Mario Andretti Racing Experience

Absolute rip off. DO NOT PURCHASE THIS EXPERIENCE! You honestly get 3 maybe 4 full laps but you only get 1 at top speed. They start your time as soon as you get rolling in the pit and after 3 laps had me on the apron coasting back to the pit telling me «good job.» I spent more time coasting from the apron back to the pit then I did on the track under speed. DO NOT WASTE THE MONEY. I got 14 full laps with the Rusty Wallace Experience for the same price.

The Good: This is a unique experience and opportunity to drive a real race car on a real race track at fast speeds. These cars have a governor or chip that allows them only 5,000 RPM which they say equates to about 150 mph. Most haven’t ever experienced that kind of speed, so that is very unique. This drive is based on time not laps. They waste one lap in the beginning and at one at the end making you drive slowly around the apron. It should be a lap based experience, not timed.
The Bad: Oh boy.
#1 If you are going to purchase any packages offered, wait for a holiday special or other sale time. This can affect the prices you pay by up to 50% off regular prices on everything from the driving experience cost to the photos, videos, etc. My 8 minute drive was $ 499, but later saw it on sale for $ 299. If your goal is to buy the driving experience, only buy the 5 minute drive. The 8 minute drive normally costs $ 200 more when you buy online, but if you wait to upgrade the 5 minute to the 8 minute at the track, which they push repeatedly, it is only $ 85 more.
#2 They are obviously concerned about safety and should be. The way they address this cheapens and actually ruined the experience. First you have to attend a drivers meeting where it is repeatedly explained among other things, how to enter and exit the corners, by splitting two white dots on the track. After having this explained to you about 20 times, you learn after this outdated and boring video, that the video was shot at Charlotte Speedway and Fontana doesn’t actually have any white dots. Instead, they then drill into you 20 times that you need to stay 5 feet off the white line separating the track from the apron the whole time.
#3 Part of the «experience» is you get to wear a real live fire suit. Problem is, these suits are worthless and I believe truly only provided so you can think you look and feel like a real driver. They are ripped up, dirty and I didn’t see an operating Velcro closure on any of them that closes the suit from your waist to your neck, which would be necessary for an effective fire suit. Besides, the people who are just doing a ride along, don’t wear a fire suit. If they are truly worried about safety and consider a fire suit necessary, it wouldn’t matter if you are driving or a passenger, you would need a real fire suit. You should be given the option to not wear the suit because on a 100 degree day, they are not only disgusting and ineffective, but super hot.
#4 The safety overboard continues on the track. They use electrical tape to tape cheap earbuds into your ears which they plug into the 2-​way radio so you can hear and communicate with your «crew chief» during the drive. The problem I noticed is when I got the car up to a certain speed-​over 4,000 RPMs, it is so loud I couldn’t hear what the guy was saying and had to slow down so I could hear. It is important to be able to hear this guy because there are other cars on the track, some going much faster for the ride-​along people. You need to keep to the bottom of the track when they are overtaking you and it is important to know where they are, because there is no way to see them coming up on you.
So I stay at my 5 feet above the white line and I hear the guy yelling at me to get up to the middle of the track on the straight away. They never said we would ride in the middle of the track, only 5 feet off the line. When he finally let me get up to top speed, he would be yelling in my ear again, which I couldn’t hear what he was saying because of the noise, so I would have to slow down, only to hear him saying, good job-​keep your line… Really? I get up to speed again and he is yelling again, so slow down to hear important info that another car is overtaking me and to stay low. So the whole ride went like this, get up to speed and have to slow down to hear what the guy is saying whether it is important or not. I should have done the 5 minute drive instead of 8 minute because by the time I had been out there 5 minutes I had had it with this guy yelling in my ear, never able to get up to speed and hold it, because I had to slow down to hear him. I was ready to say screw it and just go back in.
This is the only «driving experience» I have done, so I would think there are better ones out there. I would rather pay twice as much to have a personalized experience with decent equipment instead of being just one out of herd of 30 drivers they are trying to run thru this thing as fast as possible. This is a lot of money and time to spend for a few short minutes on a track. I might try it again someday with another company, but don’t waste your money with these guys.
I had more fun driving my 380Z to and from the track…

