Mario Andretti Racing Experience

I purchased this «gift» as a birthday gift for my husband, and I couldn’t have been more pleased. We have always attended the Indy 500 since we were kids, and we are excited to attend the 100^th running this year, so we considered this a perfect kick-​off for the month of May. The day ended up being a great treat for the entire family!
We arrived in plenty of time to check in, and they’ve got the process down! At check in, my husband received his racing suit, a pager, and a lanyard with his participation number. Some people say they were pressured to purchase more items (go pro camera, more time, etc.) at check in. We didn’t experience that at all. Sure, we were offered items, but it was no different than a server asking me if I wanted dessert. We declined what we didn’t want, and the friendly staff moved on. We watched other racers out on the track while he waited to be called back to the drivers’ meeting area of the speedway for the training. It was a pleasant surprise that they invited the entire family back to the drivers’ meeting. My two boys, ages 13 and 14, were sure they would spend most of the time sitting and waiting around, but every single person we encountered was happy to speak with us and include the entire family. The training was a video followed by more information and a question/​answer session with an extremely knowledgeable and friendly guy. He encouraged safety first, but also reminded the drivers these cars are happiest at high speeds, and the drivers should trust the cars and turn it loose! After the meeting, it was time to take the track…
This is the fun part and what you’ve come for! They paged my husband when it was his turn and suited him up with his helmet and communication earbuds. (Our older son got to keep the earbuds!) Out to the car he went, and after a quick conversation, safety check, and a push-​out (pop the clutch!) out onto the track, he was off! Each driver has his/​her own spotter who keeps in constant contact with him/​her while you are on the track. He/​She offers you information about what to do, your position on the track, and anything pertinent about your car. You can talk back to your spotter, and they encourage the communication. My husband had problems hearing his spotter, and so he brought the car back in after the first lap. They were there to meet him and fix his problem before quickly getting him back out on the track. (His very own pit stop! ;-)) There were other people out on the track while he was driving, so there was opportunity for passing and positioning. After his time was finished (it flies by!) he came back into the pits. The smile on his face when he got out of the car said it all!
They also offer a drive along experience. The boys each got 3 laps out on the track with a professional driver, and the staff was phenomenal with each of them. The driver even was kind enough to spend time chatting with our family after the laps. It was obvious he has a passion for what he does and was happy to share it with the boys, He didn’t have to spend that time with us, but he did.
We all left with a smile on our face. My husband smiled because he got to sit behind the wheel of an Indy style racing car. My boys smiled because they hit speeds on the racetrack they never knew they could… or that I’d let them. I left with a smile on my face as one happy mama because, let’s face it, all three of my guys were smiling!
Things to know:
Arrive in plenty of time to check in and get situated. It takes a while.
No, you don’t get to go as fast as you want, but you aren’t a professional driver. My husband averaged right at 160. He said he could have gone faster, but that was enough for the first round! The boys got to go faster with the professional driver.
Yes, you will hear the same safety rules from several different people. They don’t think you are stupid! You all know how people can be, so it’s necessary to keep everyone safe as you are out on the track with these people!
You get out of it what you put into it. Engage with the staff. Take pictures. Ask questions.
Bring a chair of some sorts to sit close to the pit wall unless you want to sit in the stands.
Snacks and drinks were available for purchase at the merchandise stand. (We were glad to find that out!)
Enjoy the day and have realistic expectations. Andretti, you are not… but this is as close as you’ll probably ever get!
Thank you Chris, Allen (Santa Claus) and the ride along driver (I didn’t catch your name) and the rest of the staff for a once in a lifetime day. We’ll be back in October to drive the NASCAR experience! This time, I think I’ll even get a ride along. :)

I made a mistake and bought the wrong experience voucher last December. We didn’t realize it until this weekend when we went to book an August experience. I called today, Monday during business hours, and a pleasant CS changed it to the right experience and booked it for me. My husband did it last year at Charlotte and had a great time with the whole experience, from the instructions to the fire suit to the driving. As soon as we left, he said he wanted to do it again now that he knew the routine. He’s 65 and an old muscle car guy who street raced when he was young. If people can get over the rain-​check but no refund policy, it’s a really fun time.

I purchased a gift card for the Mario Andretti racing experience for my husband for father’s day. He was not thrilled & told me to cx it. I called & requested a cancellation since I had only bought it the day before and had not received the gift card in the mail. Some very unhelpful girl, that identified herself as an office manager, which I doubt, said that was a strict no refund policy. I thought this was a reputable company and I thought my husband would like the gift. I was wrong on both counts. He was very unimpressed with what they have to offer. I was very unimpressed with the level of customer care and empathy from this girl that answered the phone. Do not give these people any business whatever you do. I wish I had seen all the crappy reviews before I made the mistake of ordering. They do not deserve the chance.

We booked a 3-​lap Indy car drive with them through
as a gift to one of our friends. What a friggin mistake!
We had an 8:00pm reservation on a Saturday at the Texas Motor Speedway. We called the number they gave us (877-​RACE-​LAP) at around noon that day to confirm we were still on, but we kept getting this message, «All circuits are busy.»
We called as we got ready to drive an hour into the middle of nowhere and got the same message. When we got there the security guard told us, «They just left cuz the track didn’t dry enough from the rain this morning.» Of course, our calls to them as we drove an hour back to Plano went unanswered.
We called them on Monday and they said, «We have a no refund policy, so we can reschedule you for March 2011.» Uhh how bout screw you!
A week and a half after that, we get an e-​mail stating:
«Thank you for making your reservation with us at Texas Motor Speedway. Unfortunately, because of the wet race track due to the heavy rain, your experience was cancelled.
Enclosed is an E– gift card for the experience you purchased which is good for one year at any of the Mario Andretti Racing Experience locations or may be used for NASCAR Racing Experience.
Dates at Texas Motor Speedway are available now in March, 2011.»
They never apologized for the cancellation, failing to notify us of the cancellation, failing to provide effective means of communicating with them or not being able to reschedule for something sooner than six months into the future.
So just know that they have a very strict no refund policy, even if they’re 100% at fault. Although
did a great job at helping us resolve this fiasco, I think much of their driving experiences are booked through Driving 101 (this subsidiary’s parent company).
I later received an e-​mail from Cloud 9’s Customer Service VP stating, «Please note that I spoke with the racing school to discuss your points so this won’t reoccur in the future. Moving forward they will have an 800 number with hourly updates on the weather. In addition, we’ve asked that they contact Cloud 9 Living the moment an event is cancelled so that we may personally contact all of our customers.»
But no refunds.