Car Crashing Clinic is a Crash Course in Cinematic Survival

Sitting In on the Only School of Its Kind

You can attend a class for just about anything in this world. Whether you want to learn how to fight, cook, paint, handle a gun, use a welding torch, operate on the human body, drive a race car, edit a photo, or create a spreadsheet on Microsoft Excel. But there’s only one school that can teach you how to crash.

In late October, I had the privilege of sitting in and observing one of the most unique teaching experiences on a ranch in Stephenville, Texas. The Car Crashing Clinic is a stunt school that teaches students the art of cinematic survival using high-impact resources.

Founded, organized, and taught by professional stuntman Corey Eubanks, utilizing his wealth of knowledge from over 40 years of experience to prepare the next wave of stunt performers in a turbulent industry.

It is the only school of its kind.

The Underappreciated Art of Car Stunts

I often get frustrated with moviegoers and self-proclaimed film buffs when they watch a scene involving a spectacular car stunt and they don’t react.

I’ve sat in theaters wanting to give a standing ovation after seeing a well edited car chase sequence with practical stunts and precision driving. Yet, car stunts are often low on the credits when it comes to cinematic admiration, with top billing going to any actor who can cry on command, colorful makeup, and a director’s ability to yell action after a team of people set everything up.

The art involved in coordinating car stunts should be recognized and appreciated. It’s one of the few artistic endeavors that requires putting a human life on the line every time. Clever camera work and editing will only get you so far if it weren’t for a brave SOB sitting in the driver’s seat, fully prepared to send it for some cash and personal glory.

For people like professional stuntman Corey Eubanks, making a living crashing in front of a camera is more than a job. It’s a lifestyle that comes with the ultimate tax if done incorrectly. With over 40 years of experience beaten into his crash helmet, Eubanks has collected a wealth of knowledge on a very niche subject through a school of literal hard knocks.

People with this level of expertise have an unwritten responsibility to pass it along. It’s the only way humanity can move forward without wasting time making the same mistakes.

Every master eventually needs an apprentice.

Stunt Survival Curriculum

The Car Crashing Clinic is the only stunt school in the world focusing on stunt crashing fundamentals. It provides a hands-on, full-contact experience of the safety and brutal sensation of performing dangerous vehicle stunts like pipe ramps, barrel rolls, cannon rolls, and car jumps, as well as practicing getting out of vehicles under time-sensitive circumstances.

It’s a vital course for anyone new to the stunt industry looking to gain firsthand experience in a safe, controlled environment taught by one of the best in business.

Typically, one would have difficulty finding a way to practice jumping or rolling a car. Short of buying a car, investing in material and labor to install a sturdy roll cage, renting or borrowing a field wide enough to set up a ramp, asking a buddy to stand close by with a fire extinguisher, and hope for the best.

At the Car Crashing Clinic, students get two full days learning the physicality of car stunts. The real benefit comes from being strapped into vehicles fitted with nearly $10,000 worth of steel and getting tossed around like a flapjack to experience the crushing g-force.

One of the tools used to educate is the car jump simulator (the only one in the world). Designed by Corey Eubanks, the simulator provides a view from 20 feet up before being dropped to the earth. If you’ve ever wondered what it feels to land a car after it sailed through the air for 150-200 feet without needing to call AAA, this is the ride for you.

The last lesson of the course involves riding the ultimate mechanical bull – the Brain Shaker! Another creation from the mind of Mr. Eubanks, the Brain Shaker is an all-steel vessel meant to simulate a large wheelbase, heavy vehicle like an SUV or military truck often seen being rolled, crashed, and blown up in action scenes.

The bare metal frame means students get an extreme, harsh experience compared to a stunt-prepped vehicle because there are no body panels to crumble and absorb some of the impacts for the driver.

This gives them the full bore of what it’s like to summersault a Chevy Suburban off a pipe ramp in a safe, controlled environment. The impacts from riding the Brain Shaker are meant to deliver an extreme experience to build a student’s confidence.  

The ideal result from this abuse is that students will leave the clinic mentally prepared for the day a second unit director comes to them and asks, “Can you barrel roll this ice cream truck?”  

Confidence is the goal of the Car Crashing Clinic, and the only way to achieve it is through physical knowledge. Teaching stunt performers how to inspect a roll cage, demand for safety requirements, how to brace and secure safety harnesses for a stunt, and how to get out when after the stunt is over.

Listening to Corey Eubanks’ lectures and stories, you can tell his method of doing things has been inspired by traumatizing experiences on the job.

How Intense Are the Car Crashing Clinic Simulators?

Eubank’s car crashing simulators are no pony ride. One student bravely kept his iPhone in his pocket during the car barrel roll simulator, and it triggered an automated emergency response. His phone was preparing to call 911, thinking he had been in a car accident, which is technically accurate.

That same student would later forget to take his phone out before being strapped into the Brain Shaker. The aftermath he pulled from his pocket was an Apple-branded heap of twisted plastic and shattered glass.

Next Car Crashing Clinic Scheduled for 2025

Corey Eubanks and his team are getting ready to host their 10th Car Crashing Clinic in early 2025. This course is open to anyone with an adventurous curiosity, but seats are limited. Visit Carcrashingclinic.com to learn more about the school’s upcoming dates and rates.

A Different Breed of Athlete

Attending the Car Crashing Clinic as an observer was an absolutely surreal experience. I like to assume I’m the only automotive journalist moonlighting as a car stunt film fanatic. That puts me in a relatively small league. So often, I’m staring into the polite facial expression of someone hearing but not listening as I ramble on about how many Pontiac Trans Am cars were used to film Smokey and the Bandit (1977).  

It doesn’t matter if I’m talking to a car or film buff; it’s rare when I meet someone who “gets it” without me having to give an improvised TED talk to introduce the subject matter.

Spending time at this clinic with Mr. Eubanks and the stunt performers felt like being at Comic-Con dressed in a high-quality Batman suit, taking a selfie with Robert Downey Jr.

The people attending this course are life-sized action figures with resumes that read like adventure novels. Retired military combat veterans, retired and active firefighters, rodeo stars, martial arts experts, extreme sports athletes, gear heads getting an adrenaline fix, and one data analyst on an epic side quest working part-time as a stunt woman.

Their skill levels ranged from industry veterans with several decades of experience to newcomers with less than two years of experience in the stunt business.

It’s the only place where you’ll hear sentences like “I’ve only been set on fire 13 times” or “My collar bone was poking out underneath the skin” with a nonchalant tone while exchanging stories, showing off scars and passing screenshots of X-rays featuring broken bones. Absolutely wonderful people!

Stunt Drivers Steer into the Chaos

Within the diverse world of motorsport, stunt drivers and riders are mechanical mavericks. Every racing driver is determined to avoid a wreck, while a stunt driver steers into the chaos. They don’t follow a racing line or worry about conserving fuel and tires. They have other concerns, like hitting their mark a few feet away from a crowd of camera operators and crew.

They make sure their safety gear is secure enough to keep them in the seat but easy enough to undo to get out when the car is underwater, upside down, or on fire (sometimes all at once).

The only other drivers I know with similar priorities are the cowboys running demolition derby, a story for another time.

So, the next time you see a car or truck flying through the air in a ball of fire while watching a movie or TV show, appreciate the fact that there’s someone in that car taking the hits for our entertainment.