So you want to be a NASCAR driver huh?

Admit it, you’ve watched your favorite NASCAR driver zip around the speedway on Sunday and sometimes thought to yourself ‘I could do that.’

We’ve all imagined bump drafting Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Talladega or passing Jeff Gordon on the last lap to win the Daytona 500 or banging doors with Kyle Busch at Martinsville.

But face it, unless we are 12 years old and already have a couple of go-kart championships under our belt we basically have two chances to actually race in NASCAR; slim and none.

That doesn’t mean we can’t get a little taste of what it would be like though.

I was fortunate in the past to do some racing. I’m talking the way long ago past, as in the ‘almost Fred Flintstone bare feet through the floorboard’ past.

I’ve owned an old pick up and towed sprint cars, midgets and late models around the country. I considered a winning weekend to be one where we won enough money to stay in a hotel instead of the back of the pick-up. My wife was my crew chief, pit lizard, and tool ‘hander’. She would also go set up at flea markets near where we raced and sell costume jewelry to make up for the money I lost racing. Those were the days…

Heck I even drove a NASCAR Cup car around Dover International Speedway. It was a tryout for a team that isn’t around anymore and it was Pontiac if that tells you how long ago it was.

Since you’ve never seen me walk across the stage at driver introductions, I don’t need to tell you how the tryout went.

The fact that I had a little bit of racing experience under my belt and became a motorsports journalist has always caused me to look at the various fan ‘experiences’ with somewhat of a jaded eye.

Not that fan experiences are bad mind you, I just felt that nothing could ever truly give you a sense of what it was really like to drive a stock car.

I’ve been a passenger for some high speed runs around several NASCAR tracks, Atlanta, Daytona, Homestead and even Indy.

At the Brickyard JJ Yeley gave took for a few laps in a new Corvette. I wanted to interview him for a radio show I was doing at the time while we rode around. I only asked one question though. The rest was just Yeley talking while giving a tour of the famed speedway, at 160 miles an hour, and once honking at fans who were watching. I didn’t get to really ask him anything after we left pit road. That’s because I knew if I opened my mouth the only sound that would have come out would have been me screaming like a little girl who had a tarantula land on her.

The first time I was in an actual modern stock car was in 2007 at the Walt Disney World Speedway as part of the (then) Busch Series Champions week media day. The Richard Petty Driving Experience has a set up there and I got a chance to ride with Carl Edwards. I wasn’t too focused on being back in a stock car and although I hate to be a passenger I wanted to be able to watch Carl in his ‘office’ at work.

The first thing Carl said to me was “I have to take it easy, I’ve never taken laps around here before.” He did in fact take it easy…until we left pit road. By the time we were on the track, Carl was pedal to the metal and flying. It was a great experience to watch him at work on the 1-mile triangular shaped speedway. It sure gave me a greater appreciation of what it takes to muscle a stock car around. We even did a couple of fishtails coming out of the turns, adding to the fun.

During that first ride though I concentrated more on watching Carl and less on being in a stock car. Last year I was able to ride in a double seater as part of the IndyCar Experience at the same track. This time Indy pilot Davey Hamilton was my driver. That experience was totally different then the stock car ride. The open wheel experience is pretty much like being in a jet fighter going something like mach 15…with no cockpit. Not for the faint of heart.

Recently I was invited back to the Richard Petty Driving Experience, this time to take part in another media event, and to actually drive.

My jaded eye and me arrived fully expecting this ‘fan experience’ to be somewhat of a bore. I mean I had heard all about it before; you follow an instructor who would increase your speed based on how well you adapted each lap. In my mind I was thinking ‘I’ve been around this track with a couple of professional racers and I have raced myself, so there is no way it will seem like I’m going to be going all that fast’. Snore.

After a very entraining overview and safety briefing, safety being the number one priority at RPDE, my fellow journalists and I were led to the pits and given a few more instructions. I was then fitted with a helmet and a HANS. I climbed into my car like an expert and was buckled up by the time the assistant got there. I got the nod, and started the engine. While waiting for my instructor to take off, I actually yawned. I didn’t mean to, but I actually did.

The deal is you have to maintain three car lengths, no closer, no farther. Too close and a yellow light flashes on the instructor’s car, too far and the light is green. My goal was to see a yellow light more then once. I planned to try and stay as close to the instructor as I could. As we rolled off pit road around onto the backstretch and hit the track in earnest, I realized that some things never get old.

It felt familiar and by the time we were up to speed on the front stretch and heading into turn one, I rolled off the throttle and tapped the brake trying to slide closer to the instructor while in the center of the turn. After all I had done this before and…he pulled ahead and I got back into the throttle. Coming of turn two I mashed the pedal and started to catch him...ha…then he pulled ahead. Why that… I exited turn three and rocketed onto the frontstretch (remember this is a triangular track like a little Pocono), and tried to set up for the first turn, trying to catch the instructor.

I had to roll in late …just like at Anderson or Lanier. Exit the turn just right, set up for the next one. Not too deep. Tap the brakes…just like Caraway. Hey wait a minute; I wasn’t puttering around in some slow NASCAR racecar replica I was really racing.

Soon, too soon, it was over. I was sweaty, tired and full of adrenalin. I realized that this truly was a real ‘experience’. All the sights, sounds and sensations of racing were there. Instead of 500 miles I had done 8 laps, and all in all had a blast.

Sure Jack Roush may never call asking if your busy during the Richmond race weekend, but taking a ride or a drive at one of the many Richard Petty Driving Experience tracks around the country will get you as close you’ll ever get.

I never did catch that instructor. Of course the car seemed a little loose in and tight off. Had I had time to put a couple a rounds of wedge in and drop the track bar down, well now…

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