RIDE ALONG vs DRIVE YOURSELF
A synopsis of 4 separate individuals and our experience on the 1 mile track that is PIR
If you have to do this experience, consider the «Ride Along» as apposed to driving the car yourself… that is if you don’t want to be completely disappointed and I mean completely… At least with the «Ride Along» you get to hit significantly higher speeds than if you drive yourself. Why you ask, here’s why,
Ride along:
Show up, sign in, get a helmet and you’re off… the sound, the feel the adrenaline you expected is all there. Guaranteed! No nonsense, no cheesy «drivers meeting» no sales pitch. Hit the track for 5 minutes, which is way better than anything at Disney, and the rest of the day is yours!
5 Minute You Drive:
Arrive in the morning, get in line, fill out forms, get your racing suit & pager then head into the «Drivers Meeting» Watch a video, be amused by the MC get pressured to buy video’s, photo’s, $ 22.00 T-​shirts and of course to extend your racing experience far beyond the cheap intro you paid for months ago.
During the «Drivers Meeting» you will be asked several questions like «Who likes to pass» and of course everyone raises their hand. This creates the assumption that ½ dozen or more cars will be out on the track, during your experience, providing the opportunity to pass and race like a true Indy driver. Well its not that plain and simple! In fact, its down right impossible! There is no way for you to pass anything or anyone in the measly 5 minute session you just paid $$$ for… Sorry!
Here’s why…
In the 5 minute drive, they require you to drive at a snails pace for the first lap. So slow in fact that you just wasted 2 minutes of your 5. The second lap provides you with the opportunity to kick it up to 60– 70 miles an hour… maybe. However, the talking head within your helmet’s headset continues to stress caution! Finally its lap three and you’re ready to go! Unfortunately its also been a total of 5 minutes, so hurry up and slow down cause you’re coming into the pits and your «experience» is over. Honestly, I’m certain you’ll drive faster to the track than you will on the track… Do not waste your money on the 5 minute deal, IT SIMPLY IS NOT WORTH IT
8 Minute You Drive:
Take my comments from above and extend it 3 more minutes, which sounds amazing! Get past all that intro Bull crap and now «I’m ready to open this baby up». I have proven my driving skills and ready to release the inner Mario I always new existed within me… I’m going to pass everyone… twice! then be recognized by all the scouts in the stands as a force to be reckoned with … Meh! not really.
1). They won’t let you get on the gas in the turns, mandatory coasting only.
2). Your Indy car is governed to such an extent that by the time you get any speed, the engine begins to sputter, cough and basically shut down, this basically equates to peddling too hard on your big wheel as a kid… it just spins. no additional power.
3). Not once while on the track was there another driver to pass not for any of us.
4). Do the math… On a 1 mile course like PIR, even though I’m getting an extra 3 minutes, I’m going to basically get another 1.5 trips around the track before its time to reduce speed and coast into the pits.
The truth of it is… there’s more excitement and anticipation heading to the track, suiting up like a true race car driver than the actual experience itself.
8 Minute You Drive + another 8 minutes
Should you decide that you must… and that you can afford another $ 200.00 for an additional 8 minutes, then and only then can you truly appreciate what the «Mario Andretti Experience» was meant to be, Plus, you get the added bonus of having the Governor cranked up from 4500 rpm to 5500 rpm, which translates to another 5 – 7 miles per hour (this comes directly from one of the top staff members on track)
So in summation, you can experience the program as its truly meant to be for $ 97.00 as a «Ride Along» or pay $ 675.00 to drive it as fast as you can (understanding its governed at 5500 rpm) for a similar experience.
Ya but how fast do you really go?
On a 1 mile track, provided you paid the $ 675.00+, and you’re really good, expect 140 miles an hour for a few seconds… larger tracks expect 160+
Also keep in mind that the 3 hours they mention… 2+ hours is simply waiting around for your turn… 45 minutes is the «Drivers Meeting» and 8 minutes is for the «Experience»
BTW, Forget bringing your Go Pro, they want you to pay $ 79.00 to use their’s. And who the heck came up with 8 minutes anyway. How about «True Laps»
This program could gain serious legs with more seat time, more speed and less nonsense. Make the experience a TRUE experience!!! Spend wisely race car drivers!

Great experience! Friendly crew!
The driver meeting is both informative and entertaining.

