Team Stradale

I have to somewhat disagree with the poster from 6÷5÷11. I too bought the LivingSocial deal, but I went to the Team Stradale website and looked to see what all was involved. It didn’t have absolute specifics, but it was enough to know that it would be fun.
I bought one for my brother, dad and myself. My dad is going on a later date so he cant’ comment, but me and my brother had an absolute blast! (i’m 28 and he’s 21). We’re both really into motor sports and cars and such, so I’m sure this played a factor.
I will say though that the 6÷5÷11 comment did state that not knowing what all was involved was a little bit frustrating. They really didn’t explain anything prior to your ride. After watching the other groups before me I could tell that I would go first and then the intructors drove the students. But it wasn’t until I hopped in the car that I figured a few things out.
If you don’t know how to drive stick shift you’re screwed (all the cars are stick shift, they probably should have specified that on the website) Luckily me and my bro drive stick shift.
I think this team thought that anyone buying this deal would have some background knowledge of this sort of thing, however I could tell some of the other people had never even been to a track (Me and my bro both had). They are located at the Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, so I knew the overall structure of the place.
If I had absolutely no prior experience with cars and racing I probably would’ve been a little disappointed by the lack of info, but I already sort of knew what I was doing. So the whole thing was an absolute blast for me and my bro. And the Stradale instructors are hilarious and awesome!
The High Speed Pass that they sell (which is what this was called) is awesome! You get to drive BMW Roadsters at high speeds around the track and the instructors direct you where to drive on the track and when to brake/​throttle. You really start to get a feel for the track by the end. THEN the instructors get in and RACE while the students are passengers. You REALLY get to see how fast these cars can go and how hard you can turn! Overall it was so much fun! (PS: I’m a girl… and I loved it!)

I got hubby a race car driving experience from here for Father’s Day. This place has driving classes you can take and zoom around the track with an instructor. You can also be a passenger and let the driver go REALLY fast.
You need to know that this place is in the middle of nowhere. You’re on the highway, then exit, then turn at a light and then you’re driving along this two lane road for awhile. Keep going, keep going, then you see a brick entryway.
Then you park and check in. You have to sign stuff including forms for any spectators and get a wristband. Here I would have liked to know how it worked, how long you waited, what there was to do, snacks, etc., but no such luck. Then we drove back to the track.
We were greeted by some friendly people and then they found a helmet to fit hubby. Then we waited. It was really hot, in the 90s, and there was some shaded spots, but not many places to sit or food options. They did have a bucket of water bottles and gatorade and we discovered that after the 7 year old started whining about being thirsty and hungry.
There really wasn’t any communication until they were ready for hubby to drive and it was about 20 minutes after his scheduled time. Then we had no idea how many laps it was or that he would swap spots and be a passenger and how long that was. It would have been nice to not care and just relax, but I had 3 kids with me. Luckily the older ones brought something to do, but the 7 year old was REALLY antsy. You can’t see the whole track, so they would zip by and then disappear for awhile.
Hubby said it was a lot of fun, but he would have liked to go faster. There were cars in front of him slowing him down, so that wasn’t an option.
When we were finished, they gave hubby a drawstring bag with some brochures in it and a box with a water bottle, sun chips and an orange.
It was a nice adventure and a good deal thanks to Living Social.