I just made reservations for tomorrow morning at Disney World....Going to drive a Stock car 8 laps...it's about a 1/2 day of training before you get in the car.
www.1800BEPETTY.COM
I want to do the KING experience (30 laps / All Day) at Talledega or Charlotte.
Richard Petty Driving Experience
Moderator: hemingray
Richard Petty Driving Experience
The last words spoken before a YouTube video is filmed: "Hold my beer, now watch this..."
Regards,
Ken Hower
RTF Director
http://www.rubicontrail.org/
Regards,
Ken Hower
RTF Director
http://www.rubicontrail.org/
Wow. That's all I gotta say. That was one of the most bad ass experiences....Ever.
We got there at 7:30AM. They show you a nice video, mainly flags to remember and hand signals. Richard and Kyle do it...and it's entertaining...only 5 min.
Then we headed outside to go over the car and then popped in a van (there were 2 van loads, about 6 drivers in each). The instructor then took us around the track, show us the line, brake points, gas points....always reminding us to maintain distance. (about 3 car lengths) from our instructor.
This took awhile to go around the track....then they took us on a high speed run around the track in the van.
The recommend the 3 lap ride along prior to driving our laps. In my case, I bought 8 laps. They recommend it, so you can gain an idea of grip and handling. It was WORTH IT. It normally costs 99 bucks for 3 laps, but if you drive, it's 79. It proved well worth it, as I wasn't worried about grip on the turns at all because I just was in the car going about 20MPH fast and didn't even hear squeal.
After the ride along....you wait. Each instructor takes out 1 driver. So there were 2 drivers on the track most of the time. You are spaced out, so that unless you're slower...you won't run into them. They tell you all morning long...no passing. But at the end of the orientation in the van, the instructor said...Ok...I lied. If we run into a slow car, we will pass them...and then they explained how.
Before you head out.....it's a quick photo op.
On the track.....Holy crap. First of all...you have about a million things to remember, and it's TOUGH to remember it all....flags, hand signals, shifting points, brake points, gas points, entering pits, shift into neutral, coasting, parking, fire extinguisher and oh....Don't forget the HUGE red OIL LIGHT!! (Which by the way, I have NO MEMORY of seeing!). Finally....they stress over and OVER...DO NOT BURN OUT IN THE PITS.....BUT, you have to rev the car to 2500RPM before engaging the clutch! I ended up NOT getting the green light (which tells you your revs are enough to go)....but I slowly let out the clutch at 2000RPM and it didn't stall or chirp...all was good.
Once down the pits....I was supposed to shift into 2nd....but the dang throw and pattern is so F'ing short and I had no time to try it...I promptly dumped it into 4th....but the 600HP engine didn't mind.
Out on the track....it's IMMEDIATELY clear, there's a huge stagger and camber, because you have the wheel yanked to the right just to go straight....it pulls HARD. But man...when you hit the first turn....Woosh, it dives right down and just screams around the corner.
On my 2nd lap...I came up on the other driver...a middle aged English woman...the only woman in the group. I had to follow her for 1/2 the lap till the front stretch, and then we passed her. Because of this...I got another lap for free. The instructor was slowly building speed.
I asked in advance...."what's a high end speed to expect?" and the girl in the pits said anything over 122 on your first time on this track is good. The laps were going away quickly...I totally felt like I could go faster....on Lap 6...I ran into her AGAIN!! But this time, it was out of turn 1 on the backstretch, which is the longest part of the track...and I went right past her with no slow down.
On the final lap, I hit 123. Another guy, went 121 on his first 8 laps...then bought 8 more and got to 123. So I felt pretty good...other than the horrible shifting.
It was amazing.....The tracks I would love to do it....They have 4 days in April at Indianapolis (reservations are way in advance) and they also do it at Daytona and Talladega.
After I finished....I got Lori a 3 lap ride along. I could hear her tell the driver....I love rock crawling on my quad....I hear him go..."ROCK CRAWLING?"
I'll post more pics later.
We got there at 7:30AM. They show you a nice video, mainly flags to remember and hand signals. Richard and Kyle do it...and it's entertaining...only 5 min.
Then we headed outside to go over the car and then popped in a van (there were 2 van loads, about 6 drivers in each). The instructor then took us around the track, show us the line, brake points, gas points....always reminding us to maintain distance. (about 3 car lengths) from our instructor.
This took awhile to go around the track....then they took us on a high speed run around the track in the van.
The recommend the 3 lap ride along prior to driving our laps. In my case, I bought 8 laps. They recommend it, so you can gain an idea of grip and handling. It was WORTH IT. It normally costs 99 bucks for 3 laps, but if you drive, it's 79. It proved well worth it, as I wasn't worried about grip on the turns at all because I just was in the car going about 20MPH fast and didn't even hear squeal.
After the ride along....you wait. Each instructor takes out 1 driver. So there were 2 drivers on the track most of the time. You are spaced out, so that unless you're slower...you won't run into them. They tell you all morning long...no passing. But at the end of the orientation in the van, the instructor said...Ok...I lied. If we run into a slow car, we will pass them...and then they explained how.
