First time you ever drove a race car?

[JM15]

1986 at EAMS. I was 13 years old and my brother talked my dad into letting me make a few laps in his 1970 monte carlo enduro car at a practice night. I thought i was really flying but in reality, I was letting off the gas just past the flagstand, but i was hooked. Started racing open wheel modified in 1989 and moved to late models my senior year of high school in 1991. Raced until 2010 when we sold out midway thru the season. EAMS went to the crate deal for late models and it just got to where it wasn't fun any more. I now help a couple of buddies out and have so far refused the offers to "make a few laps" because im afraid i'd have to get me one if I did.

[CIRF]

Great thread and some interesting and entertaining stories from all of you guys! Mine is boring and insignificant in comparison to the rest of your stories but I'll chime in an bore ya'll, nonetheless.

The closest I ever came to actually driving a full-on dirt late model race car on an oval (did a fair amount of drag racing back before I had family and career obligations) in anger was at the Springfield Mile back when they still ran the Fall Nationals on The Mile. The driver/owner of a team I was involved with at that time knew the sentimental importance of Springfield to me and my Dad. He and I are very close to the same height and build so he gave me one of his old firesuits, boots and gloves to wear and I used a certified helmet from my drag racing days. It was just an engine warming/track packing deal but I made a couple or 3 laps on the world famous Springfield Mile, albeit my speed stayed under 40 MPH. I had a smile a mile wide riding up on the 'cush (LOL!) listening to that throbbing race engine idle around the big ol' mile. I will NEVER forget that and will always be indebted to the driver/owner.

[Kromulous]

1st was a Super Stock at LBurg, 2005 or so, practice day. Made 3 laps and blew and engine, oil and anti freeze blew all over me, it was awesome LOL.

Then i built an ole Rayburn, and a 380 steel head engine, ran that the 1st time and it didnt blow up LOL ! I remember the 1st time i went thru a corner flat on the floor and didnt lift, what a rush ! Motor only made 600 or less, but boy i thought i was Bloomerquist out there LOL.

[GRT24]

Spring of 2010 at North GA Speedway. I was 20 years old. 2009 GRT with a very strong steel head motor. I was lucky to be able to get to drive good equipment being fresh into it. I had made a million laps in my head during my childhood until then. I rolled out for hot laps and pulled her in high and let her dig. Boy I thought I was digging too. It felt like I was banging the cushion and running 200 mph. After about a lap a car come by me so fast on the top it made me reevaluate me being in that thing. Within a couple weeks I had her dialed in and was making fast laps. But I will never forget how fast I though I was going until I was shown what fast was. It’s unreal how much faster it seems in the seat vs standing on the fence. Not to mention North GA is quick little joint in early spring and the track is heavy.

[billetbirdcage]

GRT24:

I put a buddy in my limited LM once after a practice night, been to the races a few times but never drove anything on dirt. I almost had to make him as he kept saying NO, it's fine I don't need to drive it. Well he finally gets in it and runs around the bottom more drag racing (being respectful of the equipment and his lack of experience) but finally starts sort of making decent laps for a noob. 2 other cars decided to go make laps so they pulled on the track (he didn't see them pull on half a track behind him) and they run him down and pass him between him and the wall right at the flag stand. He pulled off right after that.

He said: "You know I thought i was going reasonably fast until the street stock blew by me"

I said: "Well actually that was a mini stock with a street stock behind him but they passed you so fast that you never saw the mini stock in front, lol"

[Jking24]

GRT24:I put a buddy in my limited LM once after a practice night, been to the races a few times but never drove anything on dirt. I almost had to make him as he kept saying NO, it's fine I don't need to drive it. Well he finally gets in it and runs around the bottom more drag racing (being respectful of the equipment and his lack of experience) but finally starts sort of making decent laps for a noob. 2 other cars decided to go make laps so they pulled on the track (he didn't see them pull on half a track behind him) and they run him down and pass him between him and the wall right at the flag stand. He pulled off right after that.He said: "You know I thought i was going reasonably fast until the street stock blew by me" I said: "Well actually that was a mini stock with a street stock behind him but they passed you so fast that you never saw the mini stock in front, lol"

