Monday, April 1, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
THE 1995 Mustang GT sedan was doing close to 60 mph when Jeff Payne put it into a skid.
Disregarding the sound of the screaming tires, Payne effortlessly controlled the spin and righted the course of the careening car in the middle of the empty parking lot.
"It's that simple," he said matter-of-factly to his white-knuckled passenger. "You just let the car do the work for you."
Payne, a confident 28-year-old world-class driving instructor, has been in similar skids hundreds of times, sometimes with working-class men and women learning how to get maximum performance on a racetrack and other times with Hollywood celebrities like Tom Cruise and Charlie Sheen.
Speed is important to Payne, but safety is critical. And letting the car do the work will take on a new meaning for him in the months ahead as he and two partners embark on a first-of-its-kind venture in the United States, made possible by some investors with a love for fast cars and the evolution of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway this year.
Payne is vice president of Autopian Motorsports Country Club, an exclusive sports entertainment dream that takes flight later this month with a groundbreaking event featuring VIPs from the professional racing world.
Autopian is an ambitious project with three key components:
* A COUNTRY CLUB for high-rolling Las Vegas visitors who need a place to drive and store the high-powered cars they collect as a hobby.
* A HEADQUARTERS for a varied menu of instructional driving programs. They'll range from precision driving courses for companies that operate fleets of vehicles to competitive formula-car racing for corporate retreats.
* A NATIONAL teenage driver education program called "Street Smarts," a course that combines a safe driving curriculum with drunken-driving awareness programs.
The cornerstone of Autopian will be a three-story, 17,000-square-foot country club overlooking the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a 107,000-seat track under construction north of the city near Nellis Air Force Base.
An April 18 groundbreaking is planned at the six-acre site on the rim of the 1.5-mile track. The company plans to get additional exposure in a booth at the Long Beach Gran Prix April 11-14.
"Their business will bring people in from all over the world," predicted Hugh McDonough, vice president and project coordinator for the speedway. "Japan has a similar program. The idea they came up with is to get foreign drivers to come to Las Vegas and be part of an experience. They have a first-class operation with ties to the Japanese and South American markets."
While Payne's expertise is in cars, the other two cogs in the Autopian team have been key to turning the idea into a reality.
Company President Robert Benson, 27, has worked in marketing sports programs and has been involved in imports and exports with Japan. Fluent in Japanese and currently studying Mandarin Chinese, Benson parlayed business partnerships and friendships he developed in Asia into contacts with serious investors who own race cars.
The Las Vegas connection is Brian Hamm, 29, vice president of marketing, a former hotel manager at Caesars Palace who also worked with Asian markets.
The three partners formed the privately held corporation and lined up investors and an advisory board to provide direction.
Although the partners were concerned their youth would work against them, Payne said one good contact has led to another and their efforts have continued to snowball.
Benson figures Autopian's country club atmosphere and Las Vegas will be a perfect marriage.
"With Las Vegas' international and national clientele, our base of support from our members will be varied and strong," said Benson.
While the large number of Japanese motor enthusiasts could quickly fill many of the 250 club memberships Autopian plans to sell, Payne is encouraged by the response the company has received in its direct mailing to owners of Ferraris and Lamborghinis in the United States. The company received about 1,500 letters and fax responses, about a 16 percent return.
For the membership fee -- the company isn't publicly disclosing what the amount is yet -- club members will get vehicle maintenance and temperature-controlled suites for their cars, special-access tickets and VIP seats for major events at the speedway and access to Autopian's fleet of formula-style race cars.
By providing memberships to a high-rolling clientele, Benson and Hamm expect the country club to have a favorable impact on the Las Vegas economy since well-financed enthusiasts will have a new reason to visit more than once a year.
In addition, the company will set up special programs with local resorts to provide driving classes or racing programs for VIPs.
Payne said Autopian has the facilities to help any company that operates a fleet of vehicles for drivers to sharpen their skills. One resort has already signed on for instruction for its transportation staff.
Autopian also will offer programs designed as corporate incentives with special programs tailored to build motivation and teamwork for corporations that want to put their best employees behind the wheel of a Formula One car.
John Miller, special events manager at USA Hosts Destination Services in Las Vegas, is enthused about the potential of the program.
"It was absolutely phenomenal," Miller said of his afternoon of racing in a special promotion about a year ago.
"The instructors were so laid back as we went through the turns," he said. "It was a lot of fun ... probably more fun for me, since I won."
Formula programs will range in price from $325 for a three-hour introductory course to $2,000 for a three-day program that includes 12 lapping sessions.
Payne said a program already is planned for the summer involving several employees from various airlines who will participate in a three-day school and a driving competition.
A dozen Formula One race cars will be on hand when the club is operational late in the summer. Six already are on order from Argo Racing.
Autopian's racing vehicles will be European Formula 3000 cars. Payne said the cars are to actual Indy cars what Triple-A baseball is to the major leagues -- a slight step below the top level.
The cars are about seven-eighths the size of Indy racers, have a single seat, a 170-horsepower engine and a top speed of about 160 mph. They would retail for about $46,000 on the open market.
Other equipment is being provided to the school at low rates or no cost because suppliers recognize the value in exposing enthusiasts to their products.
Before turning motorists loose on the tracks at the speedway, Autopian instructors will train drivers in vehicle dynamics and car-control techniques in addition to racing theory.
That's how Payne has hooked up with Hollywood actors. Stars have sought him out for instruction in preparation for their roles.
Similar training is a part of the Street Smart program for teen drivers. The one-day $450 course emphasizes car control and accident avoidance techniques. Payne considers the Street Smart program to be a community involvement effort. He said he has made contact with driver safety programs in several states and already has received positive responses from many groups that hope to tie in to the company's defensive driving education programs.
Payne expects that program alone to initiate hundreds of more skids he'll help control.
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