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On Friday, I woke my boyfriend, Mark, up at the crack of dawn and told him it was time to leave. Astonished that it was still dark outside, he asked where we were going. "It's a surprise, so get up!", I screeched. He wasn't overly thrilled to be awake when the time was still in single digits, but I knew he would thank me later for what was in store later on. The trip downstate was a long drive; totaling to be just shy of 3 and a half hours (it would have been shorter if someone didn't get us lost!). Once we were passing signs that said Michigan International Speedway, he started to piece the puzzle together. "Are we going to watch a race?", he asked repeatedly. I left it at a mystery and kept replying with "you will see when we get there". My boyfriend isn't one to enjoy surprises as he hates being left in the dark about things. I was hoping I picked the reservation he would enjoy most, but I wasn't entirely sure. What if he doesn't like it? What if he chickens out? Did I just pay all of this money for nothing? All of these thoughts raced through my head as we were getting closer to our destination. Before I knew it, we passed a sign that said "Xtreme Driving Xperience Ahead". Once Mark read the sign, he looked at me with the widest eyes and asked, "What on earth did you sign me up for?"
We pull up to the gate and the guard asked us what we were there for. Dazed and confused, Mark looked at me and I leaned forward and told the guard we were here for the driving experience as I was reluctant to give any further details. The guard let us through and we headed to the parking lot. We get inside the building and it was full of all sorts of people. I couldn't believe how many people paid this kind of money for this event. I walked up to the check-in booth and grabbed a waiver form and told Mark to sign his life away. Just like before, he asked me what was going on and almost didn't sign the waiver! Once he did, he was led into a separate building where, unbeknownst to him, he had to take a driver's safety course. The class was scheduled to last an hour, so I stood outside in the rain and watched the other participants. Mark came out of the building and almost tackled me in excitement. "You signed me up to drive a supercar?!" he squealed. I was stunned that it took him this long to figure out what he was going to be doing. I took him over to the line for the car he was going to be driving and told him to have a great time since I was not able to participate. The car rolled up and he said, "No freakin' way," under his breath.
Mark's idol all of his life was the late actor Paul Walker. This inspired him to be severely interested in street cars and street bikes. Eventually, his love for it grew on me, and I was just as excited to see all of this supercars as he was. However, there was one specific car I knew he would want to drive for 3 laps around the track. That car happened to be the Nissan GT-R Premium. I know what you are thinking, "Anyone can drive a Nissan," but this wasn't any ordinary Nissan. This car was the fastest one out of the lot by going from 0 to 60 mph in less than 3 seconds. All of the cars there were absolutely beautiful, and it would have been amazing to drive any of them. However, I knew I picked the right car for Mark. He made his 3 laps around the track and exited the car with the biggest smile I have ever seen. He had a fantastic time, and I had just as great of a time watching. It was truly an adventure, and we will book another car next year.
This is the Nissan GT-R Premium that my boyfriend was able to drive. It was raining when it was his turn to drive it, so the instructor didn't allow him to get up to full speed. He was able to make it to 130 mph, though!
This is the Corvette Z06 and it just screams BEAST! Something went wrong with this car because the instructor raced it off the track and it never appeared again.
This is a Lamborghini LP560-4. It was amazing to watch it race around the track and hear it rev up. A man reserved this car, but he wasn't able to drive it because he was too tall. He was pretty bummed!
This was by far my favorite car out there. It's a Lamborghini Huracan LP610-4. The color of this Lambo was so amazing in person, and I loved those orange calipers!
The Ferrari 458 Italia was an impressive car and a lot of people booked a reservation to drive this!
This Porsche 911 GT3 was very impressive, but someone unfortunately damaged it by running over a line of cones. It damaged the undercarriage of the vehicle and one of the cones flew out from under it and dented the side by the spoiler. Needless to say, the company wasn't very happy!
The Audi R8 V10 was one of the coolest cars to watch and listen to as it raced down the track. It was so fast and didn't disappoint anyone.
This is the other Lamborghini Huracan LP610-4. I loved the red on this one because it makes such a bold statement, but I still prefer the smoke gray.
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