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Richard Petty Experiance...

Discussion in 'SportsTalk' started by PantherFanz, Apr 15, 2005.

  1. PantherFanz

    PantherFanz Go Panthers

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    So I am on vacation this week. Well I call it that, but I am busy painting every wall in my house and attending to the needs of a 3 year old boy and a 7 1/2 month pregnant wife so vacation may be more of symbolic word.

    Well much to my surprise the boss man calls me yesterday and said what you doing. I said I am working for the family this week. He said put the paint brush down and head out to Lowes Speedway and take a car out for a spin. My company picked 40 people to do the Rookie Experiance at the Richard Petty school over at the speedway and I was one of them. Needless to say the bathroom I was painting at the time is going to need some work, but off I went. For those that I never done this here is a breakdown of how it went.

    Wow it the word I have for it. The Rookie Experiance is basically 8 laps in one of the Richard Petty modified cars. (Fiberglass body, NASCAR Nextel Cup engine tuned down to 600hp and curb weight of 3500lbs) First lap is a break in lab between 100-120 mph and the final lap is a cool down, so you get 6 fast laps. At this level the lowest lap time they will let you do is 43.00 or 145mph if you can.

    The whole deal is done pretty well. You drive to the media center in the infield at the race track and get signed in. They have two forms created by lawyers to sign, but that business lasts about 10 minutes and off to wardrobe. Put on your jump suit and sit through a Richard Petty video and then they give you a 20 minute introduction and go over some ground rules. Then off to pit road you go. They broke our group of 40 into 4 teams and we went over the harness system, gear box, steering wheel and all the safety systems. Even gave me good tips about getting my large ass into a car through the window. Just for reference, if you are over 225 pounds you will be driving Tony Stewarts car. If you are a chick, you will be driving Kyle Petty's car. Well unless you are a really large chick. But I digress

    Next they load us into a van with one of the instructors and we do a drive around the track. They have a lot of aides, entry into turn #1 and turn #3 has a single orange cone that signifies letting off the gas. Coming out of turns #2 and #4 they have two green cones that mean punch it. They also have a bunch of white marks through the turn and on the front dogleg strech that you can use as guides. They also like to take the van with 10 people loaded in it and stop on the 24 degree bank on turn 3. I about crushed a little sales rep sitting next to me.

    After that it is a driver meeting where they go over the flag system. When you go out on the track you have an instructor driver in front of you. They want you to remain 2-4 car lengths behind him at all times. If you get too close the driver will give you a wave off hand sign. That is a lot tougher then it sounds over 120 mph. So the flags work as follows.

    Solid green - GO!
    Rolled green - You are too far back, close the cap
    Yellow - You are too close for too many laps, back off
    Blue w/Yellow line - You tried to pass the instructor, don't do it again
    White with a Red 4 - Get into 4th gear Miss Daisey
    Checkered - Self explanatory

    When it is your turn to drive you get all the safety gear complete with one of the neck stabalizing units from Simpson and they stuff you in the car. Here I am loaded into Tony Stewarts car fully dressed in the fire suit and helmet. I hit the start button on the left and crank the engine up. It was such a different perspective to be one of the gentlemen starting the engines for a change. Crew chief tells me to shift into first and wait for the instructor driver to roll.

    My instructor was driving the #40 Coors Light car, so he takes off and I follow him out of pit road onto the apron on turn #1. They run 4 rotations of instructor/rookie pairs around the track at any given time and they also had 3 cars doing 165mph ride along runs so as you exit pit road into the apron there is a little traffic. The trio of pro drivers doing the ride along experiance were coming out of turn 2 as I was drifing into the back strech and blew by me on the right side. Scared the living shit out of me cause you do not hear them until they are right on you. So once we get passed the instructor goes to the outside wall on the back strech and we enter turn #3. The first lap I am making the first common mistake. Worrying about the orange cones and the white hash marks. I was probably 10 car lengths away from my instructor driver and get the rolled up green from the flag stand as I go through the front strech. I did learn that just like the NASCAR video game, you do drive a straight line through the dogleg at Lowes. The turn is an optical illusion

    So into lap 2 I think I am going fast, but I am still a lot further back from the lead driver and again the flag stand gives me a rolled green. Well going into turn #1 on lap 3 I said to hell with the orange cone. They want me to tailgate this guy, I am going to do it. So I just gassed the bitch all through the turn. My instructor speed up and I then began to feel what speed was like on the backstrech. I came into tun #3 probably around 125mph this time and turning left took on a whole new meaning. It is amazing how the car just wants to dive into the turns. I have totally forgotten all about the little marks and cones and my only goal is to see my lead drivers face mask in his rear view mirror. Going into turn #1 on lap 4 we are racing. I get close, he speeds up to draw me on. On my last lap I must have entered turn #3 at 145mph or so because it was just amazing how fast things got. Just when you get comfortable with the car and focused you get the checkered flag and you are done. It is amazing how quick 12 miles can go down.

    Back to the pits I come and out of the car and fire suit and watch my co-workers do thier work. It was a great time to spend 4 hours at the speedway hanging around the pits with a dozen cars zooming around and everyone just into it. After everyone was done we went back to the media center for a close ceremony and got our certificate and lap times. I was not the fastest, but I was into the top 20%. Fastest lap time was 44.63 with an avg speed of 137mph. Our best did 140mph with a 43.40 time.

    Too me an average speed of 137mph with a possible max around 145-150mph was damn fast in one of those cars. Considering Ryan Newman set a qualifying record last year with an avg speed of 189mph and race day laps are around 155-160mph average speed in traffic for 500-600 miles I just got a whole new dose of respect for those drivers.

    If you have the means and ability to do it, I highly recommend doing the Petty driving experiance. It is without a doubt one of the more memorable things I will ever do..
     
    Last edited: Apr 15, 2005
  2. DaveW

    DaveW Super Moderator

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    thats awesome. My brother got to drive 30 laps for free. He used to know someone that worked out there. Hard to believe the cup drivers get around there in about 35 seconds huh?
     
  3. vpkozel

    vpkozel Professional Calvinballer

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    In traffic.
     
  4. DaveW

    DaveW Super Moderator

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    no doubt...thats why everyone should go see a live race at least once. tv does racing no justice.
     
  5. QueenCityHillbilly

    QueenCityHillbilly Bitch, I Will Kill You

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    Richard Petty sounds like a good time. I've never driven the stock car, but I rode around the track with Jeff Burton for three laps one time. That was badass.

    I did, however drive a 15 passenger van around the track for 2 laps a few years ago.
     
  6. PantherFanz

    PantherFanz Go Panthers

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    Nice gift, that is $1250
     
  7. sadic1

    sadic1 Full Access Member

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    I found that out last year.

    That was a great description of the Richard Petty Driving Experience, PantherFanz. I wanted to do it anyway, but now I REALLY want to do it.
     
  8. Cattrax

    Cattrax Senior Member

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    I did it several years ago and it is awesome.

    I also had the opportunity to ride around the track with Kyle. Looking out the side window gives you a good idea of the speed you are going. Amazing.
     
  9. QueenCityHillbilly

    QueenCityHillbilly Bitch, I Will Kill You

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    Even though I hate the #20, this is the best part of the story.
     
  10. chipshot

    chipshot Full Access Member

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    a freind is looking to give her fiance this as a wedding gift, that reminded me I'm supposed to do some research for her
     

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