Odyssey Pilots Racing

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	Friday, May 25th, 2012 Today my friend Tony set me up with a entry in the Rusty Wallace Driving Experience at Michigan International Speedway. A little background on this outfit, 1 hour classtime, 12 laps, 2 behind the pace car, 10 at any speed you can obtain in their rev limited to 500 horsepower, NASCAR style stockcar. Passing allowed, with is a HUGE plus over any other 1 hour of instruction type driving experience. Thre is a caveat, though, which I'll get to.
	One word of advise is, if you plan to do any of these type things, sign up for the first session of the day. As with every race track I've been to, things run behind. The later in the day, the futher behind. I completely expected it, and didn't mind it too much. My wife, who had to corral 2 of the grandkids, ages 5 and 3, may have been more put out than me. (understatement of the year!) Tony, and his wife Marie made the long drive from Grand Rapids to see how I did, which also made me wish they could speed it up, but everyone were troopers, and if you know Tony, he has a beautiful, positive attitude that just picks you up!
	Into the classroom, which was held in the MIS media center, I head, and you get the usual stuff, use your head, follow the instructions they relay to you over the head set, DON'T hit the pace car, etc. Come to think of it, they didn't say much about not hitting each other... The guy putting on the class was good, had just driven himself not too long ago, and you could feel his excitement of having done it. The rest was pretty standard, most notable bein how passing would be handled. Rather than turning a bunch of yahoos loose, they require that you, if you catch someone, MUST wait until the tower instructs the car ahead to pull out of the racing line, let you go , then he can get back in it. Not Ideal, but understandable.
	The other was the warning of being careful in turns 2 and 4. This caught my ear, as up to now, I had thought it to be a "foot to the floor" type of thing. They're just worried about the ham fisted, I tell myself, with 'only' 500 hp, how hard can it be? One other thing he recommended was a ride along with a pro. 4 laps with 850 hp. Too cheap for that , I pass. Outside Tony says get in this line, but it's the line for the ride along, yup, you're going. OK. Boy was that a good thing. It calibrated me to the cornering forces. It allowed me to come up to speed once I got behind the wheel faster, knowing how much stick was there. My driver got it a little loose in 1, so I knew he was working it.
	Into my car I go. Having driven a sportsman class car at a couple local short tracks, everything was about where I expected it. Belt up, slide the ear buds up in the helmet, and turn on the ignition, then hit the starter, nothing. The 2 other cars running with me pull out; a little help here. Turns out that click I heard as I first sat down in the car was me bumping the kill switch to off. Now Roger O, if there is a heaven, is laughing his ass off, and AtvNut is probably chuckling as he reads this too. I can hear Roger now, " Kill Switch Collins!" Nuff said.
	While catching up to the others, we all get a "Atta Boy" for no one stalling, and we start the 2 laps of passing drills and learning the line. I don't figure to get close enough to pass anyone, as they space you a football field apart at the start. I hadn't counted on the guy leading our group to pay WAY too much attention to come up to speed slowly. 40 and I are on him in a lap, but he won't pull over when instructed, repeatedly, lap after lap. 40 looked at the inside once and was admonished to hold his place until the car ahead moved over. The tower was practically yelling at the 1 car, until the threat of his day being done finally got him to respond. Now 40 and I were already close, so we got to play, Whether it was the ride along or what, I was able to hound him enough for the tower to give him the move over order. Clear track!
	While waiting my turn to drive, I noticed the pros going deeper into the corners that the cones they set up for us, so I decide to run it in a little deeper on my first time leading into 1, and I go for a bit of a ride, no sliding, but I caught myself out a bit, so it's pretty easy on the gas for the exit of 2. Up to the wall as insructed, and dive into 3, turn 4 is no problem. Easier into 1, I ramp up the entrance to 2, and get on it good coming out, and the car heads for the wall. So I dial in more wheel, not enough, a bit more sir, please! So I start thinking, even with the optional insurance, I'm still looking at a $1000 deductable, so let's be smart here. Well car 40, perhaps heeding the "ramp up to speed" advise a bit more effectively, comes a knocking, so I get the move over order, and chase him to the end.
	WHAT A GAS!! What I thought was going to be a bit boring was a rush! I thought a short track would be the place to do this, boy, was I wrong! MIS was the track for me. Those straight aways that look SO long from the stands are much shorter at 140 mph. I can only imagine how quick they go by at 190! And my car may be able to be flat footed around there at the hands of one of the pros, but I had to work the throttle, and that's all I wanted. The guys running the ship were all polite and interested in seeing that everyone had a good time. Highly rated!