After suffering the loss of his Mother-In-Law from a “distracted driver” collision, Matt came to B.R.A.K.E.S. at the very beginning to help Doug get the driving school started and run the charity. He was a natural fit having spent his entire adult life working as a professional driver/instructor. Matt has instructed for the Bob Bondurant school, Skip Barber and Jim Russell Racing schools plus worked for various car manufacturers designing and managing their dynamic driving events. He has competed on road courses, ovals and dirt tracks winning 3 driver championships and has trained some of the biggest names in the sport: Dale Earnhardt Sr., Bill Elliott and Jeff Gordon to name a few.
"I'm sure you hear this a lot, but, my son took your training 4 years ago...tonight he called me after skidding and avoiding a serious accident, quite shaken he said "thanks for the BRAKES training" Thanks to all of you that volunteer and to Doug , know that it's working and you are saving countless lives."
-Kris Jones
"Thank you for forwarding Emma's letter to me. It looked like she wrote straight from her heart and that is what is most important !!!........her handwriting is another story :-O Very honestly, I was immensely impressed by the amount of thought and effort that everyone at BRAKES put into the course. When we first arrived, just seeing the untold number of cones set up along the course routes was an eye opener. At age 55, I would have approached each of the exercises with real trepidation. I can only imagine what was going through the students minds when they were asked to hop in the drivers seat and hit the pedal !! In the end, what said it all, though, were the smiles on the student's faces as they completed their respective sections of the course. If you gave them the option to keep driving for another three hours, I don't believe you would have had any of the students turn down your offer. Again, please thank everyone at BRAKES for a job well done and for bringing the program to Ocoee. "
-Brian K
