Last year my eldest gave me a gift certificate to the Mario Andretti Experience racing school. I am scheduled to drive this Sunday at the Kentucky Speedway. You can drive either NASCAR race cars or Indy cars. I opted for Indy since NASCAR is boring now.
After classroom instruction, you get in the cockpit of a real Indy car, and off you go. Like this:
I did throw the extra money for the video.This driver said he got to 165; I was told by a customer-service rep that I should be able to get to 200 mph on the track. At the Indianapolis speedway, Indy cars typically get to 220-225 on the back straightaway, which is very long -- 3,300 feet.
As I posted in 2010, the fastest I have driven ever until now is 150 mph:
When I was stationed in Germany, I drove 125 with my wife and parents in the back seat of my Mercedes S-Class sedan. That was my usual cruising speed on the autobahnen, although most of the time the autobahn was so crowded that such speeds were practical for not very long. Early one Sunday morning though, I drove to the Frankfurt international airport to pick up my brother, who was coming to visit. Germans sleep in on Sundays so the A5 Autobahn was practically empty. Sure made the drive quick!I'll post my video when I get it. Here is another video taken at the Kentucky Speedway. The poster says he only got to 150, though.
But that's not the fastest I have driven. One night, heading to Frankfurt, I turned onto A5 heading to Hanau by mistake. Once on the on-ramp, you are committed because backing up on the entrance or exit ramps can land you in prison there, not just jail. Knowing that the next exit was 20 kilometers away, I had no choice but to floor it.
I made it to my appointment in Frankfurt with five minutes to spare. En route, my Benz's speedometer read 240 kph, or 149.1 miles per hour. I am sure that I pushed to 150 at least a couple of times, so that's the fastest I have ever driven.
Don't care to again, though. It was night and at that speed headlights are a mere formality.
A few years later I had the chance to get a driving lesson from Darrell Waltrip. I mentioned that I had driven 150 on the autobahn. "Ah," he thoughtfully replied. "Third gear."
Here is a Google Earth shot of the speedway.
From its web site:
Facts about our unique, rough 1.5-mile tri-oval and facility which opened for racing in 2000.
- 1.5-mile asphalt racing surface
- Racing surface is 72 feet wide
- Racing Surface is 56 feet wide in Turn 1 and 2
- 17-degree banking in Turn 1 and 2
- 14-degree banking in Turn 3 and 4
- 1,600-foot backstretch [less than half the length of the Indianapolis back stretch]
- Descending banking from the entry to exit of Turn 4
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