A Taste of Power

175 mph. That's fast...real fast. And, I like to go fast - as I've discovered.


When the opportunity came for me to ride in a race car on the Nascar track, I deliberated for a minute. Should I? Or, shouldn't I? "Hey," I said to myself. "I'm turning 40 and this year is all about experiencing new things, heck yeah, let's do this!" And, I did.

It just so happens that since I'm on a journey, Dove is on a journey with me. Hey, it's part of the life of a single mother. But, she's a good road buddy. She's game for trying new things so she was in and didn't back out of it. She's cool.

We waited for our turn to get in the passenger seat of the race car. Disappointed crept in because I really wanted to wear that bad azz racer uniform. Can you imagine the picture - me in that uniform!?But, I quickly sobered as I realized that I'd be dripping sweat in this smothering Charlotte heat. Then I wondered, how in the world am I going to slide in the window of the car while trying to look cool. Luckily, Dove went first so I watched her. If she could do it then I could definitely do slide in gracefully.

Funny thing, I don't even watch the races on television and had never been to the track before this day. But, at that moment I had to experience being in a race car. I watched in proud excitement as she roared past me several times and came out with a smile. My turn. Helmet on - check! Cool stride - check! Leg up and slide in the car - ch..ch...check. The driver revved the engine and off we went! Fast...so very fast! Faster than the rollercoaster, The Intimadator! Extremely Fast! And, I could have sworn that he took me around 4 times. I tried to count, trust me. The fierce roar of the engine was incredibly loud while the vibrations from it penetrated my body. It was on! The ferocious rumble, me riding shotgun and the 1-2-3 and we're off made me scream with delight! While taking the curves, we hugged the wall so tightly I thought, "Hey, uhm, are we supposed to be this close to the wall?" I held all of my trust in the driver on this new adventure because as soon as I thought it, we were on the straight track again. Whew! Zoom! Whoa! We rumbled and skidded to a stop leaving a trail and smell of burnt rubber. I was ol' skool-Happy-Days-Fonze bad: Whoaaaa!

I did it. Fun. Fast. And, furious! Loved it! It was just over a little too soon.