The renaming marks the school’s new association with the team including English television celebrity Ant Anstead, F1 champion Jenson Button, car designer Mark Stubbs, and business partner Roger Behle. (Photography courtesy Radford Racing School)
CHANDLER, Ariz. — The storied Bondurant High Performance Driving School is writing a new chapter. A new ownership group purchased the school in May 2019 and launched a multi-million-dollar renovation and revamped its curriculum. With more plans and enhancements in the staging lanes, the school’s owners — sort of a fab-four of auto enthusiasts, collectors, and graduates of the school — have just renamed the facility the Radford Racing School.
The renaming marks the school’s new association with the team behind the Radford brand, a name well known among auto enthusiasts for its coachbuilding legacy— including its brand-defining high-performance Minis.
The team includes next-generation owners English television celebrity Ant Anstead, F1 champion Jenson Button, car designer Mark Stubbs and business partner Roger Behle. The four are reviving the Radford story into a modern lifestyle brand that celebrates auto design and performance, high-performing driving, and racing.
The school will continue as an experience destination for international auto enthusiasts, everyday drivers, new drivers, racers, celebrities, and influencers.
The school is in Chandler, Ariz., a suburb of Phoenix.
Dodge//SRT sponsorship
The Radford Racing School is the Official High Performance Driving School of Dodge//SRT. Continuing as the school’s primary sponsors, Dodge//SRT provides a fleet of vehicles for driving instruction. The drag racing course features the 840-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, while other high-performance vehicles, including the Challenger SRT Hellcat, Charger SRT Hellcat and Durango SRT, are available for the on-track experience.
The drag racing course features the 840-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Demon.
In addition to the Dodge//SRT vehicles, the school features Ligier JS F4 open-wheel vehicles, vintage Dodge Vipers, go-karts, and vehicles used in special forces, police, and military training. The Radford team will now build and test vehicles on the Radford Racing School track.
“We’ve rapidly progressed in enhancing and reintroducing this facility as the world’s premier experience for the next generation of drivers,” said Mike Kessler, general manager at the school.
Among the recent changes
- Denovation and expansion, including the first resurfacing of the main track in 30 years, enhancements to the event center, visitor center, gift shop, student lounge, classrooms, skills pad and eagle’s nest viewing platform;
- Diversification of course offerings, including open wheel and drag racing courses, with new formula racing courses in development;
- NHRA Drag License. The school will offer professional drag racing instruction to the public and the chance to earn an NHRA Drag License;
- Brand expansion. In addition to new experiences, there will be merchandise, branded content (a TV show is in the works) and more associations with celebrities and influencers.
For more information: RadfordRacingSchool.com or call (480) 403-7600.
