The most popular, and also the best known options for fans to experience racing firsthand, are either the Richard Petty Driving School or any of the other companies just like it that operate at various speedways across the country. Many people have gone this route, and some have gone beyond riding and have graduated to actually driving a race car at speeds somewhere below those achieved under actual racing conditions.
Most of these companies operate out of mile and a half tracks, or at Talladega and Daytona. The ride along experience with them is fine if you want to say that you did it and take a few photos, but they do not give you the full experience because they never achieve top speeds on the track.
And when you are riding along on a super speedway, you lose a lot of the perception of speed. You may be going 150 miles per hour out there, but on those tracks it feels about the same as doing 80 miles per hour on an interstate highway with no traffic. That is because the track is so big and long and the banking actually reduces the sensation as you whip around the turns.
Ask any racer and they will tell you that racing on a big track is one thing, but racing on a short track is a totally different experience. Going very fast is exciting, but whipping through turns, braking and accelerating, and feeling G forces pressing you into the seat, is far more intense on a short track.
So what if you happen to be a short track fan and you want to experience racing on a half mile or shorter speedway somewhere? Are there opportunities to do that? There are, but they are few and far in between. The appeal of getting onto a super speedway is more of an attraction to race fans out there, and so few companies offer any opportunities for someone to experience a short track in that way. That is, except in central Florida.
A good friend of mine, Jim Higginbotham, owns a former Busch Grand National North Series race car with a passenger seat installed, and he offers a ride along experience at Ocala Speedway with his company, Diamond H Racin’. Jim has been competing in the sportsman division at Ocala for years and his companies have sponsored that division at the track for some time as well.
When Jim sold his heating and air conditioning business last year and retired, he ventured north where he found the retired race car, bought it, and hauled it back to Florida. He met with Ocala Speedway owner, Michael Peters, who managed to work out things with the track’s insurance provider, and Diamond H Racin’ was born! Since then Jim has been giving thrills to many folks at Ocala Speedway, plus some others that have happened by.
Not too long after Jim got the car and was starting up his new business venture, I got the chance to put on a fire suit and helmet, climb in, yank the belts tight, and get a taste of what racing on a short track is all about. Trust me, it was the most thrilling ride I have ever experienced in my 46 years of life, and if I never get to do it again I can die happy for having had the experience.
After that ride I have a whole new perspective on short track racing, and a new and deep respect for the folks who go out there and race around short tracks all over America every weekend. I thought that I understood what it would feel like to speed around a 3/8ths mile track in under 16 seconds, but I quickly learned that I was about as clueless as they come. I got an education that night, and I owe it to Jim for allowing me the chance to get a thrill of a lifetime, plus learn why short track racing is so much more thrilling than racing on a super speedway for so many people.
The biggest difference for me was speed, or at least the perception of it. Granted that compared to a super speedway I certainly was not going that fast at all, and yet it felt like our speed was off the charts! We might have flirted with 95 miles per hour just before we braked hard going into turn 3, but it felt like we a were about to break the sound barrier. And going into the turns you can feel the tires grip the pavement as the belts strain to hold you in place, and forget tilting your head into the turn.
The forces generated will not allow it! And adding to the experience was the fact that on one trip through turn 2 the tires lost grip and the car spun, so I got the added thrill of that experience as well. The spin out happened so suddenly it was facing the wrong way before I knew what was happening. We came to a stop in the turn, Jim cranked it up, got it going in the correct direction, and we polished off a few more laps before calling it a night.
On a small track like Ocala Speedway part of the experience is hard acceleration down the straightaways followed by hard braking through the turns. The sensations created by this repetitive acceleration and deceleration were wild to say the least. But to me the most awesome part was sweeping through the turns. Ocala is not a high banked track, but rather a semi banked, relatively flat course. In order to get through the turns the car is totally dependent on the tires to grip the pavement, and if they fail either the back end comes around or the front end heads straight for the wall.
Even when you first roll out onto the track and begin scrubbing the tires with a rapid back and forth movement, you can feel the difference when the rubber heats up enough that the tires begin to grip. Suddenly the tires catch and what was a smooth motion becomes jerky to some extent as the tires grab at the apex of each back and forth sweep. And you can also feel it when that grip is not what it should be when you are ripping around the track at full speed. I now know that sensation, and it has given me new insight into what a driver feels as they race in close quarters out there on the track. If I had to describe what it feels like to me, it would be a sensation that the car is going to roll over on the track. The tires slipping creates this perception, but the movement is sideways instead of over.
I had expected to be acutely aware of the wall and especially notice it as we exited the infamous Ocala Speedway turn 4, but for some reason I totally lost track of it. I know I could have reached out and touched that wall coming out of turn 4 and on the backstretch going into turn 3 had my window net not been there, but it seemed to disappear once we got going. What I did notice outside of the car was passing the scoreboard on each trip down the back stretch, and the flagstand on the front stretch as well. Funny, but thanks to the G forces generated the scoreboard almost appeared to be on it’s side during the first few laps. Then I got my equilibrium adjusted and things began to look more normal.
I know I am not alone in my new outlook on short track racing after riding with Jim in his car. Just about everyone who takes the ride exits the car with wide eyes and a huge grin on their face. And typically the first word that comes from their mouth is, “WOW, ” or some exclamation close to it. Once the adrenalin calms down and their heart rate gets closer to normal, the second most typical thing they say begins with “I never knew,” or, “I never thought…” That is because once you are in the car and doing laps at race speeds on that little speedway, your preconceived notions of what it might be like are totally erased. So if you have never raced and you think that you can imagine what it feels like to race on a short track, forget about it. You can’t. You have to experience it yourself to have a clue.
After my experience with Diamond H Racin’ and the memories it generated for me, I am hoping that more fans get the chance to get onto the track and experience the thrills that I can never forget. So far Ocala Speedway is the only track where Jim has been able to do the rides, but hopefully in the future a door will open that allows Jim to take the car to other tracks in Florida so that other fans can share the experience as well. And if fans from other areas cannot wait for Jim to take his show on the road, then they can always come to Ocala Speedway and experience the ride there. And as for race fans at other tracks in other states, hopefully more guys like Jim will purchase cars and find a way to provide this kind of thrill to race fans at tracks all over America.
Believe me, if it were humanly possible I would arrange for every race fan who wanted one to get a ride along experience. That is because no matter how well you might think you know racing without ever getting onto the track, a ride along will teach you things that you never thought were possible. I used to believe that you could fully understand racing without ever getting onto the track, but I now know that is wrong. You cannot fully comprehend it until you go out there and do it yourself, and once you do you will be forever changed.
BJ CAVIN currently announces and writes for Ocala Speedway in Florida. His personal blog is on MySpace.
His Column, “A Closer Look with BJ Cavin†appears on Real Racin USA each Tuesday.
