Christmas came a little late, but we finally got the opportunity to cash in our generous presents. Thats right, our company gifted the 4 lead guys at work an hour of driving school before being unleashed to run 20 laps of racing in real (retired) race cars at the Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, Ca.
We arrived at the speedway at 9am Tuesday morning. We were all offered the $90 insurance, which we thought was too expensive and unnecessary until we saw the cars and a drawing of the track. (turns out the drawing was inaccurate and misleading, intentional?) But 50K was too much to risk, so we all opted to get the coverage.
Classes started a little after 9. They explained how the cars were built to only turn left, how to pass safely, how to handle a car that has lost control, how and when to use the gas and brake (I forgot about the brake and never touched it, haha) and we were told how "easy" it was to get out of control. (not as easy as you think)
We were then issued fire suits, gloves and brain buckets. After shoehorning us into the tiny cockpit, they quickly strapped us in, checked our radios and completely skipped the step about all the safety equipment the car was equipt with, I mean, how much safety do you really need with a car that has 450 horsepower, weighs as much as a Honda Civic and is controlled by someone without a background check?
We all lined up and were lead onto the track. They gave us a lap to warm up our tires and get a little use to the car and then the green flag was dropped and IT WAS ON! It took a few laps to get use to the forces of the corners and the acceleration, but after 3-4 laps I was able to push it enough to start passing other cars.
Just as we were really getting the hang of it our laps were finished and we were ushered back into the pits. I really want to thank our whole team for all the hard work they have done over the last few years, without them there wouldn't be the opportunity to have these great experiences together AND be able to write it off as a business expense! MERRY (late) CHRISTMAS GUYS! www.laracingx.com
TOPIC CHANGE: I have ordered almost everything I will need to begin my trip. Its all loaded up in my backpack that I carry with me everywhere I go and I try to use most of it as often as I can to really test everything out before I need to rely on it. Amazon.com has really been a great resource for finding what I need, reading reviews and then having it shipped very quickly to my door.
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