Thanks for keeping me in one piece, Clint Bowyer

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Many other people have done "George Plimpton-style" stories on things like getting in a race car and driving around a track real fast.

So, I am not going to do that here.

All I am going to say is "Thank You, Clint Bowyer" for giving me quite a thrill this morning and allowing me to sit shotgun as he whipped around Pocono Raceway at speeds that ranged between 140 and 160 miles per hour.



It wasn't racing speed, but it was certainly fast enough for me. And this special track adventure gave me a pretty good idea of what these guys go through when they race here, as they will a week from Sunday with the second of the two NASCAR Sprint Cup Pococo races.

Clint Bowyer 002 Clint Bowyer 001 Bowyer gave about 15 or 16 media members the "racing" experience, allowing them to sit in the passenger seat while he zoomed around the track.

For me it was hard enough to simply get in and out of the car. It took me as long to get in and out of the car as it took Bowyer to cover the 2.5 mile track.

Remember there are no door handles on these cars.

Bowyer (seen above) seemed to enjoy my struggles. He was polite and all, but he admitted later that he wanted to scare a few of us while having fun at the same time. I think he was kidding.

After I grunted and groaned and wedged my way into the car, they strapped me in real tight, fitting me with a neck brace (Hans device) and everything else. I was actually feeling a bit claustrophobic until Bowyer pulled away and headed for Turn 1 and then, suddenly, claustrophobia was the least of my concerns.

Bowyer gave everybody three laps. With my heart in my throat (or is it the other way around?), I lost count of the laps but I swear he gave me four laps. I am not sure he did that because he liked me or because I admitted at some point that I actually was once a Jeff Gordon fan before I started covering this stuff.

Anyway, this was a morning I will never forget, and also a morning I will not likely repeat.

As I leave Pocono for Philly, I wonder if the Schuylkill Expressway will give even more thrills than the so-called "Tricky Triangle."

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/