Ross Bentley (born November 4, 1956) is a performance coach,

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, and

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

. His performance coaching spans executive/business coaching to sports (athletes and teams in a variety of sports, with a specialty in motorsports).

Racing career

Born in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

, Bentley grew up in a racing household (father was a race mechanic, brother a mechanic and driver) and began driving himself at the age of four. He won 11 amateur racing championships during his early career. In 1990, he debuted in

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people. It is different from the flatbed tr ...

with Spirit of Vancouver, a program that was formed to provide a car for a Vancouverite at the inaugural

Molson Indy Vancouver Molson Indy Vancouver was an annual Champ Car race held in a street circuit near BC Place and running past Science World in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada held in July, August or September from 1990 to 2004. On September 2, 1990, the f ...

. Bentley returned to the race the following year with Spirit of Vancouver; the effort received support such as pit crew and car from

Dale Coyne Racing Dale Coyne Racing (DCR) is an American professional open-wheel racing team that currently competes in the IndyCar Series. The team was founded in 1984 and is owned by former driver Dale Coyne. From 1995 to 2000, the team was known as Payton-Co ...

. Bentley increased his CART schedule in 1992 with Coyne to include additional races outside of Vancouver, and would run seven races. That year's Vancouver event saw four Canadian drivers including Bentley, who finished 14th while managing a back injury. He continued racing for Coyne in 1993. During the buildup to the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of India ...

, Bentley was hospitalized and suffered burns on his hands and neck in a practice crash that caused a fuel regulator to split and pour methanol fuel into the cockpit. Bentley continued driving for Coyne in 1994, when the team brought on

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coac ...

running back

Walter Payton Walter Jerry Payton (July 25, 1953Although most sources at the time of his death gave Payton's birth year as 1954, reliable sources subsequently state he was born in 1953. – November 1, 1999) was an American football running back who played ...

as a co-owner, but Payton Coyne Racing struggled with performance due to outdated equipment. A lack of sponsorship forced him out of IndyCar in 1995, prompting him to compete in

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing i ...

. He competed in the

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and ...

before returning to CART and Payton Coyne at Vancouver, but he failed to make the race after setting the slowest time in qualifying. He continued his professional career in endurance racing. Bentley won the

1998 United States Road Racing Championship The 1998 United States Road Racing Championship season was the inaugural season of the revived United States Road Racing Championship run by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). The season involved four classes: Le Mans Prototype, Can-Am protot ...

in the GT3 class and the

2003 24 Hours of Daytona The 2003 Rolex 24 at Daytona was a Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series 24-hour endurance sports car race held on February 1–2, 2003 at the Daytona International Speedway road course. The race served as the first round of the 2003 Rolex Sports Ca ...

in the SRPII Class.

Off the track

Bentley worked as a driving instructor at his Performance Advanced Driving School and a columnist for racing clubs in the 1980s. He currently owns a consulting business, Bentley Performance Systems, which focuses on improving the performance of individuals, teams and organizations through coaching, workshops and the development of custom-designed programs. In 1998, Bentley published the first in a series of racing technique and strategy books called ''Speed Secrets''. To date, he has nine books published under the Speed Secrets banner, including ''Inner Speed Secrets'' with Ronn Langford and ''The Complete Driver'' with Bruce Cleland. He also co-wrote with

Bob Bondurant Robert L. Bondurant (April 27, 1933 – November 12, 2021) was an American racecar driver who raced for the Shelby American, Ferrari, and Eagle teams. Bondurant was one of the most famous drivers to emerge from the Southern California road rac ...

on Race Kart Driving. In 2017, Bentley released a new title, ''Performance Pilot'' (written with professional aviator Phil Wilkes) detailing aviation-specific procedures, techniques and strategies to help pilots improve their flying performance. Bentley currently lives with his wife and daughter in

Issaquah, Washington Issaquah ( ) is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 40,051 at the 2020 census. Located in a valley and bisected by Interstate 90, the city is bordered by the Sammamish Plateau to the north and the " Issaquah ...

, US.

American open–wheel racing results

( key)

PPG Indycar Series

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Bibliography

*''Performance Pilot: Skills, techniques, and strategies to maximize your flying performance'', Ross Bentley and Phil Wilkes (2017) *''The Lost Art of High-Performance Driving'', Ross Bentley (2017) *''Ultimate Speed Secrets: The Racer's Bible'', Ross Bentley (2011) *''Speed Secrets 7: Winning Autocross Techniques'', Ross Bentley (2009) *''Speed Secrets 6: The Perfect Driver'', Ross Bentley (2007) *''Speed Secrets 5: The Complete Driver'', Ross Bentley and Bruce Cleland (2006) *''Speed Secrets 4: Engineering the Driver'', Ross Bentley (2005) *''Speed Secrets 3: More Professional Driving Techniques'', Ross Bentley (2003) *''Bob Bondurant on Race Kart Driving'', Bob Bondurant and Ross Bentley (2002) *''Speed Secrets 2: Inner Speed Secrets: Strategies to Maximize Your Racing Performance'', Ross Bentley and Ronn Langford (2000) *''Speed Secrets: Professional Race Driving Techniques'', Ross Bentley (1998)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bentley, Ross 1956 births Racing drivers from British Columbia Living people Sportspeople from Vancouver Champ Car drivers Atlantic Championship drivers Trans-Am Series drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers American Le Mans Series drivers Dale Coyne Racing drivers