Event Gives Passengers Thrill Of The Racetrack

As soon as they get behind the wheel of a race car, they're kids all over again even though they've known each other for decades.

That's how long Skip Barber Racing School Instructor Paul Brand said he has known some of the drivers in the Ride the Racetrack event.

Buying a ticket and signing a release form enabled about 300 people to ride the 3.7-mile racetrack in a Mazda 3 sedan with Brand or another Skip Barber driver. Ride the Racetrack is the kick-off event for the 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race. This is the 25th year the event has been held, said Chief Instructor Terry Earwood.

Money from the purchase of tickets for Ride the Racetrack goes to the Greater Sebring Chamber of Commerce. The Skip Barber Racing School donates drivers and cars, said chamber CEO/President Sarah Pallone.

"It's a hospitality event so people can experience the race from the driver's point of view," Pallone said.

Ohio natives Dave Fields and Bob McFarlan, who had ridden in the event three other times, and this reporter, drove with Brand around the multiple twists and turns of the racetrack.

Fields gripped the headrest of Brand's seat while the racecar driver talked about the craft of racing. As the passengers were tossed from side to side while the car went around the turns, Brand explained that the seat of a professional racecar driver is molded to his body to eliminate that problem - for the driver.

A driver pushes the car to "the edge of its performance envelope," Brand said. He or she controls the machine and the car does the work, Brand said.

The driver of the car just a short distance in front had made a mistake, Brand noticed.

"He missed the apex by a small percentage," Brand said.

Drivers look for mistakes like those to take advantage of other drivers and win the race, he said.

"If you do it correctly, then the car is entirely happy performing for you," Brand said.

"If you do it incorrectly, then it's not. But it's you operating the machine."

After turning this way and that around the track, the passengers all stumbled slowly out of the car.

"I do it for the rush," McFarlan said.

Smiling broadly Tony Capparelli, who is 16 years old, and his brother Paul, who is 12, emerged from the racecar in which they had ridden. They agreed that it was much different then they had expected, although it was their grandfather's idea for them to ride.

"It was lots of fun," Tony said.