Some days I love my job. Â The day I got to be part of NASCAR has to be one of the best and most exciting experiences I’ve had! Â I know, you are asking yourself how hard this could be. Â Actually, a lot harder than it looks! Â Let’s start with the NASCAR driver experience. Â
First, we went to the Charlotte Motor Speedway.  Now, I didn’t actually get to drive the car.  Instead, I got to ride along, which was just as exciting.  With my motion sickness, I thought for sure I’d be green, but I wasn’t!  It was amazing to go that fast in a car!  It’s also super hot in those cars!  We did three laps at top speed with a racing instructor at the wheel (so we were totally safe the whole time).  Here’s what it looks like:
Totally amazing, right?  Next, we went to the Performance Instruction & Training (PIT) school to learn. This crew training facility offers programs to those who want to become pit crew members. We next broke into teams and learned our roles. Â
Our roles included a rear carrier, a rear changer, a jackman, a gas man, a front carrier, and a front changer, and here’s what each of these roles does:
Here’s how hard it is to be part of a pit crew:
Did you know that a normal pit crew can do this in 11 seconds? Â Needless to say, we took much longer, even though each of us had our own role. In a normal pit crew, if you mess up your role, you can be fired.
I had no idea how much time, training, effort, and work went into being both a driver and a pit crew member, so I now have a newfound respect for both. Â PIT has trained over 500 drivers and works with over 200 businesses for team-building training. We learned how things have progressed, becoming both faster and safer over the years.
It’s a whole different experience watching Cars 3 now that I know what I learned. Â Have you been part of a ride-along or a pit crew?
Whoa! I am totally amazed at the skill of the Nascar Pit Crew! I mean, I see them on TV but to read about a first hand account on the training done to even qualify for the job is just awesome! 11 seconds for all that! I would take 11 hours to change a tire!
JAHA As soon as you said pit crew BB thought of Luigi. One of the best moments of CARS is when he left the other pit crew with their hoods on the floor! How fun that you got to experience that for yourself. BB2U
This looks like fun but I’d be scared to be a NASCAR driver… but I’d like to learn how to change tires.
That is seriously so cool! I love hearing about different things like this – what an amazing job that must be. Soo cool!
Wow! What an amazing experience! I’ve never been but would love to!
How fun is this. I’ve never been to a Nascar race, but I’ve heard that it’s a fun time. Glad you enjoyed your experience in the pit.
I’m so jealous you got to do a ride along. It sounds like you had a ton of fun and for good reason!
What a memorable experience this would be. I bet you’ll always reflect on this event. My dad was a race car driver all of my childhood and your post brought back loving memories.
My son did a ride along in Daytona once. I can’t remember if driving on his own was too expensive or maybe he wasn’t old enough. He loved it and of course I got a great picture of him with the cars and in the jumpsuit.
11 seconds? Can you imagine doing anything on a car that quickly? I bet the ride along was just amazing.
What an awesome experience! I need To learn to change a tire lol.
That sounds like such a fun, unique experience. I would have loved to experience something like that. I have a lot of Nascar fans in my family.
WOW! I have a friend and she and her hubby are Nascar fanatics. They’ve even taken their granddaughters to Nascar a few times and those girls love it as much as their grandparents. This would be such an awesome experience for them. Looks like you had so much fun!
What a cool experience! Who wouldn’t want to be a nascar driver for a day. I bet this was so much fun.
Oh now this sounds like so much fun! I bet it would be great for anyone who loves Nascar or fast cars in general.
My husbands practically drooling over my shoulder reading this. This would be a dream come true for him. He is always wanted to go on a race car and has always loved NASCAR.
This sounds like it was a lot of fun! I am not into the whole racing thing. I grew up not too far from Talladega, and it was never my thing. But, so cool for those that love it.
This would be so much fun! My husband would love to do something like this. Cars 3 is such a great movie.
My husband had the opportunity to do all of this years ago. Talk about an exciting day for him. Everyone was so nice and he had a wonderful time.