Before you head out.....it's a quick photo op.
On the track.....Holy crap. First of all...you have about a million things to remember, and it's TOUGH to remember it all....flags, hand signals, shifting points, brake points, gas points, entering pits, shift into neutral, coasting, parking, fire extinguisher and oh....Don't forget the HUGE red OIL LIGHT!! (Which by the way, I have NO MEMORY of seeing!). Finally....they stress over and OVER...DO NOT BURN OUT IN THE PITS.....BUT, you have to rev the car to 2500RPM before engaging the clutch! I ended up NOT getting the green light (which tells you your revs are enough to go)....but I slowly let out the clutch at 2000RPM and it didn't stall or chirp...all was good.
Once down the pits....I was supposed to shift into 2nd....but the dang throw and pattern is so F'ing short and I had no time to try it...I promptly dumped it into 4th....but the 600HP engine didn't mind.
Out on the track....it's IMMEDIATELY clear, there's a huge stagger and camber, because you have the wheel yanked to the right just to go straight....it pulls HARD. But man...when you hit the first turn....Woosh, it dives right down and just screams around the corner.
On my 2nd lap...I came up on the other driver...a middle aged English woman...the only woman in the group. I had to follow her for 1/2 the lap till the front stretch, and then we passed her. Because of this...I got another lap for free. The instructor was slowly building speed.
I asked in advance...."what's a high end speed to expect?" and the girl in the pits said anything over 122 on your first time on this track is good. The laps were going away quickly...I totally felt like I could go faster....on Lap 6...I ran into her AGAIN!! But this time, it was out of turn 1 on the backstretch, which is the longest part of the track...and I went right past her with no slow down.
On the final lap, I hit 123. Another guy, went 121 on his first 8 laps...then bought 8 more and got to 123. So I felt pretty good...other than the horrible shifting.
It was amazing.....The tracks I would love to do it....They have 4 days in April at Indianapolis (reservations are way in advance) and they also do it at Daytona and Talladega.
After I finished....I got Lori a 3 lap ride along. I could hear her tell the driver....I love rock crawling on my quad....I hear him go..."ROCK CRAWLING?"
I'll post more pics later.
The last words spoken before a YouTube video is filmed: "Hold my beer, now watch this..."
Regards,
Ken Hower
RTF Director
http://www.rubicontrail.org/
Regards,
Ken Hower
RTF Director
http://www.rubicontrail.org/
Sounds like you're going on the circuit now!
Sounds like an awesome experience. The steering bit is something I never would have thought about, but it makes sense. Thanks for the write-up, what a blast!
Sounds like an awesome experience. The steering bit is something I never would have thought about, but it makes sense. Thanks for the write-up, what a blast!
Wherever I go, there I am
Paynes Creek 2016!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
16 Yamaha Wolverine R-Spec EPS SE
09 Yamaha Grizzly 700 FI 4x4 EPS
Paynes Creek 2016!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
16 Yamaha Wolverine R-Spec EPS SE
09 Yamaha Grizzly 700 FI 4x4 EPS
hemingray wrote:The steering bit is something I never would have thought about, but it makes sense.
Well...I have a story about that. In 1997, a friend of mine, Dave Sparks created an Online NASCAR racing league together called OSCAR. We were using the game NASCAR Racing 3, by Papyrus. It became the largest Online Racing league in the world. We had 1,400 racers racing every week online. Some of our racers...Bob Tway, the golfer....John Vander Wal, baseball player. One of our early rejected drivers....Dale Jr. Yes...we turned down Little E.
In 1999, Papyrus began testing a new version, NASCAR 4 that had a real physics model, ie: Cars could leave the ground. Previous versions...the tires couldn't leave the ground. One of the biggest complaints in testing this new version, was the horrible pull to the left. No one could believe it was "that bad", since we had never driven a real car. Enter Dale Jr and Kevin Harvick, who were hired to test with us. (That's how I was able to confirm with him, it really was him we turned down).
In any event, one of the things Dale confirmed to us...was the pull to the left was REAL and was accurate. Well....I can now say I really felt it...and it's true.
The last words spoken before a YouTube video is filmed: "Hold my beer, now watch this..."
Regards,
Ken Hower
RTF Director
http://www.rubicontrail.org/
Regards,
Ken Hower
RTF Director
http://www.rubicontrail.org/
Used to play Nascar 4 with friends at work, but we got bored with the racing so played demolition-style instead. If you do head-on collisions at 200MPH it's great fun. The physics aren't right, but who cares, it's fun launching cars 100' into the air while flipping and barrel rolling, hit the ground, and then driving out of it. 
Yeah...once the cars were in the air, the physics were off. Remember, the game was designed for racing physics, not crashing. If you race online, they patched the flying physics so that it didn't do that.
So, if you watch the credits...I'm in there.
So, if you watch the credits...I'm in there.
The last words spoken before a YouTube video is filmed: "Hold my beer, now watch this..."
Regards,
Ken Hower
RTF Director
http://www.rubicontrail.org/
Regards,
Ken Hower
RTF Director
http://www.rubicontrail.org/
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 45 guests