A Driving Experience

              My crew chief touched me on the shoulder and said “it’s time to go”. I stepped over the yellow pit road wall and strode toward my number 27 “State Water Heater” Chevrolet. After connecting the straps of the HANS device that sits on my shoulders to the rear of my helmet to prevent my head from snapping forward in case of a head on impact with the retaining wall, I swung my right leg through the window opening and stretched it down through the cockpit onto the floor in front of the seat. Following with my left leg, I slid the rest of my body through the small opening and down into the narrow confines of the high backed racing seat. The four inch shoulder belts came together at my waist with the two side belts and the crotch strap to create what’s called the five point safety harness. My upper torso felt as if it was now a part of the car only able to move wherever and whenever it moved. 
           The steering wheel is slipped onto the steering column and pinned. It has to be unhooked and removed in order to create enough room to get in and out of the car. I shift the four speed transmission into 1st gear causing a green light on the dash to illuminate, the ignition switch on the dash is flipped into the on position and with a touch of the start switch the 700 horse power Chevy engine roars to life. I feel the vibrations of the awesome power of the engine as it flows back through the steel roll cage and courses through my body. My car chief sticks his head around the window net, tugs one more time on my belts and asks “are you ready?” I nod my head and give him thumbs up. For a split second I feel like a kid who readies himself for that first roller coaster ride and the amusement park guy clicks the bar down in front of you and you think to yourself “what in the world am I doing here?”.

         Joyce and I drove through the tunnel which leads to the infield of the Charlotte Motor Speedway. In thirty minutes I was to begin my “Rookie Experience” at the Richard Petty Driving School. This package deal gets you an instructional class on driving an official Sprint Cup stock car and eight laps around the famed mile and a half oval. I have always wanted to do this, but had never even sat in a race car before much less driven one by myself.

          After check in, where I turned in my two page waiver form which required me to promise not to sue the school or the track and advised me many times that I could be seriously hurt of killed by participating in this program, I was handed a driver uniform which I anticipated would be of those one size fits all things that wouldn’t even come close to fitting my tall but slim frame. Once I got it on and zipped it up I was amazed at how well it fit and actually looked pretty darn good. As you know style points are important in these situations

         There were twelve of us in my group, eleven guys and one girl. I was the oldest of the group; the youngest was a red headed kid being I guessed about sixteen. About half of the guys had done it before and knew what to expect. I listened closely to their conversations to try to pick up any bits of information that might help me out on the track. Our crew chief for the day was a young girl named Laura who was an aspiring pro driver who had been driving for several years and was looking for her big break like so many others like her. She put us through the paces with some verbal instruction and then a couple of safety related videos just in case something would go wrong. She made it a point to assure us that driving these things wasn’t that difficult. Just get out there and go fast!
          I was the last one in my group to go out. After being strapped in and the car being fired up, it was time to go. My instructor’s car sat on pit road a few car lengths in front of me. We had been instructed to follow in his tire tracks three car lengths back at all times. Lights mounted on the rear of his car would blink green if we lagged too far behind and yellow if we got too close. I was to shift through the gears at 4000 RPM. Be careful coming up off the flat apron of the track on to the banked racing surface. Be sure to lift off the gas at the entrance to the turns and roll through the corners. Back on the accelerator at about half way through the turns and don’t forget the dogleg on the front stretch. By the way, the suspension is set up to turn left so when you’re going down the straight-aways you’ll have steer toward the wall to keep it straight. Don’t forget to do a brake check as you come off the track onto pit road and knock the car out of gear so you won’t run over the guy flagging you in to your pit stall fifty yards down pit road. I remembered what Laura had said “It’s not that difficult. Just get out there and go fast!”

My biggest fan!

             I slowly released the clutch and the car rolled off down pit road, I shifted quickly into 2nd gear and then into 3rd just at the end of pit road. Following the apron at the bottom of the track we headed off through turn one and down the backstretch still on the apron but building speed. About halfway down the straight I saw my instructor’s car pitch up onto the racing surface. Following his lead I reached for the shifter and pulled it back into 4th and mashed the gas. I have to tell you, from that point on everything became a blur. As we circled the track my eyes were glued to the back of his car, concentrating on his line, trying to stay in line. For the first few laps all I remember is the turn numbers painted on the walls in big black letters and the flashing green lights on the back of my instructors car urging me to go faster and close up the gap between us. At about half way through, I started to feel the sensation of speed and the power of the car as I punched the accelerator coming off the turns and wondering how was it sticking and not shooting me up towards the wall.

             With each lap things began to slow down in my head and I began to get a little rhythm and finally the green lights went out, telling me I was up to speed and turning fast laps at over 120 miles an hour. Just as I was starting to get the feel of what I was doing, we passed under the flag stand where the checkered flag was flying. It was over.     
             All that was left was the cool down lap and remembering my instructions for hitting pit road. As I pulled to a stop the car chief dropped the window net, shut the car down and began unbuckling my belts. “How was it” he said. “Great” I replied.
              I had done something I could have only dreamed of before. This day had been a prime example of what my new life is all about. New challenges, new experiences, and a new found understanding of just how special these times are and how much I love my new life and those who share it with me!