https://www.groupon.com/deals/nascar-racing-experience-17-wilmington-newark
DD#1 just gave me "The Practice" package for my birthday. It's 3 hours of classroom and in-car training, followed by 5 minutes of no-lead-car, no-instructor, passing-allowed timed laps. My local track is The Monster Mile. Should be fun!
Anybody ever do this, or similar?
I did the Xtreme Xperience at NOLA Motorsports Park last month. I was grinning like an idiot all day. It's not cheap, but I can't recommend it enough. I drove a GT-R for three laps, then drove a 911 GT3 for another three laps. I left with a hardcopy photo and a USB key with video of both drives, one shot in the cabin and one out the windscreen. Probably not as big a deal if you're already doing track days in your own car, but I loved every minute. I was there for a corporate event - on one hand, it's a little pricey for what you get, but on the other, I've done less memorable stuff what that same amount of cash. There is a feeling that protecting the cars is the primary goal, and it does feel a little like a theme park ride, but I'd have paid my own money to go. http://www.thextremexperience.com
Also last month, I did a 1-hour class in the Land Rover Experience at the Biltmore. Same thing - I was grinning like an idiot for the rest of the day. I think the Land Rover Experience class is a better value. The instruction seems to be more authentic - you're really taking a class, not just getting the "thrill of driving on the track." The instructor I had was really positive, wasn't trying to sell me a Land Rover, and talked about how to leverage the skills from the event in other kinds of vehicles. At one point, I was to take a sharp downhill off camber right turn across a deep rut. He let me work out the line, and when my rears slid down the hill sideways into a rut, banging the surprisingly stout running boards into the mud wall of the rut, the instructor said, "good!" I asked if I'd hurt the truck, and he said "Oh no, if you'd hurt it, the airbags would have fired." I really think I learned something from this course, and I'd like to go back and take the longer course at some point. http://www.biltmore.com/visit/things-to-do/outdoor-activities/land-rover
5 min. ?
I did the Rusty Wallace NASCAR experience last year. The 5 minutes on track go by really quickly and they try real hard to upsell you into buying more time (with a higher rev limiter) for a LOT more money. I refrained but could see guys dropping hundreds of dollars on "just a little more". I did 149.89 mph on the Kentucky Speedway.
Glad I did it, glad it was a gift, would rather spend that much on a HPDE day in the Miata.
I did a Track Time school at MIS about 15 or so years ago. Lots of fun.
day went like this:
1 hour classroom, Laps in a rental car with instructor, More class room, laps in rental car (or your own) without instructor @ 80mph. Breif classroom then 10 laps in Race car, no lead follow or instructor. My last couple laps were in the rain! 
Sweet! Have a great time. It's on my bucket list. My wife bought me a "gift card" to do it for my 30th b-day...a very long time ago. I wound up trading it in for 2 HPDE days. I swore I'd get back to it, and haven't yet. But I will do it sometime, just for the experience.
My friend is an instructor...and now big wig...for Xtreme. He's a board member here too, goes by Mental. So I'll second the recommendation and give him a free plug. I've taken my sons there to do it and they had a blast. Not many 8 and 11 year old kids can say they've gone 150mph in a Lambo.
wbjones wrote: 5 min. ?
5 minutes is what you get alone in the car on the open track with the rest of the students. Before that there are laps where you're in right seat with the instructor driving, and then more laps where you're in the left seat with the instructor coaching. Then they let you out on course for 5 minutes of timed laps, passing permitted, with the instructor coaching over the radio.
It's Dover, so I figure I'll get about 8-10 laps in 5 minutes.
First time I jumped in a stock car was the Fast Track School under the lights at Charlotte. Friggin' Awesome! Since then I've been to Rockingham and Bristol. Bristol is a must do, but the laps go by so fast, it just leaves you wanting more. That first time you push on that pedal, what a rush!
I did the rusty wallace one. the cars were dumpy, the crew was kinda dumpy and rude. my wife got me the 15 lap race experience where they assume you know how to drive so you get a driver's meeting, a couple pace laps, and they let you at it. it was a blast but nowhere near as professional an operation as i expected.
I did the Holden V8 Supercar driving experience a few years back in Australia thanks to a gift from a friend. They had the car pretty badly handicapped, with slicks on the back and road tires on the front plus a detuned engine. It was fun enough, but an HPDE is more fun.
We did the Andretti-Gordon one down at Atlanta a few years back. I was kind of surprised how easy it was. The rev limiter held you to 150 MPH average laps. I've had commutes to the airport that took more concentration/skill.
patgizz wrote: I did the rusty wallace one. the cars were dumpy, the crew was kinda dumpy and rude. my wife got me the 15 lap race experience where they assume you know how to drive so you get a driver's meeting, a couple pace laps, and they let you at it. it was a blast but nowhere near as professional an operation as i expected.
While it may have felt safe and sound, stuff can happen at speed. This was a month after I did my "experience".
You'll need to log in to post.
