My Wild Ride at MIS

So who says that it doesn't pay to smoke. This past summer I was invited by the nice folks at Marlboro to take part in a ride-a-long program they were sponsering at MIS (Michigan International Raceway). I was allowed to bring 1 person with me for the 4 hour event. Needless to say, IT WAS AWESOME!!!The morning started off at 8 am with registration and introductions. They then lead us out to the first event, which was laps on the 1 1/2 mile oval in an IROC series car (pictured above). At first I thought, "No big deal", since I have been over 120mph in my sisters car on I-475 in Flint. But let me tell you, I was not ready for this. First lap was ok, just getting up to speed. The second lap we were flying. Going down the back straight away about 170, I was expecting the driver to roll off the throttle a little bit going into the corner. This was not the case. He dove into the corner and I was instantly pinned to the passenger side frame rail. All the blood started rushing to my head and it felt like if we were to bounce too much, or lose just a litle bit of tire grip, we were going to fly off the embankment. What a rush!!! A few laps of that and I was ready to become a driver myself.



The next event was laps on a road course in a Panoz GT. This was a totally different kind of racing. Strapped in to this car, I kinda felt like I was in a Go-kart. But once we got going, I knew this was going to be a different kind of ride. As with the first event, the first lap was just a warm up. As we started the second lap, the driver hit about 135 on the straight away, only to slam on the breaks at the end so we could make a hairpin turn. Zippin in and out of the corners, I really don't think the tires ever stoppped squealing. The G-forces were incredible. I now see why they make the drivers wear the head and neck supports. Without them your head would bounce all over the place. This was by far the best ride of the day.



The final event of the day was Drifting in a racing version of the Ford Mustang. This event was a blast. Now I had been drifting before, but it was in a late 70's Monte Carlo in the snow, not a brand new Mustang on dry pavement. Now this ride, I took some notes. Lots of stearing wheel acton needed to make these cars slide around so well, along with well timed throttle action. Just to damn bad my car is front wheel drive. DOH!!



The day ended with our group, which was about 20 people total, heading to a conference room for lunch and refreshments. Nothing fancy, just sandwiches and soda. As we were sitting there enjoying the break from the heat (July, bout 95 degrees with 98% humidity, nasty), the door popped open and in walked NASCAR legend Rusty Wallace. He then sat with us for about 30 minutes answering questions, signing autographs and taking pictures.


Overall the day was a blast!! The only bad part about the deal was that I had to take a day off of work, but who wouldn't for a once in a lifetime chance like this. If the opportunity ever presents it self again, I am all over it. And I suggest that everyone over the age of 21 take the time to go to smokersignup.com and fill out the registration form, smoker or not, because you may be next.