Today Sunday January 27th 2013 was the annual "Laps for Charity" event benefiting Speedway Children's Charities held at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The event allows anyone with an insured street legal vehicle to drive it on the 1.5 mile tri-oval speedway which is normally just for racecars so it is a very unique opportunity for the average person.
Little over three weeks ago I had an opportunity to purchase a 2010 Dodge Charger R/T with a 5.7L Hemi and what better place to drive it than a racetrack. So this morning at 7:30am I fired up the Charger which I call "Bullet" it is painted silver and it ain't no slug got 10 seconds, sorry I got side tracked but I am back focused on this mornings event. I arrived at the track at 8 am one hour before the event opens to the public so I parked Bullet waiting not so Patiently. Finally they tell me to start my car and drive down to where I will pay my money for the event and sign all the legal documents so if I would die in a fiery crash no one will sue the track. I paid my $60.00, which breaks down $30 for the 3 laps, $20 for additional 3 laps and $10 for the picture of me and Bullet in Victory Lane. I am now back in my car waiting to be directed in to the staging area. After only a few minutes of waiting they direct me to the staging lane number 4 as I pull in to that lane I fine myself at the front of the line so when it is my lanes turn I will be right behind the pace car, how cool is that WOW! As an FYI the pace car was also a Dodge Charger way cool.
After what seemed as like a long time here comes our pace car so I fire-up Bullet and after putting the Charger in to drive I start to lead my group behind the Pace car onto pit row then on to the racetrack. WOW I am so very excited that I cannot stand it. I keep hearing some one very close to me screaming WOW over and over again louder and louder. I then realize it is I and I am like a kid waking up Christmas morning seeing that mountain of presents under the Christmas tree. I am now following the pace car on to the track we start to pick up the pace as we come out of turn number 2 up on to the back straightaway picking up speed. We get up to about 80 mph as we now roll in to turn number 3 I follow the Pace car down in to turn number 4 and follow the pace cars lead as we power in to the front straightaway, again getting up to about 85 mph. The first three laps were over in no time and we are headed down the entrance to pit row and then off the track. It was amazing driving on an official NASCAR speedway with professional drivers like the late Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Dale Jr, Tony Stewart, just to name a few. It was a feeling that will be with me a lifetime.
After driving over to have a picture taken of me and Bullet in Victory Lane I then drove back over to wait in line again for my rerun on the track. I was waiting in line parked for about 20 minutes near a car club they were the 702 Modern Mopar car club and from where I was there were mostly late model Dodge Challengers that was very cool. Which at a later date I will reach out to them to see about joining. I sat in my car thinking about just being out on the track anticipating going again when I noticed that all the drivers started getting back in there rides firing them up. That was a cool sound the roar of all those Hemi's coming alive. I started Bullet and his 5.7L Hemi roared to life and we all started moving towards pit row and the track. This time I had couple of Dodge Challengers in front of me and this time on the track the two Challengers and Bullet were kind of isolated so when we came out of the turn on to the straightaway we accelerated shooting down straightaways I was able to get up over 100 mph which was way fast and way cool. Just started to feel comfortable on the track if I had just one more lap I think I could have hit over120 mph.
I will be counting the days until next year’s event; I plan on making this a Marc and Bullet tradition going forward. It is a great event for an even greater charity.
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