The Barrie Speedway invited the local media out to the track Wednesday morning to try their luck behind the wheel of a NASCAR Thunder Car.
 
The Barrie Speedway Driving Experience acts as a great corporate team-building event and offers fans an up close and personal perspective. So how did representatives of the Barrie media do when given their opportunity behind the wheel? Well let’s just say they were all very eager to return to their friendly positions in front of the microphone, on the airwaves, and at their desk, as oppose to at the helm of a 335 horsepower stock car.

The day began quite calmly with a brief introduction, followed up by a lesson of all the safety features and a close-up look at the cars. Late Model driver and Speedway instructor Gord Shepherd took us all on a walking tour of the track and explained basic driving strategy to some very inquisitive minds.

“Well most guys have radios and when you’re coming in on the corner they’ll tell you that he’s coming, so you hope he’ll either make a mistake, for instance he’ll push up into the corner because he overdrives the car than you jump on the opportunity, and pass underneath,” said Sheppard.

“Another way is if your doubled up and the outside car is very fast, he’s probably going to get the guy on the inside, because when you come around to turn 3 you can really pinch the guy down and the inside man isn’t able to get on the gas pedal fast enough, so the outside man is able to carry the momentum down the straight away,” explained Gord, who currently sits third in the Late Model point standings.

These journalists were well prepared, but Gord was more than willing to respond and not afraid to intimidate. He told us all a story of a horrific crash on the exact corner in which we were standing, where only five cars were left unscathed. Jaws suddenly dropped. We slowly made our way off the track when Gord turned and asked, “Any more question’s?” “Where do we get our diapers,” was the only response from the back of the pack.

Needless to say, there were some nervous participants.

Sharon Bamford of the Barrie Advance had a nervous energy about her the entire day, and came across some surprising information when given a closer look at the car.

“On a scale of 1-10, I would say the intimidation factor is about a 6 and a half, seven. It was about a 4 until we went over the whole steering wheel popping off on your lap. That definitely increased it up to about a 7.”

A-Channel’s Jackie Crandles knew not to get over-excited, “it seems easy enough, but I know the reality of it is that it’s going to be much more difficult than it appears. I’ve never done anything like this before, so, this is very exciting.”

Part owner of the Speedway Dave Simpson has seen many people take part in the driving school, and today was the media’s turn. I asked Dave how he thought they might to do. “Well we’ll see how aggressive people are, we stress that they drive within their ability and their comfort zone. We know that they have to report on this, so, I’m sure they’ll behave themselves.” When asked to offer any last minute advice to these white-knuckled reporters, Dave replied, “don’t drive over your heads and watch my cars! Don’t hit the wall!”

Darryl Mabley OF Rock 95 and Craig Ripley of Rogers Television were the first two to take to the track. I watched as Craig suited into his driver’s gear and put on his helmet. He then hopped into the car dukes of hazard style and was strapped in with no room to move, as a bead of sweat dribbled down his brow.

“The adrenaline’s pumping, I’m pretty excited here to start, a little nervous so I’m just going to take it easy at first but it should be fun,” said Craig.

The pace truck led the way for a few laps as the guys became comfortable with the intricacies of the track. The truck than sped away signaling the chance for the guys to give it some real gas and see what they could do, however, they decided to stay fairly cautious in their first attempt. When Darryl returned from his first ten laps he explained how quickly the wall can creep up on you.

“Well I was a little nervous on turns three and four, and I guess that’s why they call it treacherous turn 4, for a reason. It looks like you could get loose very easily so I was just taking it easy and it felt a little more comfortable the more laps I did out there.”

Sharon Bamford was given her chance and when she finished up her fear was quickly lapped by anticipation. “It felt phenomenal, it was so much fun. I was really starting to get comfortable behind that wheel.” I asked her how excited she was to get back out there for her second set of laps so she could really open it up this time. “Absolutely, I can’t wait,” she replied.
It was absolutely perfect weather for a day on the track, and the day was enjoyed by all. Everybody was able to get some incredible footage as they were able to experience something very few are lucky enough to enjoy. Most people don’t realize that the Barrie Speedway offers such an incredible program.

“It’s pretty impressive that these cars are designed purely for the use of people to come here and have that driving experience,” said Darryl. “I think that’s a great thing to offer and it’s definitely going to become even more popular with the amount of media exposure the Speedway is getting.”

The media day at Barrie Speedway was a great success, and promises to become a regular event as the Speedway continues to grow, as does the media coverage.