Motorsporty things Florida

[supraboy]

Im going to Florida for 2 weeks between 16-30th June next year. First thing i did was to see if there was any nascar on at Daytona.... there is 3 days after

So what can i do to get my motorsport fix whilst im there to break up the theme parks etc? are there other races at Daytona, like 'club nascar'?

Ive obviously looked on there site and there is nothing scheduled for when im there.

Any driving experiences worth doing? Nascar experiences maybe!?

[Chris100]

Check out Tom Petty driving, it is a NASCAR experience at Disney. You can choose to drive the car or be driven, there are also supercar experiences in the same location.

http://www.drivepetty.com/race-tracks/orlando-walt...

[toohuge]

There may be some local drag racing events going on, but it's much better than Santa pod. Most guys compete in the 7.0 Pro class - closest to 7 seconds win.

Chris

[Matt Harper]

Piss-poor planning to have missed the 400 by 3 days - the night race is spectacular.

Never mind, as stated above, there are some albeit lower-key events that you can take a look at.

Bracket/Grudge racing Friday and Sportsman Saturday at Orlando Speedworld www.raceosw.com located on SR50 between Orlando and Christmas FL, in the scary town of Bithlo (it's not called "The nightmare before Christmas" without reason. The area around the track is quite safe, but the locale in general is somewhat 'Breaking Bad'. The quality of racing is very impressive - lots of 8-9 second street cars on Friday night - so even the lower echelons are damn fast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0sX2PsbC4Q

You can also see short-track (asphalt and dirt) and New Smyrna Raceway on Rt 44 between Deland FL and New Smyrna Beach at Indian Springs www.newsmyrnaspeedway.org

They also run-what-ha-brung at Lakeland Drag Strip at the weekend - half way between Orlando and Tampa.

[chilistrucker]

all the above, and if its still on, (10 years since i went) look into the richard petty experience at daytona itself.
iirc, we had a look around the museum, a tour of the track and then 3 very quick laps as a passenger in an ex-nascar, which was bloody great
wouldn't say it was a full day event, maybe half a day. we did it in half a day, then drove upto, and onto daytona beach.

[Meteor Madness]

There's the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing at Ocala.

[Matt Harper]

Meteor Madness said:

There's the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing at Ocala.

It's a bit 'moth-eaten', unfortunately.

[NH1]

I had a look at the Tom Petty thing when I was in Orlando and I was staggered at the cost, I could have done different things for several days for the same money.

In contrast when I was in Vegas (2006) GM had a kind of test track set up and for the princely sum of $10 you got to drive things like a Corvette or CTS-V round, or off roaders like a Hummer on a small purpose built off road track. Went back the next year and it had gone.

I do have a couple of videos of it but cant seem to get them onto you tube.

[supraboy]

Thanks for the replys.

The Tom Petty experience looks amazing, im seriously looking into that, but doing it at Daytona, may as well do it at the proper place if your going to do it eh!

But the price is pretty steep!

I will definitely be making a trip to daytona to see the track and museum though at least!

[5potTurbo]

Had you planned for March, I'd have suggested WEC at Sebring
I just happen to be on business that weekend in Florida.....

[Matt Harper]

5potTurbo said:

Had you planned for March, I'd have suggested WEC at Sebring
I just happen to be on business that weekend in Florida.....

At risk of being a little pedantic, 12 Hours of Sebring is no longer a WEC event. It is now a part of the amalgamated Grand-Am/ALMS - TUDOR United Sportscar Championship. Florida will see 2 major endurance races within 8 weeks of each other - the Rolex 24 at Daytona on Jan 25-26 and 12 Hours of Sebring on March 15th.

Having attended the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the thick end of 30 years and Sebring for the past 11, I would suggest that Sebring has always been more fun for me (there is some speculation that the winds of change might be blowing at Hendrick Field, now that the money-grubbing France family have their hooks in the event). However, I doubt that there will be much change in the format or the facility in the short term.

Sebring is a truly awesome event and I'm very lucky to have it virtually on my doorstep. That allows my friends and I to set-up a very comfortable and extensive camp at Turn 10 (Cunningham Corner). The fun begins at dawn on the Wednesday before the race when the gates open and doesn't stop until we break camp on Sunday.

[5potTurbo]

I sit corrected, twice...
I'll blame my mistake on the fact I'd just got off a 12hr flight back from Hong Kong

I know about Turn 10 all too well from many I meet at Le Mans, DfH, Cub Arnage, etc.

[Matt Harper]

Sorry about the double-posting. Will this be your first 12 Hours of Sebring - or are you incognito but known to us?
I am good friends with pretty much everyone from Club Arnage who comes over in March and several of them have stayed at my home either on the way in or on the way out - same goes for Drinking for Holland mob, though they have been a little thin on the ground of late. We have the Maison Blanche bar at Turn 10, so feel free to stop by and have a freezing cold Guinness or two and sample our stupendous hot wings and ribs. It would be great to put a face to a name.

That goes for anyone else who plans to make the trip - Sebring (and Turn 10 in particular) is probably the friendliest place in motorsport.

[Matt Harper]

By the way - it's the RICHARD Petty Driving Experience - TOM Petty is somebody else entirely - though the FL connection is valid.

[Matt Harper]

http://www.svpweb.com/Sebring.html

This sums up what Sebring is all about - I've posted John Sutherland's movie on here before and it is a couple of years old now - but it absolutely still holds true.

If you're acquainted with Club Arnage, DfH and T10, there will be a lot of familiar faces in this film.

[BigBen]

Matt Harper said:

By the way - it's the RICHARD Petty Driving Experience - TOM Petty is somebody else entirely - though the FL connection is valid.

I did the Richard Petty experience where you got driven round in a NASCAR. Frankly it was st, felt slower than driving myself of a trackday, or with anyone I have pax'ed with on a trackday. So if you are thinking of doing that one don't, the self drive ones must be better but cost more.