A good friend surprised me with an all-expenses paid trip to Speed Vegas to drive rally trucks for my birthday this year. We had to wait a while to actually go, but it was worth the wait. The only problem with waiting until June to go was that it got hot. Really hot.
We didn’t notice the heat while we were driving. Those trucks don’t have windshields, so we got a nice breeze in the trucks the whole time we were moving. Besides, while you’re pushing those dune buggies on steroids through the curves and over the jumps, you don’t really have time to think about being hot.
The trucks themselves, though, did feel the heat. I’d love to go back and do it all over again, but if I do, I think I’ll go in January or February, when it’s only in the 70s or 80s in Vegas.
But even with the heat, it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done, pun intended. Our professional driver for the rides sat in the passenger seat and gave us instructions on when to hit the brake, when to hit the gas, and when to start the turns. I need that guy to go with me when I go up to Bear Lake in the Snowies in my own truck. I think he’d help me keep from rupturing a tire or getting stuck in a mud bog.
I learned quite a bit about driving fast on the dirt, too. I learned how to approach a corner so I can take the turn at a higher speed, and I learned how to keep from peeling out when I accelerate in order to prevent losing momentum. I also learned how to make sure I land on all four tires at once after a jump, which reduces the risk of breaking suspension pieces or axles.
I’m not sure I’ll try any of that in my own Ram 2500, but at least now I know how to do it if I ever feel the need to try. I’m sure my wife is thrilled about that.
If you want to see how it looks from the driver’s seat, check out the video of one of my laps here.
