Initially when I was invited to take a trip out to Englishtown NJ for the SRT Track Experience, I figured that I would write an article about how much fun I had driving someone else’s car like I had stolen it. I’d have a few pictures sprinkled in there, and maybe some video clips that I managed to grab while I was waiting my turn to drive. I’ve driven cars before, and I have even driven at triple-digit speeds. No big deal, right? Fortunately for me, I was wrong. There’s no way to describe exactly what goes on during the Track Experience in just a few short paragraphs. Anyone that tries to condense the experience into X number of words or pages simply isn’t doing it justice. Over the next few days I am going to try to explain what it feels like to drive some of the worlds best performing production vehicles as hard as you possibly can only to be shown at the end of the day that they were capable of even more. Spoiler alert: you’ve never had this much fun in your life.
The morning started kind of late. I was up at around 6 AM showering and ironing my clothes. Before you ask, I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Yes, I iron my jeans and my t-shirts. Go ahead and get it out of your system. Feel free to make jokes about how I don’t want to show up looking like a slovenly mess. Done now? Cool. We left the hotel a little after 7 since the track was about 20 minutes away. While I’m driving I feel like I’m going the wrong way so I checked the Google satellite map. On the map I see this massive oval structure that is in the opposite direction we are driving. Now since this looks, to me, like a race track (it is) and we were kind of flying blind (our fault) I stopped us, turned us around, and started driving toward the big oval. We made a call once we got near said oval and we were told that yes, that is a race track. But that is Freehold Raceway and we needed to go to Raceway Park… which is the one we were driving toward in the first place. That means it is also the one that we just spent the last 10 minutes driving away from. Well that’s a great way to start the day isn’t it? “Hey guys, we might be late because I think I know where I am going better than my GPS which is maintained by Google Maps, one of the most comprehensive mapping services on the planet. Herp derp.”
So we get back on the road with me shamefully bringing up the rear to dissuade me from making any more stupid decisions that could impact the rest of the group again. Eventually we make it to the track about 15 minutes before the events begin which is just long enough to get signed in, get our badges and thumb drives (more on those later), and grab some breakfast. The breakfast buffet was more than I expected. Scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, bagels, muffins, different types of cereal, milk, and juices were all laid out for us with caterers standing by ready to replenish whatever we managed to deplete. This same crew followed us around to each of the stations making sure we had plenty of water, Gatorade, and snacks to keep us happy all day long. This is one of the many details that shows you just how much work goes into each one of these events. Everything you could want is taken care of at every turn.
The first order of business was a video of Richard “The King” Petty talking about the SRT brand (he’s an SRT owner). Then we got a quick run-down of the rules in place for our safety, along with a warning: “If you turn off the ESP, you go home.” The reasoning behind this is simple. The ESP systems in these vehicles will correct a lot of mistakes. They won’t let you completely lose control like a vehicle without ESP would. When you turn the ESP off, the back end is free to roam wherever it pleases and that is a bad thing when you’re dealing with well over 400 ponies on a tight track in a vehicle that you’ve never driven before. If the ESP isn’t on there is a much greater risk of you losing control and possibly causing harm to yourself or someone else. Besides, it is more fun to leave the ESP on and try to break the back end loose. Why? Because you can’t. As long as you’re going in a straight line, you can spin the tires all day. But as soon as the rear end starts to get away from you, the ESP kicks in and the machine you’re piloting launches itself forward with a satisfying growl from the engine and a wonderful sinking feeling in your stomach. So even though you might play Gran Tourismo or Forza Motorsport with no assists on and think that you’re Billy Bigshot, leave that stuff at home. In the interest of fun and safety for everyone just leave that ESP on.
Module 1: The Autocross Course
A Challenger 392 and you versus the clock and a serpentine web of little orange cones. The fastest time wins. Each cone you hit is 2 seconds added to your time, so it isn’t about fast cars. This course is about fast and accurate drivers. The instructors set up a modest-length track with a lot of tight turns. It was clear that the focus was more on technical driving skill than all-out speed. The lane was about as wide as a parking space and about as straight as Laguna Seca… but without the drastic altitude changes.
On my first run I managed to crank out a time of 30.6… with 9 cones. I honestly didn’t care about the cones or the penalties. I’m not an SRT owner (yet) and I had never driven a performance vehicle before that run. So yeah, I kinda boogered the first lap, but man it was fun! After seeing how well the car handled and just how much power was hiding under that massive hood I went out again, confident in my ability to domina- what do you mean I was slower? Well so much for that, I guess. The third and final run was in the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 to show us that it was just as agile as the low-slung sports car. The winner of the event showed us that it was also capable of winning. The fastest time was put up in the Grand Cherokee, but we all agreed that he cheated since he owns a Grand Cherokee SRT8 as his daily driver. Come to think of it, the 2nd and 3rd place drivers were both Challenger owners. Well at least I still got the high score for most cones in a single run. Full disclosure – they stopped counting at 9 cones. They all told me that I hit a whole lot more of them. After watching the video, even I lost count.
The video is a testament to not only the ability of the SRT crew to teach owners about the vehicles, but also the vehicles themselves. Watch the video. Feel free to skip past Ricky’s talking the second time. For what it is worth, that guy is an amazing driver. He was piloting the Dodge Viper ACR around the track at the end of the day and it was like he was out for a cruise on a Sunday afternoon. But, back to the point I was attempting to make, these cars have such amazing tech built into them that even I was able to come away with second place in the Head-to-Head competition later in the day. The SRT team teaches you how to handle the vehicles like a professional, and the vehicles make you feel like one. If I can go from hitting half the cones on the track to second place over the course of a few hours, just imagine what an actual automotive enthusiast could do with one of these things.
During all of the runs, the people that were waiting for their turn were striking up conversations with the other participants. This group of people that has never met before today was mingling and interacting like they were all old friends. Not only that, but there was a smile on every face. Even the people that were losing under-performing not in 1st place had big grins. This isn’t about the race, or who is faster, or any of that. This was about SRT owners and enthusiasts getting together and enjoying themselves while we learned more about the cars. After a driver would finish he or she went right back to the group to share tips on maneuvering that brute of a car through the track. “Make sure you take that first turn kind of wide or you’ll be too tight for the second one” “That last S-curve is the worst part, everyone is hitting the inside cone.” “Don’t floor it at all, just keep steady pressure on it the whole time and you’ll be fine.” Everyone was trying to help everyone else get the best experience they could while they were behind the wheel. It was a great feeling.
After everyone was done and it was time to head over to the road course, we were all talking with each other about how impressive the Jeep’s handling was for riding so high, lamenting about how many people hit the cone on the last s-curve (everyone hit it at least once), and laughing at the fact that I hit more cones in a single run than all 3 runs of 5 people combined. High score, baby! I’m collecting cones like Mario grabbing coins. And then we all piled into the vans for Module 2: The road course.
Next up: we talk about cutting our teeth on the road course. This is where the real fun begins!
The SRT Track Experience is an entire day of full-throttle action for SRT vehicle owners and performance enthusiasts alike. The SRT Track Experience includes guidance by professional instructors from the Richard Petty Driving Experience for each of the five modules, to ensure fun and top-level instruction in a safe and structured setting. You can sign up for your own experience at www.drivesrt.com.
I.Am.So.Jealous!
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