My wife got me the living social deal for $ 199. I immediately upgraded for the extra $ 85 once I got there. It was a nice hot day and the whole experience was awesome. I will gladly do it again. Yes the drivers meeting was long and alot of it was talked about again by the crew chief, but safety is their concern. Sure they try and upgrade you more but that too is understandable. Overall the experience was great, staff was very friendly and why not spend that extra money… not everyone can say they have driven a Nascar on a real track. Great day, worth every penny. Might have to try Phoenix next.

Did the 8 minute drive. If you listen and play nice, they let you go full out after just a warm up lap. It’s pretty dreaming awesome, did 3 – 4 laps trying to keep her from just bouncing off the rev limiter. I drove 162.25 mph. Was epic.

I was the recipient of the Indy Experience for my 60^th birthday from Christine S., her brothers and my honey. The review from Dave A. says it all.
Hands down the coolest thing I’ve ever done where I was in full control of the thrill level. Now after overcoming the tension of cramming enough knowledge into a one-​hour class session for — operating, procedure and safety aspects — I want to go back again someday so I can really concentrate on the driving aspect and fully get into the excitement. All laps at 150mph+ would be very invigorating!
Five minutes wouldn’t have been near enough. Eight minutes was definitely too short, but 10 –15 minutes straight would have been just right for me. If they offer 3 additional minutes to your 5 minute package — take them up on the offer. Just like they tell you –it will be the best $ 85 you ever spend. Like my daughter said — do your homework ahead of time and then enjoy the experience for what it is.
The entire staff and crew are top-​notch professionals. The safety briefing, the one-​on-​one handling by the pit crew and the personal trainer on my radio throughout the driving put just enough of that fear/​confidence level into me that I was able to reach top speed and do it in a safe and sane manner. As Christine S. said it was indeed awesome. Bitch’n to be exact!
I have 45 years of driving experience, spent an entire career working with drivers in a major transportation company and have been a driver instructor and have never experienced anything quite like this. I would recommend Andretti Racing to anyone who has the desire for speed in a driving experience like none other!

My dad’s 60 birthday present –8 minute ride! So awesome! He loved it! In at 11 out at 145. One event to the next not much downtime. If you prep yourself ahead if time you will know the prices and times. Sounds like some reviewers on here weren’t prepared. So organized and professional! He can’t wait to go again. Bitchin’ he says!

I was given the Mario Andretti Racing Experience as a gift and was very excited to check it out. I viewed it as a «Once in a lifetime» opportunity to do something that many people have never done.
Before my race day, I received numerous emails asking me to buy the video and photos before you get to the track and receive a discount. I figured great. It is a «Once in a lifetime» experience so why not buy the video to remember it!
The entire staff at the event were very friendly and polite. They were extremely well versed and ran like a well oiled machine.
Since most people have not driven an Indy car before they have no idea what to do or expect. You are trained during a 45 minute session that clearly guides you through exactly what you are going to do so your nerves are put at ease.
Every step of the way they make sure you are well taken care of.
As an example as I was getting in the race car it was a tight fit. One of the men in the pit crew asked how I was doing, do I have question, am I nervous. He was just making sure that everything was 100% ok.
The racing experience was way too short. I got the 5 minute experience and as many have said in their reviews it is only about 3 laps. The first lap you go slow the entire way around the track. The second lap they tell you to increase it a little. Then the third lap they say you can go a little faster. Then your done. They never tall me «Last Lap» or alerted me that it was going to be over on this lap in anyway.
At the end of the day I would have done a few more minutes to really open it up. It was fun.
It is a GREAT gift that anyone would appreciate!
Overall, the experience was great. The crew were well versed, polite, and made everyone feel comfortable. The training was excellent so you knew what was happening when.
You can checkout my experience here:

