Kyle Ferris

It all started on a Sunday morning Ryan and I woke up and got ready for our big day of driving some Nextel Cup race cars. As we pulled up to the Las Vegas Speedway I was so excited that when we parked I jumped out of the car and ran to go look at the cars. Once we had our fill of looking at the cars we went to go check in in the office and get our fire retardant suits on. After this we went into the lobby and sat down to wait for the head instructor to give us the run through of what will be happening on and off the track. Once he was done with the meeting he put us into groups to go into the vans and take a lap around the track so we could get a look at it and what all of the markings meant. We started from pit row and made our way around the track. As we pulled back into the pit we hopped out of the vans and made our way over to the Kyle Petty car so that we could get our picture taken. Once everyone was done with that we went underneath the e-z-ups they had out on pit wall for our last bit of instructions before they called out the first order of people to go onto the track. Ryan was called first and went over to get his mask and helmet on. He then got in the car and was taken around for his 8 laps of pedal to the medal driving. As he came in I was on the wall waiting for my turn to go out. Once he got behind the wall I was called to go out to the car and once I got in my heart was racing from the excitement of the engine rumbling. As we took off I could feel the adrenaline going through me and through out the next 8 laps continue to flow through me. After I saw the checkered flag I knew my session was over. I pulled into the pit lane and got out of the car. Once I got back over the wall I took off my helmet and my suit and waited for them to do the award ceremony. Once they started the award ceremony they thanked their sponsors and handed out the packets that told us how fast we went and what our times were. The fastest I went was 135mph on my last lap. All in all it was an exciting experience that I will never forget.

Ryan Ferris

Alright, here we go Let me begin by saying my experience this season, encompassing all events in which I competed, were amazing. Even in the not so great parts of the season, I can still say that I had learned and was able to take away from what happened. From this past year, we went through the wide range of emotions associated with more than one cause, whether it be an issue with the roadrace bike or faced driving through the night to make it to the event. From our adventures throughout the general season, to the drama filled season ending finale at Mid-Ohio, to our team events such as the NASCAR experience; it brought us together as a team and made us better as people. Through it all, it was an experience.

The record breaking season was something to the tune of near perfect. Despite some late season bobbles, we as a team were able to pull it together and come away with the number one plate! We came into the season with an amazing amount of momentum and carried that through each and every race we entered. Just lining them up and knocking them down, so to speak. Taking the first win was great, but then to back that up, and back that up, and back that up, and back that up with five straight consecutive wins was perfect. It was, literally, a perfect season for Team Infinity-Replicast in the USGPRU 250GP West Coast Championship Series. No one has taken a perfect season since the series inception so many years back. The first sign of weakness, more-so on my (the riders) part, was when I crashed myself out of the lead at Barber. Going into the last race, we were poised to take the National championship and it felt great! Then we got to the final... fun track, just didn't get enough time on it I don't think. My old gremlins from barber came back to haunt me and that led to an unpleasant experience with the Ohio asphalt/gravel. And as if that weren't enough, electrical problems foiled my qualifying attempts. I ended up starting thirty-third, some fourteen or so rows back. Let me tell you, these were not enthusiastic times on my part, though the team was sure optimistic. Perry did a heck of a job putting the bike together and fixing the issues with it so I was ready to go the following day. The rest of the weekend was status quo. We all worked together, which is one of the best feelings; to know you have a team there supporting and backing you, getting the bike set-up and dropping time, each time out. Fast-forward to the race: this was it, the culmination of all our efforts for the past months. Lets just say, there was a lot of excitement, not so much anxiety and nervousness but a great deal of excitement. Green-flag drops, got my start, ended up passing a great deal of people through the course of the first lap and got myself to where I needed to be per the teams collective decisions prior to the race. Some twelve laps later, I came by with the biggest grin on my face to see a p1 on the board and Frank and Perry jumping up and down on the wall. We did it!!!

Prior to the final race, we also attended the Richard Petty NASCAR experience driving school. That was definetely interesting to say the least. Coming from the realm of two-wheels and minimal horsepower to these beasts of cars with the widest set of four tires and an ungodly amount of horsepower was a change to say the least. We had eight laps, seemingly minimal but enough to get your feet wet and have a feel for what a totally different world these drivers are dealing with, to show what we're made of and put the pedal to the metal! The driving was fun, it was cool to get to sit behind the wheel and actually pilot one of these cars round in circles, although i'd like to see one of them take these cars to a track like barber and put down times like we do, but thats beside the point. I didn't know what to expect going into it and had that sort of feeling like a kid getting his first glimpse into something new, with all the curiousity you'd ever need. Now, we got eight laps, and I don't know how hard it is to go the race distance in one of these things, but to me it seems like these guys are way overpaid for going around in circles. This was a great experience, not many people can say they took laps in a NASCAR, behind the wheel, doing 130mph like we were!

Ryan "1st turn" Ferris