Skip Barber inducted into Motorsports Hall of Fame

LAKEVILLE — Skip Barber reached motorsport’s highest echelon this week when he was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame.

At the official celebration in Daytona Beach, Florida, on March 10 to 11, Barber’s legacy as a visionary who reshaped American motorsports was cemented.

As a driver, Barber won national championships in the 1960s and 1970s, racing everything from sports cars to high-powered formula cars.

But when he transitioned from the cockpit to the classroom with the opening of the Skip Barber Racing School, his influence accelerated.

“There is no driving school as recognizable as Skip Barber,” said Mario Andretti, who sent his sons, Michael and Jeff, and grandson Marco through Barber’s programs.

Longtime Barber instructor Terry Earwood puts it another way: “I put Skip up there with Wally Parks, Bill France, and P.T. Barnum. They had a vision of what they wanted to do, and they did it.”

Convinced that racing was a teachable craft, he founded the Skip Barber Racing School in 1975 at Lime Rock and Thompson Speedway, funded by a loan supposedly for a bathroom remodel.

The early days were lean — the first class had just four students and two borrowed cars. “We used to joke they’d call it Skip Barter Racing,” said Carl Lane-Lopez, one of the school’s first instructors. “He bartered for trucks, airplane rides, haircuts — you name it.”

Since 1975, the school has produced champions across nearly every professional racing series, from Formula 1 to the Indy 500, the Daytona 500, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Rolex 24, and the 12 Hours of Sebring. Celebrities like Paul Newman, Jerry Seinfeld and Tom Cruise also honed their driving skills under Barber’s tutelage.

Through its defensive driving programs, the school has saved countless lives on public roads and profoundly impacted the sport by training an entire generation of mechanics, engineers, administrators and marketing specialists.

Barber sold the school in 1999 but continued working there until 2001.

In 1983, Barber spearheaded a group of investors to purchase Lime Rock Park, eventually becoming sole owner. In 2021, he sold the track to a like-minded group of investors committed to preserving Lime Rock’s legacy, and remains a significant shareholder and an active member of the management team.