imgn tht

A few years ago my wife purchased a Richard Petty Nascar drive for my father-in-law and myself to be held at the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet. It was loads of fun and we wanted to go back. So last Christmas my wife got us the Mario Andretti racing so we could try open wheel. Instead of driving it ourselves though we went for the ride along instead. I have to say it was just as much fun without all the work. Get in, sit down, shut up and hold on pretty much sums it up...

Here's me in the racing gear waiting my turn.


I was told the ride along cars go to 160 mph. The way these things pulled off pit lane was incredible. We blew by other amateur drivers on the back stretch probably doing 130+ at the time like they were standing still, all while being mere feet from the outside walls. And the high banking turns was a weird feeling and sort of messed with my vision on where to focus, especially since my body was slammed against the right side of the car and my head was struggling to stay upright.

The crew that work these events are top notch from both my experiences and they work it perfect unison. It was over quick which is probably the only drawback in my opinion, but I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.



The parking lot even had some cool cars. Saw three Corvettes...one of which I think is a member here...Electron Blue C5 Z06 with Corbeau seats, blue 5-point harness and "ZO SIX" Rt 66 plates. Wish I knew who it was so I could give a Corvette wave and say hello . The others were a Red C6 Z06 and a Yellow C6 conv. I was there around 9am-10am. Great day overall and something I will remember for a long time.

I parked between a Mclaren and a Porsche.

logansrun73

Here is a picture of me... Mine was done by NASCAR at the Joliet speedway. I drove by myself and they even let me pass slower traffic I was on the track for like 10 minutes and my top speed was 151.4.. They had the cars restricted for my group if I had more laps under my belt with a different package I could have went faster it was an awesome experience and I also have a video from the in car camera. I would do it again!!!!

Stilcrazee

My son and I did the Nascar experience, both driving by ourselves, last summer. It was great. wasn't until we got dressed and in line my son figured out he'd be getting a crash course in manual transmission. He had never driven one before. They didn't pr couldn't come up with one, of what they told us they had, a car for taller folks and sandwiched or crammed me into a car. I managed to beat my son by 1/100 of a mph for top speed just under 148.
Took me almost 5 minutes to pry myself out of car.

imgn tht

Haha...I was like your son when we did the Nascar drive a few years back. I've driven manual cars in the past, but they were VERY limited experiences and about 15 years prior. I knew the essentials, and you don't down shift anyway, but I did struggle to get it out of 1st gear. My biggest fear was stalling the car in front of all those onlookers. When I got in the car they asked if my feet can reach the pedals (I'm 5'10"), and they could. What they should have asked was if my arm could reach the shifter...barely after they tightened up the harnesses. So off I go on pit lane, and I go from 1st to 4th. Doh... Be it the reach, inexperience, nervousness, or all of the above. In any case, with the voice of my spotter in my ear, I got the car back into 1st, and then properly up through the rest of the gears to a successful run. I managed 134.xx and my father-in-law was 149.8x. Yeah, I was not fast in comparison, but for my first time and the limited exposure to the experience, I was satisfied.

logansrun73

I did stall it the first time felt like an idiot if I stalled second time I was done... Got it going though.

Quick Silver Z

Cool!

Vetteman Jack

That does sound like a great time.