Richard Petty Driving Experience

Capt.Flock · Post by **Capt.Flock** » March 5, 2007 11:04 am

I did the ride along this weekend in Las Vegas. Words cannot describe the feeling of being in that car doing 165 down the track. Next step is to actually do the driving part.
I will have to say I more respect for those drivers now.

buffettbride · Post by **buffettbride** » March 5, 2007 11:08 am

Vroom Vroom race cars go fast!

johnson2113 · Post by **johnson2113** » March 5, 2007 11:10 am

My brother in law did it a couple of years. Just standing down there watching gave me more respect for it. It looked like somehting I would definitely do someday.

SuperTrooper · Post by **SuperTrooper** » March 5, 2007 11:44 am

My dad and I did the ride along at NHIS a few years ago. WOW!!!

The biggest surprise for me was the amount of G-forces these guys put up with for hundreds of laps. Nothing you experince in a street car can prepare you for it! I rode in the first car of a 3 car draft. My dad was in the second car and he said it was really intense going that fast bumper-to-bumper with other cars.

BTW, I hear that the ride along cars now have opening doors for the passengers - is this true??? We had to put on helmets and then try to wiggle thru the window like the drivers. Totally cool!

Capt.Flock · Post by **Capt.Flock** » March 5, 2007 11:49 am

SuperTrooper wrote:My dad and I did the ride along at NHIS a few years ago. WOW!!!

The biggest surprise for me was the amount of G-forces these guys put up with for hundreds of laps. Nothing you experince in a street car can prepare you for it! I rode in the first car of a 3 car draft. My dad was in the second car and he said it was really intense going that fast bumper-to-bumper with other cars.

BTW, I hear that the ride along cars now have opening doors for the passengers - is this true??? We had to put on helmets and then try to wiggle thru the window like the drivers. Totally cool!

no this is not true you must be able to get in the cars. there are different cars for different sizes of people. also at Las Vegas I really did not feel the g-forces and I was really surprise at how smooth the track was.

jimsig · Post by **jimsig** » March 5, 2007 12:02 pm

I have done the ride along at both Daytona and Charlotte. Daytona was intense cause, well it's Daytona. Charlotte was also wild and you could feel the Humpy Bumps between 3 and 4. They said we did over 170MPH each time. The G's are intense.

Check out Richard Petty Driving Experience for tracks and more info. They do it almost much daily at Disney World. The track is located near the Magic Kingdom Parking lot, on the left as you enter, you actually drive around the track to exit. They only get to about 140MPH there though. [/url]

SuperTrooper · Post by **SuperTrooper** » March 5, 2007 12:04 pm

Capt.Flock wrote:
SuperTrooper wrote:My dad and I did the ride along at NHIS a few years ago. WOW!!!

The biggest surprise for me was the amount of G-forces these guys put up with for hundreds of laps. Nothing you experince in a street car can prepare you for it! I rode in the first car of a 3 car draft. My dad was in the second car and he said it was really intense going that fast bumper-to-bumper with other cars.

BTW, I hear that the ride along cars now have opening doors for the passengers - is this true??? We had to put on helmets and then try to wiggle thru the window like the drivers. Totally cool!
no this is not true you must be able to get in the cars. there are different cars for different sizes of people. also at Las Vegas I really did not feel the g-forces and I was really surprise at how smooth the track was.

I guess the bigger sweeping turns at LV and other larger tracks might not give the effect we experienced. This was before NHIS was repaved and it was real slippery and bumpy on that hot August day! My SIL took the ride along at Daytona and NHIS and she was really disappointed with Daytona - the track is so wide and big she never really got a feeling of high speed since the drivers stayed away from the walls. At NHIS I felt like I could reach out and touch the fence going by!

dean_siu · Post by **dean_siu** » March 5, 2007 12:04 pm

I've driven both the Richard Petty cars as well as open wheel cars offered by the Mario Andretti school. Although I enjoy watching NASCAR much more, the thrill of driving the open wheel car is much more exhilirating. If you are going to spend the money to take the next step, I'd recommend going with the Andretti school.

BTW....next time you come to Vegas, let me know....we could have met up at Margaritaville sometime for a cheeseburger and cocktails!

Capt.Flock · Post by **Capt.Flock** » March 5, 2007 12:08 pm

SuperTrooper wrote:
Capt.Flock wrote:
SuperTrooper wrote:My dad and I did the ride along at NHIS a few years ago. WOW!!!

The biggest surprise for me was the amount of G-forces these guys put up with for hundreds of laps. Nothing you experince in a street car can prepare you for it! I rode in the first car of a 3 car draft. My dad was in the second car and he said it was really intense going that fast bumper-to-bumper with other cars.

