Wheel of Fortune

By Judith Evans Thomas

For one lucky and adventurous travel writer, getting behind the wheel of a racecar takes her New Year's resolution into full throttle.

In late October I begin thinking about my New Year's resolution. This year was no exception. I looked back for inspiration. In 2006, I resolved to spend time exploring the world. In 2007, I resolved to spend time at home. Last year I resolved to spend time accepting and savoring whatever came my way. Time was the common theme in all these resolutions. Albert Einstein, the master of time theories, once said, "The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once."

If you agree with Albert, then time should be our friend, not an adversary. Otherwise, all those wonderful experiences in life would become just a blur. Unfortunately that's how I felt. In order to remember where life had taken me this last year, I needed my calendar. Yikes! What was I doing wrong? About this same time, my husband, Steve, came to me with a proposition. We were going to Napa Valley, Calif., with friends that month. Would I consider adding a couple of days at the beginning of our trip to try the Audi Sportscar Experience at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma?

Ever since Danica Patrick entered the "boy's league" of racing, I've been a fan. Much to the surprise of my husband, I jumped at the chance. A few days later, the reality of what I'd agreed to hit me. I was going to drive a high-performance car at maximum speed on a professional racetrack? Was I nuts? I liked driving fast, but didn't want to die.

A quick click to Amazon.com had me ordering Going Faster! Mastering the Art of Race Driving by the Skip Barber Racing School and Speed Secrets 5 by Ross Bentley and Bruce Cleland. I've always thought knowledge is power, so I hoped mastering the language of racing would also conquer the skills. Steve was so pumped I didn't have the heart to tell him I was terrified. I read those books every night until the day we left.

Audi chose Turn 1 at Infineon Raceway (a quick 60-minute ride from San Francisco International Airport) to house a state-of-the-art facility showcasing its highest performance cars, with full-day programs featuring the Audi RS4 sedan and Audi R8 sportscar. Half-day programs offered Audi's newest S models -- the sporty S5 coupe and 450-horsepower S8. Fans of these cars could get behind the wheel and (after a couple of hours of class time) go full throttle on the track. We had chosen the all-day experience.

Sixteen of us arrived as the fog was lifting from San Francisco Bay. I was one of three women. We spent the morning in class going over race-driving basics and track configuration. Turns out the Infineon Raceway's 2.52 miles are some of the most challenging in North America. Its 12-turn course combines a variety of corner types that run through an elevation change of 166 feet. Be still my heart. Then it was time to put pedal to the metal.

As we left the classroom, I visualized Ben Affleck and Bruce Willis in the 1998 movie Armageddon heading to the Space Shuttle for an impossibly difficult mission. The light reflected off our helmets, and a cool breeze ruffled our driving suits. Mine was Prada.

The first exercise taught us how to maneuver our R8s on an obstacle course. Cones were set and reset with tighter and tighter configurations. The instructor responsible for resetting the cones told me I had broken the record. I didn't ask whether that was good or bad. On the real track, we drove in tandem behind our instructor, who guided us via live audio feed. With ever-increasing speed, we practiced braking at the last possible moment before a turn, following the optimal course line and hitting the perfect apex of each turn.

With each lap, time slowed down. I became more comfortable with the power of my car, and stopped questioning its and my ability to go faster. When we hit the straightaway and I heard, "Full throttle," time stood still. At more than 100 miles per hour, the car and I were one. My New Year's resolution for 2009? Time to slow down, remember the details and always pay attention to the turns.