Fast Take Story by Dwight Drum
Web work by Larsen & Drum Images by Drum
Whoa and Wow
“You probably got more of a possibility of hurting yourself walking across the road.” Scott Dixon
I’m only a media guy but I feel like a roller coaster junkie. This year has brought on four thrilling ride-along opportunities arranged by GM Racing, ESPN and the IndyCar Series. The rides in a 2010 Camaro driven by Jimmie Johnson at Daytona International Speedway, a Richard Petty Driving Experience stock car plus an IndyCar Experience open-wheel car driven by Davey Hamilton at Disney Speedway and yet another IndyCar ride with a professional driver on the streets of St. Petersburg -- all gave new meaning to the comment – Whoa!
NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson explains how he determines if any rider had fun or not.
“You can usually tell when you shake someone’s hand after the experience,” Johnson said. “If their palms are sweaty, if you did a good job or not and you did scare them. The other day in that Camaro there were a lot of reasons to have sweaty palms. That’s a fast, fast car and I think we all had a lot of fun.”
When I mentioned to “Gentleman” Johnson that he was anything but gentle in the ride that scared me, he smiled.
“Good” Johnson mused. ”Mission accomplished.”
NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon was a guest of ESPN and Disney World with wife and child the same day Daytona 500 media participated in RPDE cars. He wasted no time in quizzing the NASCAR media members.
“I want to know what you guys have to say about your ride in an IndyCar this morning?”
“Awesome” was the consensus and for those who have been in a stock car before, the IndyCar delivered an amazing difference – like wow.
“That’s what down-force and low center of gravity and rear engine car will do.” Gordon said. “Everything has the balance built for grip and speed. The difference is, you get in a stock car the driver, the team everything has its different roles. Everything is not easy to drive when you are pushing it to the limits -- doesn’t matter whether it’s an IndyCar or a stock car.”
The point of a ride-along besides providing thrills is to show what is really happening on the track. One can’t feel that on the couch or in the stands.
IndyCars are low and fast with grip. It’s like the car is glued to the track. For the person riding along that’s an important feature. It’s soothing to know the driver knows where he is going and how to get there fast. As the turns get close too soon and the IndyCar jerks away from curve to curve with no seeming regard for gravity, a rider (like me) can find quick doubts. Fortunately the race car is not stopping, so there is little time to ponder whether anyone should be doing this anywhere. No way to ask the driver to ease up anyway and besides it’s really fun being scared like this – really. Maybe?
Fear is a human emotion that no person escapes, but it often seems that others are much better at controlling that reaction.
IndyCar champion Dario Franchetti who has had his share of spectacular crashes still harbors a mundane view of fear.
“It’s amazing what you can get used to”, Franchetti said. “Every driver has a certain amount of fear. I think anybody who says they have no fear is lying. I think every driver has a certain limit. Sometimes you’ve got to see where the limit is maybe. It’s certainly not revealed the most when you’re driving the car. If it happened there the most, it would drive everybody crazy.”
Open-wheel legend Eddie Cheever has a swift opinion that defines how drivers react to potential trepidation.
“Race car drivers are cognizant of the fear”, Cheever said. “But they manage it. All fear is a sign that you are getting so close to the point where you are going to crash. If you go past that all the time you are a dead race car driver. And you can’t win races. I haven’t met anybody yet that can win races from the tomb.”
IndyCar champion Scott Dixon rings in with Cheever like they were in a chorus. They weren’t even in the same building when they responded to questions.
“For us it’s something we’ve been doing for so long” Dixon said. “So the fear side, you have moments where you get flustered or you wake yourself up quickly because you’ve made a hell of a mistake and it could hurt you. When you’re in the car, you’re just trying to go as fast as possible. For us -- you really got to give credit to the series in this day and age -- the cars are so safe. You probably got more of a possibility of hurting yourself walking across the road.”
So it’s comforting to know that race car drivers are actually human but as a veteran rider now I have observations too, like -- they do this speed all day? Also, I have a new understanding about why IndyCar drivers miss corners and hit walls. Now I know the difference between a whoa-factor and a wow -- factor.
The wow-factor? It’s the speed plus the G’s in any race car. In IndyCars the G’s seem to slam harder from the right and left. Watching the cars take a turn has a fan thinking that open-wheel cars wiggle, jerk and twitch through corners. Being in that car taking fast turns has the rider praying it won’t slide or flip. Big difference.
Every turn, every straightaway is way faster than this street driver would ever attempt, even knowing that only one car is on this track. The improbable factor is that most motorsport racing is always in traffic -- fast traffic. That’s the show.
The key to riding along is pro race car drivers know speed limits. Experience guides them. So when a rider jumps in a two-seater car and gets to feel the thrill of speed; it’s normally way beyond interstate driving and it’s new territory for the rider. It’s not old for the driver, but it is routine.
Champion Johnson probably speaks about racing for most professional drivers.
“It's my passion,” Johnson said. “But at the end of the day I have a service to do. I'm an employee of Hendrick Motorsports and an employee of Lowe's and I've got to go out and do my job. So the same pressures we all face -- creep in."
It’s good to know that driving a race car is like another day at the office – for some. For those who wish to experience it I strongly encourage them to seek that at a participating track near them. For those who wish to do multiple ride experiences I suggest that one of them is in an IndyCar. Test that wow-factor.
Test or not, call this smiling media guy a ride-along junkie. I’m ready to be scared again.
Are there any empty seats out there? IndyCar? Stock car? Dragster?
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