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NASCAR Cafe at the Sahara
Friday's activities were deliberately scheduled to start around lunchtime to allow everyone to recoup from traveling and our Thursday night gab session. After which, some of the gang headed to bed while others headed down to the casino floor.
We met again in the hotel lobby, piled into the two mini-vans and drove down to the strip to the Sahara and the NASCAR Cafe. As race fans, where else would you go? Our timing also allowed us to place a friendly wager on who was going to win the Bud Pole for Sunday's NASCAR race at Dover. After all the bets were in ($1 per person - high stakes!), we enjoyed our lunch and watched live qualifying to see which one of us would win the pot. I was lucky enough that my pick, Ryan Newman, took the pole and won me $13 (sorry, Paul!).
Fast Lap Indoor Kart Racing
You can't get a bunch of racers (even online gamer racers) together and not have them race in some form or another, so our next stop was Fast Lap Indoor Kart Racing's facility, not too far off the strip. Some of us had previous karting experience, but most of us were novices. That didn't stop any of the trash talking though!
This isn't SIM racing, so we were required to put on protective gear - headsocks, helmets and neck braces, with optional gloves. We may have been 'indoors', but when you consider the location is a converted warehouse with open doors, it didn't do much to lessen the heat of the 100-degree plus day. Add in the heat from the 200cc motors on the karts, and it was mighty toasty. We bore it with good humor, citing that if NASCAR drivers can deal with it, then so could we. Soon, we were assigned our karts and on the track.
Each kart is equipped with a transmitter and its lap time is recorded as it passes the start/finish line. Of course, while you're out there, you're not thinking about lap times, you're thinking about how to pass the guy in front of you or keep the guy behind you, behind you! Sitting only a few inches off the ground, it seems as though your flying, and judging from the pictures taken in sports mode, that not too far off an assessment!
For bragging rights, there's even a podium for first, second and third finishers to pose. In the first heat, it was Bryan (17 laps, best lap 28.79 seconds), Bob (16 laps, 28.63) and Rob (16 laps, 28.85). In the second, Doug (16laps, 28.18), Bryan (16 laps, 28.53) and me (16 laps, 28.85 - though to be fair, Bob was racing so hard and so fast, that his kart's axle broke in that session and took him out of contention). For in the diehard third heat, it was Doug (18 laps, 27.97), Rob (18 laps, 28.26) and Bob (18 laps, 28.35). I say diehard because I was done after two 10-minute sessions. Between the temperatures and the wrestling of the kart, I was drained! I challenge anyone who does says racecar drivers aren't athletes to give these a try and see how they fare!
Bast lap stats:
| Name | Heat # | Car # | Laps | Best Lap | Name | Heat # | Car # | Laps | Best Lap | ||
| Rob | 1 | 7 | 16 | 27.97 | Rob | 2 | 9 | 15 | 29.15 | ||
| Doug | 3 | 18 | 18 | 27.97 | John | 3 | 13 | 17 | 29.24 | ||
| Bryan | 1 | 17 | 17 | 28.18 | Doug | 1 | 16 | 16 | 29.44 | ||
| Bob | 2 | 5 | 15 | 28.22 | John | 2 | 3 | 16 | 29.49 | ||
| Rob | 3 | 9 | 18 | 28.26 | Trish | 1 | 9 | 15 | 29.98 | ||
| Bob | 3 | 15 | 18 | 28.35 | John | 1 | 1 | 15 | 30.38 | ||
| Bryan | 3 | 3 | 18 | 28.48 | Paul | 1 | 15 | 15 | 31.28 | ||
| Bob | 1 | 5 | 16 | 28.53 | Mary | 1 | 4 | 15 | 31.62 | ||
| Bryan | 2 | 1 | 16 | 28.63 | Pam | 1 | 2 | 14 | 32.54 | ||
| Doug | 2 | 16 | 16 | 28.79 | Mark | 1 | 3 | 13 | 34.74 | ||
| Trish | 2 | 7 | 16 | 28.85 |
Once all our laps were logged, the gang posed for a group photo. From left to right - standing: Bryan, Ann, Trish, Pam, John, Paula and Ted; middle row: Bob, Mark, Doug and Paul; front row: Mary and Rob. From there it was back to the hotel for some siesta time before meeting up in the hotel's buffet for dinner. Our evening was capped off with a quick tour of the video arcades (we're gamers!) and then back to the room for more gabbing until the wee hours.