Billet, that's a great story and it reminded me of one about The the guy that helped me start running my own stuff. this gentleman has been around race cars for the better part of 50 years. A few years before i started helping him his son drove for him. We'll i guess one week the son couldn't make it for whatever reason and neither could any of his crew members. He said i thought dammit i wanna race ! He said hell with it its my car i wanna race, ill drive it myself. So he towed two and a half hours to hagerstown speedway went out for hotlaps made about a Half a lap one guy passed him on the outside and the other passed him on the inside. He jerked the wheel smacked the wall and knocked all the rf suspension off. Needless to say he didn't do that again lol

[TS3g]

My first time was when I was 15 at Salina Speedway in Salina, KS in a friend's modified. They used to have practice sessions on Wednesday nights back in the early 2000s, and he was pretty new to racing, so he asked me to go help him a little. After a few sessions, he asked if I wanted to give it a try. I went out and kinda putted around the bottom at ¼ throttle, basically doing the drag race thing like billet said his friend did, until I finally worked up enough courage to open her up. Coming off of 2, I landed in the throttle, the car jumped sideways, and I immediately overcorrected and proceeded to launch the car off the back stretch Dukes of Hazzard style into the wheat field below. Luckily it didn’t tear anything up and my friend thought it was funny as he!!.

A few weeks later, I got my hobby stock finished up and took it down to Salina to get some laps in. Learning from my previous endeavor, I slowly built up speed, and by the end of the first session, I thought I was getting it. Like it felt fast, and I thought “I got this!” That is until I pulled into my pit stall and my Dad asked when I was going to press on the gas. The next week I made my first start and got lapped…in my heat race. I won my first feature six races late though, so apparently I picked it up pretty fast.

[GRT24]

That same night I first drove I came off the corner and let the car rotate to much and over corrected about 6 times back and forth. I was bouncing back and fourth of the springs. I was trying to gas through it. I’d snap the wheel back and mash the gas. I felt like was in a washer machine.

[billetbirdcage]

TS3g: I assume you went off the back stretch more nose first, because typically back then if you tried to save the car from going off the back stretch by turning left and go off with the back end of the car you would typically roll, lol

My dad raced some after I started racing, but he wasn't all that great at it and we raced together for about 2 years before I moved from limited Lates to open cars. Now we all know for whatever reason we can be short with family and I didn't like my dad driving one of my open cars (sad right, but he did tend to get into wrecks), well one day at the track we only had 20 cars or so at 2 shows at the fair grounds in Oklahoma City and it was 400.00 to start both nights. I had the spare car in the hauler so, I figured I would let my dad drive it for the start money. Now I didn't plan on him actually racing it just make a lap and pull off, so I didn't change the gears (being lazy, too much gear for that 1/2 mile track). So he does what I told him and just makes a lap and pulls off.

The next day an official comes over and asks my dad this: "Stan what happened to you yesterday, did the throttle stick . . . (pause. . . pause) SHUT?" I about died laughing

[AllenK]

The only time I've ever driven a racecar other than track packing was in a bomber class Nova my cousin built for his 14 year old son. We carved out a very small bullring in our grandma's pasture for his son to practice on. I went out and turned some laps. As others have said, I thought I was really ripping it. First thing my cousin said to me was "Now you need to step on the gas." The boy never got the hang of racing,and quit pretty quickly. Younger brother had a much better career.

I have drag raced many times,but only in a street car. Not at the track every time either.

[TS3g]

@billet: Yeah, it was nose first. When the car stepped out, I must have turned the wheel full lock to the right, and basically launched off the back stretch at a perfect 90*, with all four tires off the ground. It scared me to death. I was shaking so bad when I got back to the pits that I could barely unbuckle the seat belts, lol.

You are right though, I've seen many cars roll off the back side there. It’s not as bad as it used to be since they reconfigured the track. I still miss the old Salina

[racincowboy02]

Never raced a car bu ive raced go karts many times

[Mod22]

I ran a mechanics race in 1995 in the bomber class at our local track. I started 4th and was lucky enough to take the win against 21 other mechanics. But my highlight in racing for me was being able to carry the flag for the national anthem on 4 different occasions.

[b1eagle]

1973 at Richlands Va. Motor Speedway.A 1967 Chevy Nova 6 cyl I built complete myself.I won my first race and the next 12 in a rowe.

[zyoung25]

2016 I done the Wallace experience at atomic. I raced go karts from 06-10. Maybe one day I'll have enough cash actaully build a race car of my own. It just won't be the same without my old man being here to see it.