The '05 NHRA Pro Stock champ,...
The '05 NHRA Pro Stock champ, Greg Anderson, shows the road racers what smoke and noise are all about with his Pro Stock GTO.
They were right. From the passenger seat, it really felt like a heavily upgraded production car rather than the purpose-built competition machine that it is. The engine is actually close to stock and uses a smaller throttle body than stock, per the Grand American class rules. With about 450 hp and a curbweight of approximately 2,700 pounds, the power-to-weight ratio is good, making for some quick acceleration in the straights-we were able to get over 125 on the longest stretch and, like the DP, it was exhilarating. The brakes were also fantastic. We didn't experience the slam against the seatbelts that we encountered with the Daytona Prototype, but it was still much harder than any production car I'd ever been in. Once again, it was enough where I was having some trouble with my equilibrium-it was that forceful.
Likewise, the cornering force was also much more intense than the production car, but it really felt like there was still some familial DNA floating around. It also felt like the steering, general suspension attitude, and other critical dynamics were in the same general territory as the standard-issue Goat, giving the driver the same sort of cues but on an elevated level.
One area that was different was the shifter-a slick ratchet unit for the manual transmission. An LCD readout on the steering wheel indicated the gear being used. After a few laps watching the instructor, I felt as though I was ready to take the wheel.
The Arrowhead Performance...
The Arrowhead Performance "Tiger" GTO was also on hand to make some runs down the track. Check out the T/A-style Shaker scoop and ducktail spoiler.
The truth is, it never happened. Once again, my size got in the way-I was too big to drive the car. As it was set up for substantially smaller drivers, the seat was too narrow for my hip bones, the steering wheel was less than three inches from my chest, and my right foot was wide enough to operate all three pedals at once. The last thing I wanted to do was go out there and not be able to control the car. With great disappointment, and with the help of three crew members, I was extracted from the cockpit of the GTO.R, this time for good. They didn't need to use the Jaws of Life, but it was close.
(Unfortunately, the one area that I could have redeemed myself as a driver-the drag racing portion of the event-was scheduled after my flight out of Phoenix. I had some trouble with the airline, which shall remain nameless, and had to rebook the flight out much earlier than I wanted. I was really looking forward to showing up the road racers with my sweet launches and bitchin' powershifts, but in retrospect, I have a feeling they would have cleaned my clock there as well. Oh, well.)
The final portion of the event (before I had to leave) was to ride shotgun in a drifting display. Using the stock GTOs, the instructors showed us what actually goes into drifting. To be truthful, I at first thought the whole concept of drifting was ridiculous and didn't believe it was a legitimate form of competition. If one can eliminate the concept of racing and view it as a contest of driving skill, it actually makes a lot more sense. It's more like a competition of stunt driving skills judged like an Olympic sport event such as figure skating or gymnastics.
Here is 230 pounds of HPP...
Here is 230 pounds of HPP magazine contributor wedged into the GTO.R.
I was amazed at the amount of skill it takes to drift a car, and I have a lot more respect for the sport having actually been in a car observing the drivers in action. It is a precise balance of throttle, steering, clutch, and suspension loading wrapped in an almost instinctual understanding of the car. It truly is a melding of man and machine. Going around the track with the windows down, the car sideways, engine screaming, tires shrieking, smoke everywhere, and watching the instructor make it all look easy, all I could think of was how cool this was. I imagined how much my 10-year-old son would love it and how much my 90-year-old grandmother would hate it.
Conclusion
Even with my physical size becoming an excluding factor in my ability to participate in the race car driving, it was still a fun and informative event that was well executed by Pontiac-GMC's support staff and the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving. Amazingly, after all that I was back home in less than 36 hours, round trip. Talk about a whirlwind adventure-it was one of the most action-packed trips I've ever taken.