So this week during my free time I did some aggressive driver’s training! I mean REALLY aggressive.
I was at Blackwater’s training facility near Norfolk, Va., taking a hostile driving course...urban warrior stuff, almost. They have a 7,000-acre training facility where the Coast Guard, Army, and Navy all train. It’s a really interesting place. I don’t wanna get political, I know that Blackwater has got a bad name stapled to ‘em... But from the guys I met with, my understanding is that they’re just trying to protect the good guys.
I took a class called “Advanced Safety Driver Training.” I know that doesn’t sound exciting at all but this was actually pretty awesome. We did all kinds of drills and learned driving maneuvers that you’d use in hostile environments and situations. Like they’d forcefully take the steering wheel out of your hand, they’d cover your eyes, they’d hit your car, knock you off the road, make you drive through grass, through ditches, simulate a little kid jumping out in front of the car. It’s wild. The training takes place in decommissioned Crown Victoria cop cars.
Nothing I learned in the class will help in NASCAR, though. It’s just too different.
We did learn a cool trick in case you ever need to break the windows of your car, if you’re ever trapped. You actually just take the corner of the seat belt and hit a window not in the middle, where you would think, but in the corner, right where it meets the structure of the car.
I also took some firearms training with my girlfriend. She had never shot a gun before and was literally skittish and shaking the first time she shot it... Of course, by the second day she walked away as one of the best shots in the class.
The facility just opened to the public in March and anyone can take most of the courses—well, almost anyone. They run a crazy background check, I had a to fill out a ton of paperwork. They don’t wanna give these tools to the wrong people. Of course they get a lot of bodyguards that work in dangerous areas in Afghanistan and Mexico, for example. All in all, it was a really fascinating place.
But back to the races. As you know we got off to a poor start in the Chase and we’re out of the championship hunt. At this point, were gonna try to win some races and look toward next year. This week is Talladega, a track I’ve traditionally raced well at. Wish us luck!
Watch Brian race in the AMP Energy 500 at Talladega on Sunday at noon EST on ABC.