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Acceleration Alley – Daytona USAFeel the Adrenalin Rush!By Linda AksomitisI’ve heard lots of people talk about losing a decade, but it’s usually the ’70s—flower power, burning bras, psychedelic lights and mind-bending trips. My decade with a gap was the ‘80s. And I lost it in the intoxicating smell of exotic snowmobile fuels, roaring engines, and racetracks around the country, with our snowmobile racing team. There’s nothing quite like the feel of a snowmobile as you lean, throwing your weight to the side to keep it from flipping in the corner, to get your adrenalin up to danger levels. From stockers to mod-stocks, I took a few different sleds around the track or up the track, depending on whether it was an oval or a drag race. They’re all addictive. Throw in a few stock car races and you’ve got a ten-year gap where it seemed I lived just to hit the pits the next weekend. Is it any wonder when my husband, David, and I pretend to be tourists the sites inevitably include a racetrack or racing experience somewhere along the line? It’s the kind of adventure that pushes you to the max and hooks you for life. We watched Dale Earnhardt in practice laps in Las Vegas a few weeks before his death. We spent a couple of days at Indianapolis, taking the track tour and sucking up the air in the museum. But when I announced I was going to Daytona—without David—things got a little distant around the house.
Daytona USA is a one-of-a-kind interactive motorsports attraction theme park. Visitors don’t just walk past an exhibit, they jump in and experience it. My first taste was the IWERKS motion simulator ride based on the NASCAR Winston Cup series race, the Daytona 500. Along with 30 some other thrill seekers I took the full-range motion experience ride. And it was good…very good. However, it didn’t quite fulfil that need to see what it would really be like to drive Daytona. The group I was with were either good sports or tired of listening to a retired racer talking about how exciting the track could be. I figured it was the old “put up or shut up” thing in action, so I took the challenge. We headed up to Acceleration Alley for a taste of the real thing. Before entering acceleration alley drivers go through the usual Driver’s Meeting—oh yeah, I’d been at a hundred or so of those already too. There’s always something worthwhile to be learned, especially regarding procedures and safety. This meeting covered the fundamentals, like operating the simulator car. Acceleration Alley is the tops in technology. The cars are 80-percent scale NASCAR simulators, so they’re darn near the real thing. They combine motion, video projection and sound for the ultimate head-to-head racing experience. Like the starting line, the replica cars are lined up in a long row, or alley, waiting for drivers to hop inside and buckle up.
After fumbling with the seat controls I moved closer to the gas pedal. An attendant appeared beside the car, then opened the door—my safety belt was caught and the race couldn’t begin until all the drivers were properly buckled in. Covering my embarrassment with a grin, I thanked him and stretch my foot to the gas pedal. I mean really, snowmobiles leave you free to fly into the nearest snowbank, so my experience was limited in that area. The sound came on, right to the roaring crowd, and I took a big gulp of air. For a fleeting moment I worried that I’d end up last, then brushed off the thought. I was racing—what else mattered? Foot on the accelerator I clenched my fingers around the steering wheel, peering over it at the simulated track in front of me. Just like the real Daytona, it had the world-famous 31-degree high banks. Whoo-hoo! Boy were they an experience to take. The flat tracks I’d been racing on sure didn’t prepare me for the feel of that! I treated the first lap like a hot lap. After all, I was used to getting a few practice laps in to get a feel for each track where we raced. My average speed only reached 104.2 mph and 22 cars pulled ahead of me. Hmm, I thought, not great—gotta do something about those cars whizzing by.
Pushing the car even harder I soon discovered one disconcerting thing about driving at 180 mph—even on the straightaway the car starts to vibrate and do a mock-shimmy, like it’s going where it pleases, regardless of where you tell it. Of course I always talk to my machine in case you’re wondering. How else is it supposed to know what you want it to do? I had the technique down pat. All of my exit speeds out of turn 2 were higher than my entry at turn 1, but 3 and 4 were giving me some problems. Other drivers crashed around me, bouncing off the walls or doing 360s in front of me, but me, I kept on driving. It was one of the greatest, safest, speed adventures of my life! Of course I ended up beating everyone in our group, coming in next to the virtual competitors on the track. Even better I have the print-out of my race, documenting every move, lap time and corner speed. Ah, it was so great I almost decided to skip 16 Second Pit Stop Challenge. Well, not really. After all, if there was one thing I had a TON of experience at it was pit crewing. You can’t spend a decade on the track and not learn way more than you intended in that department. I chalked it up to another key part of living the memories.
In Daytona the mood doesn’t have to end there however. The restaurants offer menus for both past, present and would-be racers. I ignited my appetite at Racing’s North Turn Beach Bar & Grill, enjoying every bite. The Daytona Diner right behind the Harley dealership was great, reminding me that bikers enjoy Daytona too, racing everything from vintage to Daytona Supercross plus the Biketoberfest Rally. The Cruisin’ Café with its checkered flag décor inside and out made the perfect stop after victory lane! And those incredible smooth beaches still looked soooo inviting it’s easy to see why they marked the beginning of the racing spirit that’s lived on in Daytona for a century… Photo credits to Linda Aksomitis. If you’d like to experience the same fun I did in Daytona, these are the stops: Daytona USA -- http://www.daytonausa.com/ Daytona International Speedway -- http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/ Cruisin’ Café -- http://www.discoverdaytona.com/beachside/beachside/restaurants/cruisincafe/cruisincafe.htm Daytona Diner -- http://www.daytonanow.net/merdir/diner.html Racing’s North Turn -- http://www.racingsnorthturn.com/ I stayed right on the beach at Ocean Walk Village at www.oceanwalkvillage.com and had an awesome meal next-door at Adam’s Mark Hotel at www.adamsmark.com For full information on visiting Daytona contact: http://www.daytonabeach.com/ |
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Of course the first thing I did
after hitting the tarmac in Florida was find out when I’d get to the track.
Daytona is the ultimate racer’s experience. Home of the Indianapolis 500,
the track is, in my humble opinion—incredible. With Daytona USA anybody can
get a taste of the adventure, and an out-of-season racer can recapture the
glory. 
My heart racing, just like a real
race day, I charged out to pick a car. I was #88, the UPS car, pulling into
the starting lane. Around me the rest of the group settled into place,
getting comfortable behind the wheels of their chosen rides. 
So lap two I pushed the accelerator
to the floor, driving that one for my husband, who was at home feeling sadly
neglected. The corners, I discovered quickly, were a breeze if you kept
accelerating like driving the 4 x 4 on ice, until you came out the other
side and hit the straightaway. I drove past three other cars and nobody got
me—yeah! My top speed for the lap soared to 168.8 mph. I was flying with
the adrenalin boost I needed.
With all of the exhibits in Daytona
USA I could have easily spent another day or so just gazing in awe or doing
it all over again, but the rest of the group weren’t as addicted as I, so we
moved on to taking a tour around the actual racetrack. It was awesome—so was
my imaginary moment in the winner’s circle. A girl can dream can’t she?