Petty Driving Experience!

Well....The return trip to the Sutton Stock Car Racing school didn't ever happen. I figured it wouldn't. Its just too expensive for them to rent the track, hire the safety crew, and bring the car back just for little 'ole me. I was happy though, even if I never got to drive the car at full speed. I did get to ride with Gary at speed, afterall.

Then Christmas came early.

My NAPA buddy who got me into the Sutton school calls one day, out of the blue and apoligizes for the umpteenth time for us not being able to go back to finish our shortened class. I've told him a hundred times I'm happy but he has a surprise for me. It seems he has an extra pass to the Richard Petty Driving Experience and would I like to go? HELL YEAH I want to go!

I quickly rearranged the schedule at work so I could get the day off. Sometimes its good to be boss! They sent a packet of release forms for me to read, sign and bring to the track with me. This one looked a little more professional than Sutton's did. I had to sign a hundred times it seemed, that if something happened to me, neither I, or my heirs would sue them. I noticed that they had nothing in the contract that said I would be responsible for fixing the car if I bent it. I liked that right off the bat!

I arrived at Atlanta Motor Speedway about an hour before my class time. It was pretty cool because there was another student who had won his Experience though some tv contest and TBS had a camera crew there filming him as he went through the class. Keep your eyes open, you might just see me standing next to him on tv sometime!

I turned in my paperwork, and signed one more release for the track and then was issued my driving suit. I toted it around for a while. Its funny...there was probably 25 people in the class, but it seemed like nobody wanted to be the first to suit up. Didn't want to seem too anxious I rekon. Slowly you began to see one student...then another, sliding into the drivers suit and I went ahead and slid into mine. It fit much better than the other one from the Sutton school and I was at home in it immediately.

As we sat around waiting for the class to start, I met a couple of new friends. One was a pilot, and the other a navigator, stationed at MacDill in Tampa Flordia. Its funny how conversation comes so easy with strangers when racing is your common interest. More on these guys later.

We met at the old souvenir shop. They loaded us into vans, broken into our 4 groups and shuttled us into the track. If you've ever been around the outside of the Atlanta track, you know there is a grave yard right on track property. I told them as we went by, that is where I want to be buried, so I can feel the ground shake on those special Sundays. When we pulled onto pit road, there were probably a dozen race cars sitting there. There was a 43, 18, and 3 car. The rest were Petty School sponsors instead of regular Winston Cup sponsors. There was a special TBS Superstation car, painted up so it would look good for the special they were taping.

They took us, one group at a time to one of the cars and went over what we were to expect, and pointed out things in the car like the tach, how the steering wheel comes off, and most importantly, how the safety belts and fire extinguisher worked. I was already pretty familar with it from my day at the Sutton school, so I kinda hung to the back and let the "rookies" get a close look.

Next, we got back into the van and took a few laps around the track, getting a look at the line we were to run. If you have ever noticed the white dots painted on the pavement, those are markers of the proper line. The Atlanta track does not have lanes marked like some tracks do, so seeing the spots was no trouble at all. The driver of the van was one of the instructors, so he answered any questions we had as we rode around the track. He was a young kid, probably 22 or 23, and had driven in Arca at the Atlanta track. I can not remember his name for the life of me.

There were two safety cones set up on the apron at about the start/finish line. He pointed them out and told us that they were spaced about the distance that they wanted us to stay behind the instructor car. The instructor was pretty cool and seemed to be as excited as we were. I asked him how we could get the most out of our ride and he said to just hang tight to the back of his car, and if we got too close, he would wave his arm to let us know to back off a little. Also...if we lagged back to far he would slow down, because he didn't want to be so far in front of us entering the turn that we couldn't see the line he was running.

We finished our van ride and he put us out on pit road. As we exited the van we went over to the 43 car and had our picture taken standing beside it, just in case we wanted to purchase it later. I had stopped on the way to the track and purchased a disposable camera and didn't plan on buying their photos. Well...to make a long story short, I couldn't stand the thought of them throwing them away so I bought 'em! CLICK HERE to see those pictures.

They called out the first six names on the list and the guys found helmets and went to thier cars. I was kinda glad I didn't have to go first. It gave me a chance to settle my nerves a little, and get more excited at the same time.

I paid attention to the other students driving styles and learned as I watched. It seemed that most folks had a tendency to hang too far back. I filed that fact in the back of my mind, thinking that it probably looks a lot closer from inside the car. Finally....finally...they called my name. I found my helmet and waited for my ride to come in. As the Number 50, TBS Superstation car entered pit road, the head honcho told me, "Here comes your car". They rolled it to a stop, and the driver got out with a hugh smile on his face. I climbed in through the window and slid down into the seat. It fit perfectly. It was tight against my ribs, and was just the right distance from the wheel. I pushed back into the seat, and pulled the belts around. An instructor reached in and made sure the belts were attached properly. Then, I grabbed the waist belts and pulled them down tight. Then the shoulder straps. I pulled them down tight, and them gave them an extra little jerk, just to make me feel better. The instructer put a neck collar around my head and fastened it for me, then put the steering wheel on.

