It’s Not a Race; It’s an Experience!

Shane W | June 3, 2009 | Be first commenter

I’ve tried to avoid talking too much about cars but with DraginFli’s most recent post I think it is pretty obvious my car is somewhat important to me. So, I figured I’d let you in on my way of unwinding from the day-to-day stuff.

In short, I track my car. What does that mean exactly? Well, you know those speedways that get used for less than 30 days out of the year? Well, they rent those tracks out to organizations that allow you to bring your car out to these tracks for a day of fun. Let me be clear, this is no race…nothing is timed, there are no places and passing, in the less-experienced groups, is tightly controlled. So, it is built as a safe, fun, place for you to take your car to its limit…and hopefully not cross that line because that could be disastrous.

On top of the driving there are other things that make the whole weekend a full experience. As a beginner the group I go with, The Drivers Edge, provides an instructor to ride in-car with you to teach you the “driving line” or the fastest way around the track. Then, there are the people…going into my first event I knew nothing about how the whole thing worked. I immediately was greeted by the person parked next to me when I pulled up for the first day of the event and over the course of my first event I met several people who were very friendly and genuinely helpful. I can’t begin to count how many times I was offered some water or a snack. It was very surprising to me just how friendly and helpful everyone was.

Overall I have to say I’m extremely impressed with how professional the organizers and instructors at The Drivers Edge are. Also, I can only say good things about the people that attend these events. I’ll be going to another event this weekend in College Station at Texas World Speedway, which is the same track as my first event, but this time I’ll be running in the opposite direction. You can bet that I’ll be bringing a full cooler of water, gatorade and snacks so that I can pass on the hospitality that was provided to me at my first event.