The Olympics... and beyond: Full throttle … or maybe not quite full throttle

This piece previously appeared in Salmon Press Newspapers.

I’m putting my foot to the floor, riding inches from the ground as I get up to speed and enter the race track, my heart pounding and a voice in my ear telling me to move up and get between the lines. The number eight Budweiser Monte Carlo, long a fixture of Dale Earnhardt, Jr., is now carrying a guy who barely fit through the window and is super happy he took his blood pressure medication earlier in the day.

That being said, as the car circled the track, with my foot hammering down coming out of turns two and four looking to pick up speed on the straightaways, the thrill was real. It felt like I was flying. In reality, I was probably going about the speed I do on Interstate 93 when I’m heading to Littleton to cover a basketball game.

A little backstory.

A few years ago, I was in the media center at New Hampshire Motor Speedway when someone came in and asked if anyone wanted to take a ride in the pace car. It seemed like a great opportunity and I took advantage. I did it again the next year as well and it was a blast, riding inches from the wall at speeds over 100 miles per hour. As a fan of NASCAR, it was great to see just how the cars hit the track and how hard it is to drive at those speeds, never mind with three-dozen-plus others banging alongside you trying to get ahead. It was one of the coolest moments of my journalism career.

This year, I decided to take it to another level and spend my time behind the wheel of a NASCAR car as the NHMS Media Challenge made its annual stop at the speedway ahead of next month’s NASCAR weekend. The Rusty Wallace Racing Challenge brings stock cars to the track and lets people get behind the wheel and see how they fare. The media relations department at NHMS invites the media to come out and give it a try and this was my first attempt at getting behind the wheel (and hopefully not my last).

My goal going in was to not wreck the car and not be the slowest person out there. Much to my surprise, I succeeded in both goals, though when the official results were announced, I was a bit disappointed in my overall effort.

The group of media members gathered in them media center as we were given lessons in what to do (stay between the lines on the track) and what not to do (don’t downshift). The guy giving the presentation made it sound pretty simple, but deep inside, I was thinking to myself that was not going to be the case. He went over all the necessary safety information, told us what to do if we felt the car getting away from us (don’t try to correct it, just turn left) and when and where to hit the gas and let off the throttle.

They then led us to the garage area, where we had to don our firesuits. As a short guy with a larger stomach, the XXL worked in the stomach area but was a bit long in the legs, but it would have to do the trick. We got to choose helmets and they led us to Victory Lane, where we had our pictures taken and got driver introductions.

Then we got to do a ride-along, with the professional drivers showing us what we needed to do. My driver punched the gas right out of pit road and we were off. It was like the pace car ride a few years earlier, but even faster. We did a few quick laps and then it was time to get in my own car.

I brought along photographer RC Greenwood, who does a great job helping us cover sports in the Lakes Region. The photos accompanying this story are his, as he followed me around and got some great shots. As we walked toward the row of cars lined up, I said to him I was kind of hoping for one of the Dale Jr. cars (there was an 88 and the old Budweiser 8 car).

As luck would have it, I got the 8 car. Once the staffer helped me squeeze through the window and got me all buckled in, they did a test of the ear piece (we had a spotter watching us the entire way). He then fired up the engine and told me to move down pit road and wait for the go-ahead from the spotter.

Now, going in, I thought we would be on the track by ourselves, but this was not the case. As I got on the speedway, there were a couple of other media members driving and also the professionals still giving the ride-alongs. As I pulled out onto the track coming out of turn two, my spotter said “ride-along car coming on your right, stay in your lane,” and sure enough, the car went flying by seconds later.

I put in my laps, getting a little more comfortable each time around the track before the spotter told me the checkered flag was out and it was time to bring it in. While I was well aware I was not the fastest person out there, I felt like I was moving right along and had done pretty well.

I was definitely mistaken. While I had achieved my goals of not crashing and not being the slowest, I was way down the list. My best lap time was 57.671 seconds, which translates to an average speed of just over 66 mph. I was certainly going faster on the straightaways, but need to punch the gas a little more next time. Kudos to the great Justin McIsaac for his top-10 finish and Jon Decker from the Laconia Daily Sun for beating my times.

While I was a little disappointed, this was an amazing experience and I’m hopeful to do it again in the coming years.

If you want to see the stars of the NASCAR Cup Series in action in person (they will be driving faster than I did), visit NHMS.com for ticket information for the NASCAR weekend, coming July 15-17. And check out some of the cool exclusive food offerings (the cheeseburger poutine and frozen hot chocolate shake were delicious) NHMS is offering for the NASCAR weekend.

And remember, race weekend is bound to be more exciting than me putting around the track for a few laps.