Now I had to wait. I sat in the car for a few minuites waiting on another student to finish his laps so I would have an instructor car to follow. The neck collar had my head pushed forward, and I couldn't look left or right very well. I took advantage of my waiting time and wiggled the brace around untill I hit the right spot and it was much more comfortable. I could hardly tell I had it on, once I got it positioned right. I noticed the steering wheel was crooked. I asked the instructor if I could straighten it and he said "Sure". I pulled the release and removed the wheel. I turned it untill the spokes lined up like I wanted them to, then pushed the wheel back on. I gave it a good snatch to make sure it was locked on.

The instructor leaned in the car and said, "Here we go." He told me to make sure it was in first....and mash the clutch. He hit the switches and told me to gas it. The engine fired off and I couldn't get the smile to go away from my face. The "Instructor car" that I was to follow rolled by me and the guy who was standing by the car said "Go". I revved the engine to about 2 grand and eased out the clutch. The instructor car had not stopped so I gassed it to catch up to him. We rolled out of pit road and onto the apron. We stayed below the blend line and as the tach hit 4000 I shifted into second. A couple of cars came by us at speed and made me glad we were below the blend line. It seemed like they were flyin'!

We eased up onto the backstretch and as the tach hit 4000 I shifted again. Now the instructor was picking up speed and I hit that 4000 mark again pretty quick and shifted into fourth. I pulled up behind him and we entered turn three. We were running probably 3000 in fourth. The car almost drove itself through the turn. Its like the steering wheel turned only slightly, as the banking of the track was taking the car through the turn at the proper line. We continued to pick up speed and I remembered my thoughts about it seeming like I was closer. I pushed it untill I was probably three car lengths back. As the speeds increased, the turns became more fun. I have to admit that I had a flash of trepidation as I entered the turns at the faster speeds, but as soon as the right front shock compressed a little, the car settled in and it was if I was on rails. The car felt so smooth and I was sticking to the "1-800-Be Petty" on the back of the instructor car.

As the speed increased, the wheel became a little stiffer in the turns. I was now having to "drive" the car. It felt so good. There was one time when I missed the entrance to one a little, and found myself about a half a groove higher than he was. Its amazing how fast the brain thinks when all your concentration is centered on your driving. I had to decide whether to hold my higher line, or pinch it down a little to get back to the proper line. Keep in mind that by this time, we were into our fifth or sixth lap and the speed was approching my maximum. Finally the thought flashed through my mind as to how the botched entrance would affect the exit of the turn. I was afraid it would put me too close to the wall on exit so I decided to pull it down. It took a hint more effort to turn it harder left, but the car responded beautifully. It eased back to the proper line with no problem at all.

As I drove, I concentrated on the back of his car, (1-800-Be-Petty!) and watching his tires so I could try to hit the same spots of the track. I wanted to take a look up to the grandstands to get an idea of what the drivers see, but I was concentrating so hard on my driving, that I forgot all about doing that. It seemed to me we were really jetting around the track, but I could tell there was plenty more in the car and I wanted to go faster. I pulled a little closer to the back of his car but this time he got no faster. I'm sure they watch the tach, and have a top limit for rookies like me.

As I entered the drivers waiting area I saw my Air Force buddys and just yelled to them.."I FEEL THE NEED! THE NEED FOR SPEED!!" They smiled at me, but I got the idea they thought I was just a guy who had watched Top Gun one too many times. As we talked about our experiences they were smiling like a jackass eating briars, and I asked them, "What?" They told me they had stickerd their cars. It seems its tradition in thier unit to stick these "MacDill" stickers where ever they can as they travel around the world. They had managed to sneak stickers inside the cars. One was slapped on the inside of the roof, and the other on the inside of the door. Sounds like a pretty cool tradition to me.

It started to rain. I sure was glad I had already got my chance to drive. There were about 5 guys who got rained out of their chance to drive. The Petty people are taking care of them though. They can reschedule anytime in the next two years, at any track that the Petty Experience goes to. I figure they just get to spend two days at the track instead of one, although I'm sure they were pretty dissapointed.

We had a closing ceremony under the canopy on pit road. We were given a packet with a certificate of completion, and most importantly, our lap times. Heres how I did.

They say the secret to being a good driver, is consistancy. Laps six and seven are pretty damn close if I say so myself! Any sponsors or car owners wanna put me in your car? ;-)

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