BTW, I hear that the ride along cars now have opening doors for the passengers - is this true??? We had to put on helmets and then try to wiggle thru the window like the drivers. Totally cool!
no this is not true you must be able to get in the cars. there are different cars for different sizes of people. also at Las Vegas I really did not feel the g-forces and I was really surprise at how smooth the track was.
I guess the bigger sweeping turns at LV and other larger tracks might not give the effect we experienced. This was before NHIS was repaved and it was real slippery and bumpy on that hot August day! My SIL took the ride along at Daytona and NHIS and she was really disappointed with Daytona - the track is so wide and big she never really got a feeling of high speed since the drivers stayed away from the walls. At NHIS I felt like I could reach out and touch the fence going by!

Las Vegas track was refinished so I think that help. On the track itself the drivers can only used about 40 percent of the track. If you notice when you do this that there are marks that they must stay between for safety and insurance reasons.

dean_siu · Post by **dean_siu** » March 5, 2007 12:15 pm

Capt.Flock wrote:
SuperTrooper wrote:
Capt.Flock wrote:
SuperTrooper wrote:My dad and I did the ride along at NHIS a few years ago. WOW!!!

The biggest surprise for me was the amount of G-forces these guys put up with for hundreds of laps. Nothing you experince in a street car can prepare you for it! I rode in the first car of a 3 car draft. My dad was in the second car and he said it was really intense going that fast bumper-to-bumper with other cars.

BTW, I hear that the ride along cars now have opening doors for the passengers - is this true??? We had to put on helmets and then try to wiggle thru the window like the drivers. Totally cool!
no this is not true you must be able to get in the cars. there are different cars for different sizes of people. also at Las Vegas I really did not feel the g-forces and I was really surprise at how smooth the track was.
I guess the bigger sweeping turns at LV and other larger tracks might not give the effect we experienced. This was before NHIS was repaved and it was real slippery and bumpy on that hot August day! My SIL took the ride along at Daytona and NHIS and she was really disappointed with Daytona - the track is so wide and big she never really got a feeling of high speed since the drivers stayed away from the walls. At NHIS I felt like I could reach out and touch the fence going by!
Las Vegas track was refinished so I think that help. On the track itself the drivers can only used about 40 percent of the track. If you notice when you do this that there are marks that they must stay between for safety and insurance reasons.

If you ever spend the money to drive, make sure you stay between these marks as well. Do this and stay 6-8 car lengths behind the "pace car" at all time and your speed increases every lap. Break either one of these rules and they slow you down.

It was easy for me to stay between the marks...but tougher to resist the temptation of tailgating the "pace car". Get on his/her ass though early and the rest of your experience will really suffer.

Sidew13 · Post by **Sidew13** » March 5, 2007 4:58 pm

Put the experiance at Bristol, then I'll sign up

job41475 · Post by **job41475** » March 5, 2007 5:02 pm

Capt.Flock wrote:I did the ride along this weekend in Las Vegas. Words cannot describe the feeling of being in that car doing 165 down the track. Next step is to actually do the driving part.
I will have to say I more respect for those drivers now.

I did the ride along a few years ago in orlando. I agree. A very cool experience....

land_shark3 · Post by **land_shark3** » March 5, 2007 5:40 pm

Sidew13 wrote:Put the experiance at Bristol, then I'll sign up

They have it every December; it is called "Speedway in Lights".

poohbear1324 · Post by **poohbear1324** » March 5, 2007 5:49 pm

land_shark3 wrote:
Sidew13 wrote:Put the experiance at Bristol, then I'll sign up
They have it every December; it is called "Speedway in Lights".

Been there done that twice.

jimsig · Post by **jimsig** » March 5, 2007 8:14 pm

Sidew13 wrote:Put the experiance at Bristol, then I'll sign up

The do check out http://www.1800bepetty.com/experience/T ... E373288B50}

you will have to copy and paste the link the { and } seem to screw up the linking

ragtopW · Post by **ragtopW** » March 5, 2007 8:18 pm

Sidew13 wrote:Put the experiance at Bristol, then I'll sign up

Do a couple of laps @ sears point.. in a full boat Busch ride..

I think Joe has heard this one

rednekkPH · Post by **rednekkPH** » March 6, 2007 10:29 am

poohbear1324 wrote:
land_shark3 wrote:
Sidew13 wrote:Put the experiance at Bristol, then I'll sign up
They have it every December; it is called "Speedway in Lights".
Been there done that twice.

Never did the xmas thing, but we hit the spring race every year. 2 more weeks!

Dally · Post by **Dally** » March 6, 2007 10:50 am

Very cool, Flocky.....that is something I have always wanted to do. It is definately on my list of "someday I will."

Capt.Flock · Post by **Capt.Flock** » March 6, 2007 10:52 am

Dally wrote:Very cool, Flocky.....that is something I have always wanted to do. It is definately on my list of "someday I will."

besides meeting me right lol

Dally · Post by **Dally** » March 6, 2007 11:03 am

Capt.Flock wrote:
Dally wrote:Very cool, Flocky.....that is something I have always wanted to do. It is definately on my list of "someday I will."
besides meeting me right lol

well of course.....meeting you is definately #1 on my list!!

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