Friday, October 27, 2006
Redneck Woman
When the kids headed to Iowa and Texas with Matt, I went back to Delaware for my last few days of leave. While there, I had a second chance to tame the Monster Mile at Dover Downs. Fortunately, the weather cooperated this time around, and I had a blast!!
The fireproof driving suit I wore fit me length-wise, but was WAY too large through the waist. I had to tie the velcro straps into knots and tuck them under themselves to get it to fit without sagging tremendously. Kinda reminded me of how the World War II WASP pilots commented that their flight suits fit--oversized and not very well since they were designed for men!
I was scheduled to ride 4 laps to get a feel for the track before driving 10 laps solo, then ended up getting to ride an extra 12 in the pace car. My mom goes to a YMCA swim class with one of the guys on the pit crew, who they appropriately call “NASCAR Jim.” He organized our VIP treatment, including 20 laps in the pace car for my mom and 10 for my dad. What a nice guy!
The cars have restrictors on them so they won't go more than 120mph...but my last lap was clocked at 29-seconds (you do the math)!
It was definitely a thrill going into and staying in the curves with the G-forces on my head/neck! I don't know how the professional drivers manage to stay three across in the turns or even the straightaways! I don't think I could do that.
But, I could easily do a repeat performance driving with only the pace car and one other car on the track with me. Maybe one of these days...after all, my parents just built their retirement home just south of Dover, so they ain't going anywhere!
And here I come around the corner with the checkered flag! What a rush!!!
Labels: Nana and Papa, Stateside visits
