For my 35th birthday, JoAnn bought me the
King's Experience with the
Richard Petty driving experience. This basically consists of 18 laps around California Speedway in a stock car. The entire time is spent following closely behind an instructor who sets the pace and the driving line.
Thursday night we packed up and headed out towards
California Speedway in Fontana, California to spend the night closer the to racetrack. That way we wouldn't have to brave the Los Angeles rush hour traffic early Friday morning. We got to the inside track around 7:30 am. I immediately signed all necessary forms, changed into my suit and prepared for a short introduction speech by the instructors.
Once the class instruction was over, we headed out in large passenger vans around the track. The instructors showed us the lines, the brake zones, cones, flag stand and exit & entry points on the track. After taking photos with a car, we then had some quick instruction standing next to the car. Following that, we had another drivers meeting!
ARTICLE PHOTOS
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After all of the instruction, I finally drove eight laps following roughly 3-5 car lengths behind my instructor. The car was extremely loud, always wanted to turn left and vibrated like nothing else. The windshield had a nasty glare, the restraints and the Hans device didn't allow me to move in my seat or look around much at all.
After everyone took their first eight laps, we had another drivers meeting and got to take our final ten laps. During the last ten laps, I turned a 50 second lap hitting an average speed of about 146 MPH. Keep in mind that the instructor dictates the speed and NASCAR doesn't allow them to go more than a certain speed. Once everyone finished those laps, we had a quick ceremony and was able to purchase photos.
The whole experience was really quite fun! I look forward to trying the
Mario Andretti Racing School at the California Speedway. They also offer
Drivetech Racing School,
Fastrack Riders,
Skip Barber Racing School,
CalSpeed Karting and
The Racing Experience at this track.
Videos below include the first drive away, a lap section, one lap and driving up.
ARTICLE VIDEOS
Right click on the thumbnail (and open or save target as) to view a large 640x480 size video.