I bought the 5 minute drive package on living social for my bff’s Christmas/​birthday present at $ 199.
Orignal tickets is about $ 399 and another $ 99 just to sit in.
A very hefty price right?
Well, My friend and I decided to go together one day and unfortunately for us it started to rain ! They had to cancel everything and return our vouchers for another date!
Its sucks for people that were from out of town and booked a specific date and never got to experience it…
So we came back again recently to finally redeem it, they wouldn’t allow you to change dates so we came on another partially cloudy day again! Fontana is a far drive so we were praying to the sun gods to keep it sunny, though it wasn’t sunny it never truly rained…*whew*!
We arrived around 2pm and the waiting game began!
The drivers (my friend) had to watch about a 45 minute «safety video“PLUS another sale pitch reminder from the MC. The Mc was like a drill sergeant, i get why we are driving these extremely powerful cars and anything can easily be detrimental! But, i appreciate a smile here and there please! So he reminded us to upgrade the package because you will want it .to add another 3 more minutes to your riding time would of been another $ 85 !!
Went back to the front again to hear another speech from the director and then back to the waiting game! When my friend’s pager started buzzing, he rushed another line to be fitted for a sanitary helmet and ear pieces ! Since my friend is on the smaller end he was able to cut the line by 2 people and was ready to go fast and furious!
His experience was eh only because during the video lesson they asked them to wait by the corner until on the ear piece said it was okay to go… he waited and waited and never heard anyone on the ear piece. this might of caused him some time for experience. His first run was a test shoot and the guy on the ear piece told him to go slow just to get the handle on everything ! By the second time he was able to go a tad bit faster and once he was ready for his third run it was already time to turn in! I couldn’t believe over 3 hrs of waiting around that 5minute of thrill was over like that!
Regardless he had a good time… wished they weren’t trying to hustle so much money out of ya. but it is what its!

did ride along, unless ur a grandma or never been on a freeway u will be bored, really disappointed, driving experience may be better who knows

Ok, picked up the 5 minute drive package on Living Social for $ 199. The great thing about this is it gives you like 2 years to use the voucher. Considering this is usually in town once or twice a year and is staged on a weekday, it helps with scheduling to get the morning off work.
I arrived late and missed the start of my 8 am driver’s meeting/​safety class. They didn’t hassle me, they simply bumped me into the next class at 10 am. Considering it rained the day before and was cold, I was kind of glad I would have a little more time for the track and tires to warm up before I got behind the wheel. The safety meeting was good, just went over the basics, how to get on and off the track and where to stay when driving on the track. During your run, you’ll have a guy on the radio guiding you through every step along the way, so you don’t have to remember every detail or your screwed!
I’ve done pretty much all of the different racing experiences: NASCAR, Allen Berg Indy Cars, Boss 302 follow along etc., I think this was the best run school. They didn’t try to scare you about crashing their car and owing them $ 50,000 so you had better buy the $ 89 insurance option or else! In addition, the cars they used felt new and really tight, not like abused low maintained cars i’ve used in other driving programs. The only upsell they do is the 5 minute to 8 minute upgrade. Basically, you get launched and your 5 minutes begins. It takes about ²⁄₃ of the track to go from the pit merge lane onto the track, then you cruise 60 – 70 MPH around the first full lap to allow you to acclimate to the car/​track. Then you do a third lap at increasing speed. If you have the 5 minute lap deal, then the fourth lap, they start to have you slow down so you can get off the track and back to the pits. If you do the 8 minute deal, then you don’t get off the track just when it’s starting to get fun, you keep going and get what seemed like maybe an extra lap. So for $ 85, you can upgrade to the 8 min deal. Based on the above, might as well pay to play and do what I came here to do, drive fast, so I bought the upgraded time.
The crew buckles you into the car, your radio crew chief establishes contact and then an ATV gives you a aircraft carrier style launch so you can clutch start the car and off you go. The drive itself was «FUN». However, it only felt like I got to go 4 – 5 laps. I’m not sure if they are actually timing the laps, but it seems like you get one full speed lap and then your done. Sure didn’t seem like 8 minutes of driving to me, so they must charge you 6 minutes for pit time.
As far as the drive, they have everything well sorted out. The cars are 600 HP 2300 lb. Indy cars. They only have one gear, so no shifting required. The downside: They have a 5000 RPM limiter nanny which caps them out at 150 MPH. Believe it or not, you’ll hit the limiter and then the car starts to sputter and you’ll need to adjust to maintain the 4900 RPMs. The second downside is the limiter is usually hit when they finally let you open the car up on your speed pass. So just when you start to have fun, you hit the rev limiter and you spend the rest of the lap trying to hit the sweet spot just below the 5000 RPM mark so you can keep having fun. But then they tell you your drive is over and to head into the lane to head back to the pits. This just has you wanting more! They really need a 10 minute option so you can get an extra lap or two at the top speed. A bump in the nanny to 170 MPH would be nice as well!
Bottom line, I really liked the driving experience and want to do it again. I would recommend this one over any of the other driving experiences available. However, wait for a groupon to buy and get the 8 minute drive if available or if not available, figure in the $ 85 extra cost to bump the time from 5 minutes to 8 minutes when you get to the track.