Local drivers get to play Speed Racer for a day
Safety class held at Sandia Speedway
It was an abbreviated course and really just a fun, free day on the racetrack.
But the owner of Sandia Speedway said he hopes the people who drove his track on Thursday learned that “when you start hauling ass, that comes with responsibility.”
Charlie Fegan, the owner of the racetrack, and Bernalillo County Commissioner Art De La Cruz presented the first “Holiday Break Performance Driving School” at Sandia Speedway on Thursday.
Any driver could show up throughout the day, where Fegan was giving a quick 20- to 30-minute driving instruction course before letting them take laps on the 14-turn, 1.7-mile asphalt racing track.
The event was put together in the wake of the death of 10-yearold Carmen Esmeralda Rivera. A suspected street racer traveling over 100 mph on Interstate 25 collided with her family’s vehicle. She died after being ejected her from the vehicle.
Before turning the drivers loose, Fegan talked to them about how far cars travel at high speeds. A car going 60 mph will go 88 feet per second, he said. So imagine how far someone could travel if they look down and fire off a text on the interstate.
“You don’t really get to do this on the streets, and I got to play with my Mini,” said Rebecca Gonzales, 24, who took her Mini Cooper around the track about 20 times. “It was like the ‘Italian Job’ (movie).”
She said she learned a few things about the capabilities and limits of her car.
“It was scary. Some turns are really sharp. It’s exhilarating but it’s definitely terrifying,”
she said. “I don’t race. I’m an everyday driver. But I got (speeding) out of my system.”
David Goodman, 28, took his Nissan Skyline GT-R around the track several times, reaching speeds above 150 kilometers per hour. He bought his car in Japan, so he doesn’t know what that means in mph (93.2 mph is the answer).
“It’s going to build skills,” he said of the event. “People are more likely to have a wreck if they don’t know their car.”
The event targeted younger drivers, but all were welcome. Over the lunch hour, there were about 20 people there.
Fegan said he’ll consider offering similar events in the future, with the hope that people who might otherwise be racing each other on Albuquerque’s streets become regular customers.
“It’d be nice if they picked up the habit and they came out here,” he said. “I’d love it if on Friday night I could run the lights out here till 1 a.m. and the kids were out here playing on the track instead of on the street. But it’s hard to make that happen.”