#7 Do A Couple of Laps Around A Race Track at Full Speed

When I turned 30, as a present, I got to do something pretty adventurous to ring in the new decade of my life. That present was the Stock Car Experience. I was going to have an opportunity to experience what it felt like for a NASCAR driver to race around the track at Pocono International Raceway. At the time, I was still a huge NASCAR fan and was so ecstatic to have a chance to ride in a real stock car. The raceway, located in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, was only about 30 miles from my house so we didn't have to go very far either.

How freakin' cool was turning 30 going to be for me? Way cool, that's how cool it was.

Used to be a huge Mayfield fan! Everham Racing. 

Before I get to my experience though, here is a little rundown of the Pocono track. Pocono Raceway is 2.5 mile superspeedway with the unique characteristic of having 3 turns rather than the typical 4 turns at most speedways. It has also been called a road course disguised as a racetrack by many racers who have graced the asphalt at Pocono. This is contributed to the difficult degrees of banking on each of the different turns as well as the amount of shifting needed to drive the speedway. In other words, It's not the easiest raceway to drive.

Pocono Raceway has a reputation in the racing world as either being loved or hated among racers. Most believe the love/hate relationship with racers is attributed to each individual racer's style, course experiences and preferences. None of that mattered to me though since I would not be driving the track. ( I have driven on part of the track before but, it was with my Pontiac 6000 and I was finishing the overnight shift of guarding Gasoline Alley during race weekend. That's for another blog though.)

Back to this experience, I was not going to be driving so you can all breath a sigh of relief. And, after having this experience, I know there is no way in hell I could ever drive a race car. I am well aware of my limitations but, I'll get to that later. For this experience, a professional race car driver was going to take me for 3 laps around the raceway at speeds of up to 175mph. Holy fast car batman. Maybe I should wear a diaper for this experience. ( I did not. I was able to control myself. It was all good.)

I was a little nervous about my ride but
super excited as well.
This was what living life was all about! 

Before showing up at the track for my ride, I had to register a date and time for my stock car experience. I chose the first Saturday in October 2003 for my experience. I also had to give my weight and height (for safety reasons.). FML!

I always hated giving my weight and was not above lying about it my entire life but, in this instance, I couldn't lie about it since it was for safety purposes. Didn't want to risk a possible injury over my reluctance to reveal my true weight to complete strangers. I sucked it up and wrote my weight down. It was a very painful experience.

When that Saturday rolled around, the weather was typical for an autumn day in the Poconos. The air was chilly and breezy. The sky was gray but thankfully, it was not raining. We arrived at Pocono for my 10:30 am car ride a little early. We were lead to pit row where I was assigned to race car #6. Mark Martin immediately popped in my head. I liked him. He was a great driver and a cool guy. I was totally down to ride in #6.

The staff fitted me for a helmet, explained the rules and had me sign a waiver. They pointed out that my driver was taking another person for a ride, then he would be over to pick me up. I clutched onto my helmet nervously as I watched the race cars pull in and out of pit road.

There were quite a few people here. I wasn't expecting that. It wasn't a bad thing, just unexpected. Several race cars were racing around the track while some driving school students were getting lessons on Pit Road. The sounds of the revved up engines circling the track was music to my ears. I always loved that sound. Fast and loud! Rev it up!

The Dork is strong in this one. 
Me not knowing what the hell I was doing.

The #6 car pulled into Pit Row. My guide came over and walked me to the car. He informed me that he would help me get into the car. I looked at him dumbfounded for a moment. Of course a bell rang in my head when it dawned on me that there would be a strong chance I would need assistance getting into the car. Stock cars don't have doors genius, I reminded myself. You have to climb into them via the window. These short legs were going to struggle doing that. Of course, I wanted to try and do it without assistance first.

The net on the passenger side of the car was unhooked for me. My first error was trying to climb into the car while wearing my helmet. The guide strongly urged me to not wear the helmet until I got into the car. My second error was throwing the helmet onto the seat before entering the car. Yea, it was tight in there. That was not going to work either. Thankfully my driver not only had experience in racing cars but also had experience in dealing with complete morons. He grabbed my helmet off the seat so I could climb in.

3 hours later.......I am in the car. God Bless America!

My driver also got to witness the train wreck of me climbing into the race car. While I did not kick him or anything, it certainly was by no means a graceful or smooth entry into the passenger seat. There was a well defined struggle trying to hoist both my legs into the car without falling awkwardly half in and half out of the car.

The guide was walking back over to assist me, probably because he wanted to save me the one ounce of dignity I had left, but somehow I managed to get in without pulling all the muscles in my body. I only pulled about half of them. Fortunately the excitement and adrenaline pulsing through my veins masked the pain but trust me, I would feel it later. ( I swear I should have bought stock in Motrin with the way I injure myself.)

Once I was in my seat, I noticed immediately that it was super tight in there. The seat was molded almost completely to my body. After I put my helmet on and rested my head against the seat, which was cradled by a neck support, my guide buckled me in. My mobility was pretty much non existent as of that moment.

Naturally my thoughts went to the race car drivers. How the heck do they drive these cars at high rates of speed while being glued into their chair?  How do they maneuver? How the heck does Jimmy Spencer or someone super tall like Bill Elliot even fit into these cars? They obviously had crazy mad skills.

My driver asked me if I was ready to go. I gave him the thumbs up. He asked me how fast I wanted to go. I told him as fast as he was allowed to drive. Slowly, he began taking off down the straightaway towards turn one. Then he revved the engine, shifted gears and stepped on the gas. The sound of the engine from inside the car gave me chills.

