlike the school that bears his name and from which he divested controlling interest in 1999.

In addition to the $1.2 million owed to Lime Rock, the Skip Barber Racing School reportedly owes another $240k to Road Atlanta, $170k to Laguna Seca, $112k to Mid-Ohio, $105k to Palm Beach raceway, $56k to VIR, and nearly $30k to Willow Springs.

The company also offers classes at Atlanta Motorsports Park, the Autobahn Country Club, Carolina Motorsports Park, the National Corvette Museum, Pittsburg International Race Complex, Roebling Road, and Thompson Speedway. (Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama has no affiliation, but has been home to a Porsche driving school.)

Count against those and other liabilities the company’s $5.3 million in assets, which are assessed to include $1.5 million worth of cars, another $1.6 million in parts, and a $2 million valuation on intellectual property (including the brand name and training techniques).

Given those figures, it seems likely that another investor will buy the company’s assets in order to help court-appointed bankruptcy administrators pay off some of the liabilities and relaunch the school under new ownership. But the school as so many – from Marco Andretti to Jerry Seinfeld – have known it until now appears to be over and done with.