NASCAR Racing Experience Gives Fans the Wheel and a Spotter

No, you won't be bump drafting down the back stretch at Daytona, but have you ever watched a race and thought, "I wish I could drive a race car like Jeff Gordon?"

Here is your chance.

NASCAR does offer racing programs like the Richard Petty Racing School and the Jeff Gordon Racing School.

Thursday at Chicagoland, NASCAR and four-time Sprint Cup driver Jeff Gordon announced that the former Jeff Gordon Racing School is getting a new name and the program will be changing.

Now called NASCAR Racing Experience, the program gives fans more freedom and the chance to be just like your favorite driver.

The new program offers fans a wide variety of racing programs and options that include riding along with an instructor to actually driving the race car yourself.

Robert J. Lutz, President and CEO of NASCAR Racing Experience said, "We have provided more than 200,000 racing experiences to race fans and business partners since 1998."

Fans will get to drive the same cars that your favorite Chevrolet and Ford drivers drive on the track. The NASCAR Racing experience will have 28 Sprint Cup cars from many of your favorite driver’s organization.

Gordon said, "The Jeff Gordon Racing School provided an unequaled opportunity for fans to sit in the driver seat and—for a moment—become a race car driver."

Gordon went on to say, "This move to become the NASCAR Racing Experience is a good step to expand the program throughout NASCAR working with more teams and track."

Currently the program is at 12 Sprint and Nationwide series tracks that include Atlanta Motor Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Kansas Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Lowe's Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway, Richmond International Raceway, Talladega Superspeedway, and Texas Motor Speedway.

The NRE offers driving programs that include timed sessions, no lead and follow, and your very own instructor, also known as a spotter.

With 40 instructors, the Concord NC based program will offer ride-alongs that start at $129 to driving programs that start at $429.

Blake Davidson, NASCAR Managing Director of licensed products said, "This program allows fans, corporations and our business partners to get first-hand knowledge of what it's like to race at speeds upwards of 170 mph around the same tracks as the biggest stars of NASCAR."

Davidson said it best, "No other sport provides to its fans the chance to experience the realism of competition like a racing experience using authentic race cars on a NASCAR track."

So get suited up, strapped in, and don’t miss out on NASCAR's newest program that once again gives fans even more access to their favorite sport.