I paid my fee and jumped into a racing vehicle, a 12-person van driven by a pleasant tour guide. Everyone has to start somewhere. Out on the infield of the track, there was a "go cart" race being run and, from the professional-looking pit crews,I had to believe this was the big leagues for small racers. After the pass through the infield, the van driver took us out on the mile-and-a-half banked track. She stopped our top-heavy bus at the top of one of the 24-degree banked turns and everyone fell into the person on the left. After that, we zipped a lap at 80 miles an hour, plenty fast for a van but less than half the speed of the normal cars on this track. (And considerably less than normal autobahn speeds back home.)
There were eight cars waiting to take visitors who were willing to pay more than $5 for a more exciting ride. For $70, you could get two or three laps as a passenger and for about $300, the schools would teach you enough to drive yourself around the oval track. Maybe next time I'll be brave enough.
