Are you feeling the need for some speed and lateral Gs this winter but Utah facilities are closed? Don’t forget that one option is to head south. Specifically, Dream Racing, at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, or Exotics Racing, at SpeedVegas Motorsports Park, are happy to get you on track in a supercar. It was just a couple of winters ago that I got my introduction to the track with Dream Racing. That’s when I learned that racing and driving are very different things.

As we stepped out of my car at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, advanced fighters from Nellis Air Force Base ripped the clear air overhead. The sound reminded me of my own Air Force flying days and drove home that it was a day for speed. I’ve done plenty of exciting things but driving fast on a track had eluded me. I was finally about to fix that. 

My extraordinarily-thoughtful wife realized that an on-track exotic car experience was the perfect gift for her performance-addicted husband. So she hooked me up with a Dream Racing four-lap package for Christmas. Doug, a colleague and friend who is every bit the gearhead I am, joined me. 

Driver Prep

We arrived early enough to drool over McLarens, Porsches, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, etc. decorating Dream Racing’s storefront. Entering the clean facility, we were checked in cordially and introduced to our Brazilian race-driver instructor. We then watched a video describing how to navigate their 1.2-mile, nine-turn road course safely and speedily. I should mention that they offered to let us double the number of laps we’d reserved for a reasonable upcharge. Doug thought for a second and said, “we’ll do it.” He then said, “My treat, Dr. Bairett. Thanks for setting this up.” Could the day get any better?

Walking to the track, our instructor explained that driving is something he does in his family car. Meanwhile, racing is a sport that leverages physics and one’s car to fly around a track as fast as possible. We soon discovered that he was making it his personal mission to get two older second-career professionals to really move! 

Track Intro

 We started in a 540 hp Lamborghini Urus SUV, as passengers, for a high-speed “sighting lap.” It familiarized us with the course and the proper racing line, including where to brake, accelerate, etc. (Who knew an SUV could move like that?) After some photos with the Porsche Cayman GTS we’d reserved, Doug and our instructor were off. Doug returned to the pit area beaming, but we didn’t have a chance to talk. The Cayman was still running and it was my turn to fly low. 

Our instructor’s errand was to get me to move that car fast and he never let up. The experience recalled transitioning from a basic jet trainer (T-37) in pilot training, to the afterburning, supersonic T-38. Things were happening so fast the first time I took off in a T-38 that I felt like I was hanging on to the trailing edge by my fingertips. Similarly, on the track it was all I could do to look and think ahead to the next turn. For eight laps I faced some serious “back seat” driving—yep, felt like pilot training. However, our instructor was quite successful in getting my lap times down. 

Racing vs. Driving

So now that I’ve had a taste of the track, how do I describe the difference between driving and racing? Honestly, one reason I selected the Cayman GTS is that I’ve considered buying one. Yet after 10 minutes behind the wheel I can’t say much about how it drives: I was mostly just trying to catch up to it. I had never been on a track, had never used paddle shifters, and had never really tried to max perform a car. I can say that the Cayman GTS races great. It’s a brilliantly-balanced machine that provides constant feedback when testing your limits. Someday I still hope to drive one since I have zero memory of the layout, features, ride feel, or much of what I normally equate with driving a car. 

What I did experience was a track filling the windshield; lefts and rights coming faster and faster. On the occasional straightaway, my focus was still hustling as quickly as possible to the next turn. It’s more about the next turn than the car, so you must be looking and thinking ahead. The Cayman was obviously a big part of it all, but peripheral: an extension of me doing something fast and furious (forgive the cliché) rather than something I was “driving.”

When driving, even when pushing hard, you probably don’t want to put undue wear on vehicle components. If it’s your car, you get to pay for repairs and replacements. When racing, that mostly goes out the window. The engine, brakes, tires, etc. are now tools to be used―borderline abused―to minimize lap times. Of course exceeding a car’s limits slows you because spinning out or leaving the track means you’re not moving around it. I quickly found myself approaching turns at high speed, getting on the brakes hard―usually not hard enough for the instructor―often hanging on the limits of the tires, and repeatedly flooring the accelerator as the steering wheel opened up while coming out of a turn. 

I think the racing switch clicked on for me about the fourth time around a sweeping 180-degree turn. The instructor was urging, “stay on the gas, stay on the gas.” I had just started catching up to the Cayman I was operating—thanks, Doug, for the extra laps—and realized that the tires were squealing as I approached a mild drift. At that moment I had an epiphany: these are not my tires, not my brakes, and it’s not my engine, so I don’t have to worry about them. That’s when I gave up on mere driving and started racing. I started going faster and faster until, all too soon, it was time to pull into the pits. It had been a workout, but our instructor really knew his business and we had an absolute blast! 

Post-Track

The Dream Racing staff continued taking care of us, offering, but not pushing, plaques and videos of our experience. I asked how fast first-timers tend to go in the Cayman GTS. They said that a typical best lap is between 1:05 and 1:10. That made me feel okay about my best lap of 1:01.88. 

 If I had it to do over, I would have memorized the track and how to approach each turn before showing up. Now I get why race drivers do exactly that. There was a handy “Our Tracks” link on the Dream Racing website that I should have found and studied up front. One thing I wouldn’t change is the Porsche Cayman GTS. Yes there are more-powerful and more-exotic cars available, for a price. But the 340 hp learning curve was plenty for me to keep up with―really catch up with―the first time out. If growing your skills is a goal, it may not be worth it to shell out for a higher-performance exotic until you start to master the basic physics and techniques to be halfway good.  

A Gateway Drug

In The Right Stuff (1979), Tom Wolfe implies that military test pilots making mistakes in their new Corvettes weren’t nearly as good at driving as they thought they were. Correspondingly, Doug and I were amazed by how much we’d learned about racing, despite decades of driving (and flying) experience, and how much we still had to learn. 

Probably the main thing that two past-their-prime, relatively-average drivers agreed on was that we had just spent 10 minutes each that would keep us grinning for a month! Like flying the T-38, the effort of learning is more than rewarded by the smile it plasters on your face. Consider trying something different the next time you’re in Las Vegas, because Dream Racing absolutely delivered. But be careful! That track intro is a gateway drug!

© RBairett, 2024