Have you heard the news? The Bondurant School of High-Performance Driving has a new name. It is now the Radford Racing School. They are still delivering the same world-class and legendary experiences you are used to expecting just under a new name.

May of 2019 the famous Bondurant High-Performance Driving School purchased the school. They then completed an extensive multi-million dollar renovation and revamping of its curriculum. Now the school’s owners, along with a small group of auto enthusiasts, collectors, and graduates of the school, have renamed the facility the Radford Racing School.

What’s new?

The rebranding is in part to the school’s new association with the team behind the Radford brand. The name that is legendary among auto enthusiasts for its coachbuilding legacy. Ready to meet the team? It consists of next-generation owners and English television celebrity Any Anstead, F1 champion Jenson Button, car designer Mark Stubbs, and business partner Roger Behle. Together these four are reviving the Radford story and making it a modern lifestyle brand that celebrates auto design and performance, as well as, high-performance driving and racing.

Taking over an already well-known and fabled brand and means you have to keep moving forward. The owners of the school expect to continue to evolve the school into an experience destination for international auto enthusiasts, every day drivers, racers, celebrities, and influencers.

Sponsored by Dodge

The Radford Racing School is the Official High-Performance Driving School of Dodge//SRT. Dodge is continuing as the school’s primary sponsor. This means that they are providing a fleet of vehicles for the school’s driving instruction. The drag racing course features the 840-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Demon. There are also other high-performance vehicles. The Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, Charger SRT Hellcat, and Durango SRT are just some of the other options that are available for the on-track performance driving experience.

New Dodge//SRT owners are just among some of the thousands of students who come to the school annually to learn how to achieve optimum performance out of their high-performance vehicles in a controlled environment.

There is more than just Dodge though. The school also features Ligier JS F4 open-wheel vehicles, vintage Dodge Vipers, and go karts. They also have cars that were used in its special forces, police, and military training. Another cool thing is that the Radford team will now build and test vehicles on the Radford School track.

We’ve rapidly progressed in enhancing and reintroducing this facility as the world’s premier experience for the next generation of drivers.

This quote comes from Mike Kessler. The general manager of the school also notes these recent changes towards their goal:

Renovation and expansion: This includes the first resurfacing of the main track in 30 years. Enhancements’ to the event center, visitor center, gift shop. student lounge, classrooms, skills pads, and eagle’s nest viewing platform.
Diversification of the course’s offering: They have added open-wheel and drag racing courses and have some new formula racing courses in development.
Breaking new ground: They are the first school of its kind to offer professional drag racing instruction to the public. They also let the public earn their chance at an NHRA Drag License.

Kessler wanted to broaden the appeal of the school while also retaining its legendary reputation. Thus announcing the name change. He promises that the brand will retain its nod to auto legends. Incorporating racing into the moniker represents the brand’s extension into the racing world, positioning the facility as a place for speed, professional race car instruction, and experiences. Not to mention their world-class driving instruction.

One of the founders, Ant Anstead said, “The racetrack is the perfect environment for building and testing Radford-built cars.” He’s not wrong either.

More to come

The Radford brand and school teams will collaborate on expanding the Radford brand into experiences, merchandise, and branded content. That’s right, there is already a TV in the works. This also makes it important for them expand on their associations with celebrities and influencers.