Richard Pettyis to stock car racing what Michael Jordan is to basketball. Or what Wayne Gretzky is to hockey. Or what Pele is to…OK, you get the idea. “The King,” as he is known, has won more races and NASCAR Cup championships in his iconic #43 than anyone else in the history of the sport. Not content to sit around and polish his trophies, he runs the Richard Petty Driving Experience (RPDE), which puts Regular Joes into real-life stock cars. There are a variety of ways to participate, but we have come across the ultimate: the Richard Petty Fantasy Racing Camp.
Photo courtesy of Petty Holdings LLC
Here’s the lowdown: For a fee of $9,500—don’t stop reading; it just may be worth it—participants will head to Charlotte, N.C., from October 12-15 to leave and breathe NASCAR for three full days. Drivers start off day one by meeting Petty and fellow legend Dale Inman, then get the VIP treatment at the Bank of America 500 Sprint Cup Series race in a luxury trackside suite at Charlotte Motor Speedway. On the following days, drivers will get behind the wheel of a 600-horsepower NASCAR race car for hundreds of laps to learn short track driving, intermediate track driving, and road course driving skills. Participants then get to test their new stock car driving skills in a 40 lap challenge on the 24-degree banked, 1.5-mile oval at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Are you getting all this? Yeah, pretty sick stuff.
Photo courtesy of Petty Holdings LLC
Other camp highlights include luxury accommodations and dinner events, one-on-one instruction from some of the best drivers in the business, words of wisdom from Inman and Petty, the opportunity to drive an exotic super car, and a VIP tour of original Petty Enterprises race shop in Level Cross, N.C., including Petty’s personal car collection. The $9,500 covers all activities, accommodations, meals, custom apparel, in-car video, and commemorative event photos. Here’s the catch: Space is limited to 12 participants, so if you want to channel your inner Stroker Ace, hit them up today. Just be sure to pack some Dramamine.
For more information or to register, call (704) 454-6244 or go online.
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