18 years ago....

My family bought it for me for my birthday. Phoenix International Speedway. I loved it.

Having raced a little, very little, earlier in life there were some things that aggravated me about it... no real 'racing', for example. You can only pass another car with 'permission'. But overall well worth it IMHO.

The cars you drive actually 'are' fast... BUT, they have a RPM limiter... so top speed is limited. There were different packages... (number of laps)... my first session there were 8 of us. MOST, all but me and one other guy, never hit top speed - in other words the top speed limit was more than enough for 6 of the drivers. Me and this one other guy were at the limit nearly all the way around the track.

The first few laps were aggravating because I wasn't allowed to pass the slower cars. Eventually I got right up on back end of the cars in front of me, (I started in 8th position)... forcing them to allow me to pass - this is done by informing both cars (all drivers have radio contact). So the two of us pushing the limit eventually got to the front of the pack.

I think it was 10 laps when the rest of the field dropped out.... having only purchased 10 laps. That left me and the other guy who were pushing the limits. At that time it became fantastic. Still no 'racing' allowed but we were allowed to follow much closer. In the second session I started second.... staying right on the car in front of me.. I think I was two laps into it when they gave me the go ahead to pass the other guy.

At that point I had a great time... the straightaways were a bit boring because I was on the limiter exiting every turn... the 'turns', however, were great fun. I was 'flat out' nearly all the way around the track.... it would have been 'possible' to spin out, you were allowed that much speed, but I think only if you really screwed up. I never braked, just backing off the throttle a little in turn two.

They 'told' me we were hitting 135 in the straightaways... (I am dubious about that). BUT... it did feel fast. All the way around the track the guy on the radio told me where to hit my marks to maximize lap speed.... it was interesting to hear the 'right line' in the turns but I didn't always agree with him.

I have an old video of it... if I get time I'll try to find it and post it. I also wrote a story about it.. I'll look for that as well.

Would I recommend it? It really depends. For me yes... but I love racing. I raced a little earlier in life, as I said. I also have a vivid imagination so while driving I could somewhat envision being in an actual NASCAR race - even though you aren't allowed to actually race. - JamesJM