Jim Lew
Many times, I talked about how much I would enjoy driving a NASCAR-style race car. My oldest
daughter Laura heard me. One year in August, we visited her at her in-laws home at Pocono Lake Preserve in Pennsylvania. Our visit happened to coincide with a class being held at the Pocono Motor Speedway. She purchased that experience for me. In fact, she took it to heart and went with me to the event. (Right, Jim at West Point)
The clinic was organized by a company that leases tracks in various cities and puts on clinics with classes that explain the rules of driving a race car on the track. The company put governors on the engines of the cars we drove to limit the top RPM, producing a speed of 170 mph if you could redline the gauge. We were placed in groups of three with one professional leading and two students trailing. It was run very safely, and they were prepared, even if an incident occurred.
Actually, an incident did occur with the group in front of us. Those students were unsure of their driving and were too slow. We had to pass them as they approached the exit to the pit stop to get off the track.
We were then able to complete our laps at the top speed we were capable of driving safely, which just happened to be the top speed allowed by the operators of the program. Speeds were recorded and the professional driver who was assisting on the car I drove checked when we were finished our laps to see what the speeds were.
This class was definitely a highlight for me. I guess it isn’t for everyone, but I thought it was a great experience!
