Speedy Gonzalez

Seriously...Today, I did the COOLEST. THING. EVER!

***Disclaimer, this post is rated PG-13 due to some comments made during my time doing the COOLEST. THING. EVER!

So...today...I went to the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving (it's at Firebird International Raceway in Chandler) for some live TV hits with Channel 3's Bruce Haffner and the Health & Wealth Raffle. One of the prizes this Raffle is a four day racing package for two (where you learn how to race the car...how awesome is that?!?) Several of my colleagues have gone to meetings at the Bondurant School and they were all taken on hotlaps.

What's a hotlap you ask? A hotlap, my friends is: a motorsport in which vehicles are driven around a race track without actually competing for a position or any other recording of performance - basically really fast practice.

I was SO jealous that my friends at work got to go on hotlaps, and I SO wanted to go on one myself.

So...today...I went to the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving with high, high hopes that I would get to go on a hotlap. Just when I thought my chance had passed and I was considering if it was unprofessional to ask for a hotlap, I had a chance to chat with Bob Bondurant.

Who is Bob Bondurant you ask? Bob Bondurant is a 76-year-old retired racecar driver who founded the Bondurant School after an accident left him unable to return to racing. You can learn more about Bob Bondurant here on Wikipedia. In addition to being a retired racecar driver, he was a driving instructor to Paul Newman and Tom Cruise.

He was so cute, in a grandpa sort of way. He drove up in his smart car with his dog Rusty. Anyway, back to my story. I was chatting with Bob about how he loved to race and how he used to be a helicopter pilot and would follow his students (who were driving cars) with his helicopter (can you imagine looking in your rearview mirror and seeing a helicopter?). It was then, when I was saying nice to meet you (and sort of dragging it out because I really wanted to go on a hotlap) that he offered to take me on a hotlap. YES! I was SO EXCITED!!! :-)

We got in the car and another man helped buckle me in (there are two shoulder straps and two sides of the lap belt that all go into this middle round connector buckle). Then, a retired race car driver drove me around a race track! It was awesome! The windows were open and my hair was blowing all around and I giggled the WHOLE WAY because it was SO COOL and SO MUCH FUN!!

I've been told the cars go about 150 miles per hour on the race track. He was taking the turns (like 90 and 180 degree turns) at 70 and 80 miles per hour and even turned off the traction control so we got to slide around the curves a bit. AWESOME (please read in a sing songy voice!). But the most amazing part was that he was in such control of the car (going around a 90 degree turn at 80 miles an hour with the back of the car sliding because the traction control was off) that he could go right through the middle of two orange cones that were spaced just a little more than a car width apart without touching either of them! Seriously, it was the COOLEST EXPERIENCE! (Have I mentioned that I LOVED it?)

I had a blast. Only when we were done and completely stopped back in the pit area so I could get out of the car, did I realize that I was shaking. I think the adrenaline from going so fast got to me because my hands and legs were a bit shaky and weird feeling as I got out of the car! SO COOL!!! :-)

Bob Bondurant told me that he thought driving in a racecar was almost as good as sex (we'll call it better-than-almost-anything-driving), only sometimes it lasts longer. OK, funny because the 76-year-old man that you could tell loved racing so much said it. It definitely made me laugh.

And that my friends is a full account of how I became known as Speedy Gonzalez ;-) and of one of the coolest experiences I have ever had.

Bucket list...check!