And we are off.......

The rest of the ride was just insane. The car was shaking, the view out the windshield was blurry and the grin on my face was so big it hurt. The driver yelled out the speeds as we hit turns and straightaways. Shakily, I would occasionally glance at the speedometer. I saw it hit 175. Madone! This was crazy.

I started laughing insanely with complete joy and amusement. In the back of my mind I was also wondering how the hell the race car drivers were able to drive at these speeds and make the maneuvers and passes that they did. Being a spotter in NASCAR must have so much pressure attached to it. They are literally the eyes of the race car drivers, telling them when to pass, where to move on the track and what cars to avoid. A huge wave of respect and admiration for these drivers and their crews washed over me. This was a dangerous sport indeed.

But, I can also see how it could be so addicting for a driver. The rush was wicked. I also realized that there was no way I could ever safely drive a car at this speed. Even with training, I would never trust myself. And with anything, there are different types of fears. Some of those fears are rooted more in anxiety while some of those fears are rooted more in capability and the trust you have in yourself. If you are honestly afraid you are not capable of safely accomplishing something, don't do it.

I'm all for living on the edge, trying new things and having outrageous adventures, but I also want to survive them. Some people have a natural affinity or natural skills for certain things, some people acquire them from years of practice and some people are just not meant for certain things. I am not saying this in a negative way, I am just saying there are so many things out there to experience and try. Know your capabilities but also know your limitations.

That's me in the car going 50 million miles per hour.

But enough lecturing. I may not trust myself to drive an actual race car at a high rate of speed but I still got to experience a race car at a high rate of speed. See? It's all about perspective. And to this day, the stock car experience is still one of the coolest, most exciting things I have ever had the opportunity to experience. It was a total blast and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a safe but adventurous adrenaline rush.

One other thing, I think the price was well worth the experience.

Gentlemen, start your engines!!!! Let's go!!

The Stock Car Racing Experience @ Pocono Raceway

Chrissy

#156 Try Deep Fried Alligator

Last summer my daughter and I went on a road trip. We didn't go far. We drove a few towns over and visited Centrailia and Knoebel's Grove. Okay, so we were searching for Pokemon and Knoebel's had tons of monuments. We were hoping to hit the mother lode of pokeballs and maybe catch some rare Pokemon in the process. Whatever. We all have our guilty pleasures. I only played the game for a short time but had a lot of fun doing so.

The Knoebel's Bridge

Anyway, little did I know in my quest to find Pokemon that I would also have an opportunity to accomplish another item on my Bucket List. While walking around Knoebel's feeling very frustrated because the Pokemon server was down, we decided to have lunch. Knoebel's has an international cafe near the Phoenix roller coaster with some very good food. As we made our way over, I noticed a big green Alligator sign. There was an opening where you could stick your head through to take a picture. Above the opening were the words "Gator Bites".

GTFO!! I did not know Knoebel's offered Alligator Bites. Then again, it had probably been about  6-7 years since I had last visited Knoebel's. My decision was made. I was so much going to order Alligator Bites. My daughter was not nearly as excited as I was for the opportunity to try Alligator and decided to order Mexican instead. She headed over to the Mexico counter while I headed towards the World counter.

While standing in line at the World Cuisine counter waiting for my turn to order, I noticed a food item for sale called Zombie Fries. Whoa! I love Zombies and I love fries. I felt very strongly that Zombie Fries would be the perfect companion for my Gator Bites. I placed my order for bites and fries, grabbed my receipt and found a table. Patiently, I waited for my number to be called. As soon as I heard it, I jumped up with excitement. As I retrieved my tray, I examined the bites closely. They were really dark brown. They looked a little burnt to be honest. Oh well. Maybe they are supposed to be cooked that way.

Alligator Bites and Zombie Fries

Nervously I brought the first alligator bite to my mouth. I took a bite, apprehensive about the flavor. As I began chewing, the texture struck me as that of lobster or shrimp. As for the taste, everyone who has tried alligator has always stated that it tastes just like chicken, and it does, to an extent. They definitely did not have a fishy flavor to them, but the chicken flavor was very mild. To be honest, they didn't have much flavor at all. The only flavor I was really pulling from the bites was from the breading.

I struggled to eat them. Not because they tasted bad. They did not. I struggled because they were playing tricks on my mind. My brain did not know how to process alligator. Here was this food with the texture of a lobster but the flavor of bread crumbs and chicken. It was kind of trippy. I started dipping the alligator bites in ranch dressing hoping it would help my brain digest this food. The ranch helped a little but I was still tripping out.

I managed to eat maybe four or five bites before my stomach said enough. This rarely happens to me but once in awhile I will try something that just messes with my head too much and my stomach decides it wants nothing more to do with it. This happened years ago when I tried the Thai dish, Pad See Aew. It tasted good but my brain told my stomach to get nauseous because the flavor and the texture were too freaky to comprehend.

I took some solace in my Zombie Fries. They were fantastic. Battered, deep fried strips of onions and jalapenos were definitely not trippy to me. They were amazing! They also came with the bloomin' onion dip that I love so much. After I felt satiated and my daughter finished her meal, we headed back out in search of pokemon. Unfortunately the server was still down. Zoinks! I was not gonna catch them all, after all.

In closing, I will probably pass on trying alligator ever again. I promise, they are not awful, they are just weird. Also, this experience will not deter me from trying new cuisines. I have a broad and adventurous palette. I am always discovering new foods and fusions that I absolutely adore. Sometimes a food I am not too fond of becomes magical when combined with other ingredients. It's all about taking chances and in the food arena, I am always down!



 Chrissy