We made a trip to Las Vegas this past month to check out the ABC Kids Expo. Living now in Southern California the drive is very short, similar from driving from Portland, OR to Seattle, WA. So we now have Nevada and Arizona as our quick getaway destinations, and lucky for us they have so much to offer.
While in Las Vegas we were invited by the Richard Petty NASCAR Driving Experience to come out and share what they have to offer. This experience is not like anything else. This is as close as any racing or NASCAR fan can come to being a real stock car driver, next to being one.
This session is held out on the Las Vegas Speedway and located near Nellis Air Force base, which made for any even better visit with an awesome air show, or practice as they see it. I caught some of the different aircraft which appeared a stealth fighter, fighter jet, and a couple of A-10 Warthogs.
The Richard Petty NASCAR Driving Experience is available in many different racing locations around the country including:
- Atlanta Motor Speedway
- Daytona International Speedway
- Michigan International Speedway
- Bristol Motor Speedway
- Indianapolis Motor Speedway
- New Hampshire Motor Speedway
- Charlotte Motor Speedway
- Kansas Speedway
- Orlando (Walt Disney World Speedway)
- Chicagoland Speedway
- Kentucky Speedway
- Richmond International Raceway
- Darlington Raceway
- Las Vegas Motor Speedway
- Texas Motor Speedway
We started our racing experience by getting suited up and viewing a short orientation video and check out the race car controls in person.
Next we made our way out to the track to take a Ride-Along before we actually got behind the wheel ourselves.
The Ride-Along was exhilarating and amazing.Sitting with an actual race car driver who knows how to push the car was a great way to get the real feel of what can be done in the driver’s seat. Then jump right onto the track and push it around the track.
These built machines are genuine NASCAR stock cars with 600 HP and trained experience drivers. So they know how to push these cars and they have no one to race against allowing them to show you what these machines are capable of. Just sitting passenger was so much fun to be on that wide open race track flying around these giant turns!
Next it was our turn to switch seats and be the driver for 8 adrelnaline blood pumping laps. I was somewhat nervous, while Kristin seemed more relaxed than me. But after jumping behind the wheel, I soon relized how stable and equipped these cars are for racing. And after seeing our video, I think I was more calm than she was, see below for what I mean!
We did the ROOKIE experience that allowed for 8 full laps. What is also great is the in-car video along with front of car video feed. This gives the option of purchasing this video footage for later viewing and as a momento of the experience. Here is some of our video from our Richard Petty NASCAR Driving Experience and being on the Las Vegas Speedway.
There are also other racing options that allow for many more laps around the track. 8 laps was great but for the ultimate racing experience fan there is also the KING’S Experience with 18 laps, the EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME with 30 LAPS, and the RACING and SPEEDWAY experiences with 50 laps. Also check out Orlando Walt Disney World Speedway for some great deals and check out all of the Richard Petty Driving Experiences.
Finally we received an awesome take-home keepsake, a Richard Petty Racing Plaque. Never will I forget how much of a great experience this was and I am even more of a NASCAR fan than I already was.
