Last Friday we drove up to Ft. Worth so he could go on the ride along. I was looking forward to the weekend as much, if not more, than he was. He had been in California all week on a business trip, and I was looking forward to two nights of uninterrupted sleep after being up three or four times a night for five nights straight. Aunt Lisa took the kids for the weekend, and we headed up Friday afternoon.
We stayed at the Dallas/Fort Worth Marriott Hotel & Golf Club at Champions Circle. We had a great view of the golf course, although we didn't play that weekend. I didn't realize how tired I truly was until Saturday morning when I woke up at 10:50. I had slept twelve hours straight. I can't remember the last time I slept that soundly.
Freddie was riding at 2:00 so we ate brunch and went to check in at TMS. It felt kind of strange to actually drive down where the race cars are. When Freddie went to check in, there was some confusion as to whether the 2pm group was NASCAR or Indy cars. He was originally signed up for a NASCAR ride, but the girl checking him in gave him an Indy pass. No complaints from Fred!
In case you are a racing novice like myself...you know, I wouldn't even call myself a novice as I have zero interest in car racing. I knew the cars looked different, and I knew there was a race called the Indy 500 which was different from NASCAR, but that was about it. Listening to Fred talk about the differences and reading more online later, the differences between the two are too many to list here. Just know that Fred was happy with the fact he'd be in an open air Indy car that could go a little faster.
Back to the day...TMS offers the option to actually drive the cars, but Freddie decided to stick with the ride along this time. People who sign up to drive are not given free reign of the track. First of all, they have a headset in their helmet so they can hear instructions being given from someone who is watching all the cars. That person tells them when to speed up, slow down, and when their time is up and they have to come in. Second, there is a "governor" installed on the cars so drivers can only go up to a certain speed. They're still going fast--really, really fast--but not as fast as in the ride along where an experienced driver is in control.
There were two times offered. The 10am crowd was still there when we arrived a little after 1pm. I was surprised by how many people were there. I'm guessing 150 at least. Of course, it was hot. I mean, it's Texas in July and you're in the middle of a race track surrounded by concrete with very little shade. The TMS people did have some tents up that helped some, but I spent most of the time under what I think was the only tree.
We hung out until a little after 2pm when they started bringing the Indy cars out. Freddie went to stand in line while I remained in the shade for a little while longer. Finally it was his turn and he was ready to get suited up. He was not looking forward to getting in the suit--again, Texas in July and who knows how many sweaty people had worn the suit that day ahead of him. But he got ready and soon it was his turn.
Freddie's first word when he got out of the car was, "Wow!!" He said it was unbelievable how fast you go on the track. I asked him if he would ever come back to drive one, but he said he probably wouldn't just because he doesn't know if he would feel comfortable driving that fast.
The rest of the weekend was pretty relaxing. We watched an outdoor wedding that evening while eating dinner, and the next morning we met a friend for brunch before heading back to Austin. It was a great weekend, lots of fun, and we caught up on some much-needed sleep.
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