My wife contacted her and my parents regarding my 30th birthday. Her idea was for everyone to pitch in toward something we had talked about around Christmas for me, which was a Ride-along at Pocono International Raceway with the Stockcar Racing Experience (877stockcar.com).
On Monday, August 6th, after a rain shortened Pocono 400. We pulled up to the track and came through the tunnel under turn 2 and into the infield.
Photo courtesy of my loving wife, Katie
After checking in at the S.R.E. registration trailer, I headed over to pit lane and suited up.
Photo courtesy of my loving wife, Katie
And climbed into the #90 car, which looks to be a NASCAR Car of Tomorrow Ford Fusion chassis.
Photo courtesy of my loving wife, Katie
Then the driver, Chris, fired up the engine and I instantly got a bigger smile as we started driving off of pit road and into the first turn.
Photo courtesy of my loving wife, Katie
Photo courtesy of my loving wife, Katie
As the driver shifted into fourth gear coming off of pit lane and floored the accelerator, I felt myself being pushed back into the seat of the car and then toward the side of the car as we rounded the turn.
The engine screamed as we flew down the backstretch mere inches from the "safer-barrier" walls around the raceway.
Photo courtesy of my loving wife, Katie
I could feel the power of the engine and the heat building from the combination of the engine and track at my feet. For three laps, I got to experience the speeds that the NASCAR drivers I grew up watching and continue to watch see each weekend.
Like all things, the ride eventually had to end, and my wife (who rode down to the track with me and took pictures) snapped this shot of me, claiming that she doesn't think I smiled that big when we got married.
Photo courtesy of my loving wife, Katie
It was certainly one of the most memorable experiences of my lifetime...and I look forward to coming back to Pocono again to hopefully participate in the Stockcar Racing Experience driving program.
I would recommend anyone that is a fan of NASCAR, stock cars, racing, or cars in general, should look into either program.
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