140 MPH!!!!

Growing up on the streets of Los Angeles, the mantra on the roads are "kill or be killed". Well, a couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to go test my need for speed at the Auto Club speedway as part of a Bank of America Fantasy Camp event. It was AWESOME! I had never been to a speedway or NASCAR event before. Those who have gone have told me that it is a near religious experience. I showed up to the raceway and went all the way to the pit crew section of the track. There we had the opportunity to race Chevy Corvettes on a short track going around a coned track as fast as we could without knocking over any cones. My 2nd attempt came out at 24 seconds, which was just tenths of a second off the 3rd place finisher (I would have gotten a prize!!). The main event came as we got to go on the big track and put the pedal to the metal!! It was pretty trusting of them to put us in stock race cars after only asking us if we new how to drive a stick shift - no driving test - book or otherwise!! So there was a professional in a car in front of me who was in charge of pacing me and then I followed behind him about 3 car lengths. For those who haven't driven on a banked track, you can really feel the G's. My average speed for the 8 laps was 140mphs. I'm convinced I could have gone faster if the pace car had let me. I think they kept everyone checked at 140 for safety reasons. The surreal part of the whole experience was driving around at 140mph realizing that I could easily die if I made one wrong move. You may laugh, but, honestly all the Mario Kart playing I had growing up as a kid really paid off. In order to not get scared witless, I basically approached the driving as if I were playing a video game.All in all, I had a great time and who knows maybe the Fors Family will become NASCAR fanatics in the near future.