offers some unintended lessons.

The two-part course wanders across a subtly undulating layer of asphalt. Two laps through the first section get the tires howling through slaloms and lane changes. Into the second half, the car is allowed to stretch its legs and exercise a few more of the 200 ponies under the hood. Our Tornado shines.

Those undulations take their toll on other drivers and cars though. One unfortunate competitor encountered a particular bump near the end of the course that had not bothered too many before him. Sailing along, the Cadillac CTS-V hit the buckled section of pavement--and every airbag in the car deployed. A rollback was required to haul the car off to the dealership for repairs.

Knowing how your car will handle in all situations improves times on the track and protects both driver and passengers. In Dover, victory was ours. After seven runs, the best time was 77.157 seconds--more than two seconds ahead of second place in G-Stock.

Those behind the wheel at these events are not all licensed drivers, though. Pete Schaible organizes the junior racers, with kids as young as five hitting the same track as the big guys. Driving one-cylinder karts, these pint-sized competitors learn sportsmanship and vehicle control. And if you think they're just playing, you've never met one of these kids. From the youngest driver to the adults in their shifter karts, these competitors are every bit as serious as the guys spending thousands to upgrade their Corvettes and Mitsubishis. When Vickie and her nine-horsepower kart lapped the course two to three seconds faster than half of the stock classes, the car drivers took notice. I even told her father that I'd trust this 10-year-old girl to drive me around before I'd trust most licensed drivers on the road today. They are serious... and seriously good.

The kind of focus needed to spank 250-horsepower cars in a kart powered by a tiny two-stroke engine wakes you up. We take driving too casually in this country. Driver's education is too easy. Licenses are treated as a right and not a privilege. If we could get more people on autocross courses, we might reduce the rate of highway accidents.

I'd like to bring Mr. Gordon out to an autocross to show him just what I've learned since tooling around town in his Oldsmobile Ciera during my own driver's ed days. I hope he would be impressed.