One of the places I go for creative “date” ideas is Groupon. I received a regular featured Groupon (discount deal, for those not in the USA) type email that advertised an exotic sports car driving experience at Tucson Dragway. I would have the choice between driving a Lamborghini, a Ferrari or a McLaren. I felt inspired to do this as one of my dates because my 7 year old son is a Hypercar/exotic sports car fanatic. His favorite car is the Koenigsegg Agera RS. Also, how often is it that you can drive down the road from your house and do a quick test drive in one of these cars?!

I bought and scheduled my driving experience and asked my 7 year old which car he would choose. He said the McLaren. And so, that is what I chose. I had no idea what to expect. I didn’t know what the “laps” would be like, I didn’t know how driving this powerful car would feel, I didn’t know if I’d be standing around in a crowd of other drivers waiting for my turn to drive…Whatever, I just decided to go and get my drive on!

I arrived at Tucson Dragway, and found there was only a handful of people there to drive the cars. I filled out my waiver and found the driving instructor who was going to ride with me. I opted to add a 2 lap “ride-along” with the instructor, just so I could get acquainted with how the car felt before it was my turn to drive. They had a short, curvy cone course set up. The instructor really put the hammer down and was drifting through all of the corners, while not bumping a single cone. I HATE the sensation of drifting. 😂 Anyhoo, I was fine with it in this case because an expert was behind the wheel.

Then, it was my turn to drive. I was a little intimidated to drive this car!! I don’t know why! I think feeling the car’s power and performance in the ride-along was both good and bad. I saw what the car could do, but felt like I could easily over drive beyond my skill level. Still, the worst thing that would happen is I’d knock over some cones…I also knew I only had 2 short, fast laps. I didn’t want to drive like a granny and waste the experience. I ended up somewhere in between.

Lamborghini on cone course:

My ride-along and driving experiences were over in the blink of an eye. I was surprised to feel nervous about driving this car, but had a good time! I wish the course had been longer, or I had one more lap. It takes a couple of turns to get settled in. 😁

This was a good experience because I had a good time, but also, I don’t think about all of the cool car, motorcycle and go-kart racing venues in this particular part of town. We have NASCAR racing at Tucson Speedway, right next door to Tucson Dragway. We have the Musselman Honda Circuit across the street from the NASCAR speedway where they do super high speed go kart racing, Formula D style Drifting, Super Moto racing, etc…I realized I need to start taking my boys out to this area to watch some racing!

Other Nearby Racing Venues:

This date was short and sweet, but it was fun! Date #16 has been scheduled/reserved. Stay tuned!

15 dates down, 35 to go!!