Key Sentence:
- The man next to me, wedged into the passenger seat, was Anthron Brown, a famous skater from Don Schumacher Racing.
As part of Daytona competing for work along the lines of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). Brown regularly takes his nitro-burning Matco tool from start to death to 330 mph. This is in under four seconds on the highest possible fuel. Think about it for a second. How many of us can afford to go 330 km/h in a car – let alone do it in under four seconds?
The car we’re sitting in today isn’t as fast as the 12,000 horsepower Brown dragster. Instead, this is a utility vehicle, courtesy of the NASCAR Racing Experience (NRE), the kind of school. That puts racing enthusiasts behind the wheel of cars with over 600 horsepower and allows them to drive high-speed vehicles to familiar vehicles.
Race tracks in the United States, including Charlotte Motor Speedway, North Carolina, Talladega Superspeedway, Alabama. Texas Motor Speedway, AutoClub Speedway, California, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Nevada, and Michigan International Speedway.
The most famous of them, the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, is the one we live on today. A dip of 31 degrees around the corner and 2.5 miles around it is an insanely fast oval, NASCAR’s crown jewel.
During the Daytona 500 race in February and the smaller 400 millionaires coming within weeks. Superstars like Kyle Bush, Joey Logano, and Ryan Newman had average speeds of 190 mph or more. Brown and I won’t be going that fast, but we’ll be doing almost 170 mph laps and close to 3 G (three times the weight) in corners. It will also be a new, unfamiliar experience for Brown.
I’m a little nervous, of course. Even though I’ve walked thousands of miles and hundreds of days on the Daytona Trail — I recognize it as the end of my hand. I rarely have a celebrity like Brown in my car. Of course, I’ve ridden two-time Daytona 500 champion, Michael Waltrip. So a racing license isn’t entirely foreign to me, but still.
Remember that every time I go on tour, I’m endangering other people besides my skin. Crashes at 170 mph are never fun, even in a car like the one specifically designed for significant impacts.
Brown, a three-time NHRA world champion in an orange and black suit and helmet, doesn’t look as nervous as I do. He is a kind person who is loved by fans for his open-minded personality and easy accessibility. Several NRE students have asked for photos and autographs, and he happily agreed.
Back to business.
I got into first gear, released the clutch, and drove through four bags through the pit lane at Turn 1. Brown sat quietly in the passenger seat. After exiting Turn 2, I continued to accelerate on the long straight. And as we approached the steep incline of Turn 3 at 170 mph, I didn’t give up or hit the brakes.
Out of the corner from my right eye. I could see that Brown was a little taken aback, as were most passengers. How the car was able to stay on the track at such high speed had always been a mystery to them for the first time.