Rusty Wallace Racing Experience

Drove at evergreen speedway and was disappointed. This was the third time I have did this but the first time at this track. the cars were geared way to low as not even half way down the straights the rev limiter engaged and the spotter kept yelling to slow down. I could have left it wide open all the way around the track and the tires would not even slide out but my spotter insisted that I let off the gas and use the brakes. They really over sell the cars by telling you that if you gas it coming out of a corner they will crash. So far from how they really are. A little more freedom for more experienced drivers would be nice. I bought 30 laps but after 10 I was getting really bored. Did it last year on a shorter track and had a little more freedom but nothing like near racing speeds as they advertise. Probably wont do it with this company again but will try some other company.

I called again and pleaded the manager to be reasonable. He doesn’t care. DO NOT USE
SCAM WILL NOT REFUND YOU AT ALL LOST 260 $

So I bought a racing experience for this place back in March 2015. Because only select dates/​times are available throughout the year and because of conflicts with my schedule, I booked my experience for the first week of NOVEMBER 2015! Sure it was a long wait, but I was okay with it. I’ve been looking forward to this for SEVEN months. I get an email yesterday (October 28) that I’ve been canceled and thanks for my understanding. That’s it.
When I call to find out what’s happening, I get a representative who essentially gave a vague, company answer. Essentially what the rep wasn’t saying is that someone more important than me booked the same date and/​or time and I got bumped. Not inclement weather or other acts of God. Then to rub salt into the wound, there are no more dates for 2015 and I have to wait until 2016 if I want to race. Why… so I can wait another seven months and hope you don’t drop me again!!! I was hoping the rep would say something like we will give you additional laps for free or some kind of bonus or discount to truly show they were sorry, but nothing.
What poor Rusty Wallace didn’t realize is that I was thinking of using them as potential future gifts for family, friends, employees, clients, etc. I was going to be the guinea pig. I was sure I was going to like it. It could have been a long term relationship with them. Unfortunately for all of us, that ship has now sailed. Can’t blame them for the rain. Can blame them for choosing one customer over another.
Also If you’re going to race with Rusty Wallace, read all their fine print. They will cancel you for any reason at any time and won’t reimburse any travel plans you made.

I purchased the Rusty Wallace 15-​lap Shootout racing experience for my brother-​in-​law through Groupon.
He is within the maximum size limit (which is in the «Fine Print») and was fitted into a racing suit and placed inside the racing car to make sure he fit. He fit. 4 hours later in 95 degree heat with his 2 yr old daughter waiting, it was finally his time to race. They put him back into the same car, and strangely he didn’t fit anymore! They explained the steering wheel was too big for him (something that should of been considered while he was being fit for the car). An older, slender woman said they had a smaller steering wheel around, but irresponsibly couldn’t find it! She was being condescending; as if it was our fault he couldn’t drive.
After traveling two hours to the racetrack, and waited 4 hours, just to be denied the opportunity to race because of mistakes on their part was beyond frustrating. He was able to complete the Ride Along experience. I asked for a partial refund; I would pay for the Ride Along experience but wanted a refund for the Shootout experience. They said no problem, but instructed me to contact Groupon to get the refund.
Needless to say, Groupon deeply apologized and gave me a refund the same day.
I would give it more stars if it wasn’t for that woman’s lack of customer service.

I drove 2 hours to get to this place. First it was raining so they decided to give me a credit to schedule my 15 lap adventure another day. I really wish I could have just received a refund. First of all don’t bother calling if you need anything because the number goes to one person and it is her cell phone which she never answers. Anyway back to the 15 lap race car driving experience of a life time. So we get there and check in and we are immediately hit with buy this $ 60 insurance package just in case you wreck out old crappie race car. Apparently they are really expensive (even though they are old and nasty) that they have a high rate of accidents so they «highly» recommend you spend more money. just in case… So we check in, then we are directed to the «tent» which is the training area. First of all the teacher had tons of experience but she was talking way over our heads. If you are a beginner just try to pick up what you can and pray. She says all this race car jargon because she is a racing professional. Oh before I forget you should rush over and grab a nasty dirty racing suit (which they don’t sanitize until the end of the day) before your size runs out or else your S.O.L. So listen the instructor and you wait your turn to get in the old nasty racing car. Then comes the company photographer to take your expensive Rusty Wallace picutue. Ya it’s expensive.. so the next part will be the best part of the story. the racing cars are built to their original drivers size so you better hope and pray the car you get fits you. You cannot adjust anything, nothing no seats mirrors, emergency power off switch, nothing… these cars are sooo old it’s rediculous. If you still decide to take on this amazing experience after this review, just make sure you count your laps while you are driving their expensive old racing car. Yes, keep count while you are freaked out about crashing their expensive nasty old car into the wall on the oh did I mention short race track. You can’t even pick up speed because the track is so small. It’s a joke. All in all what a rip off. If I could get my money back I would. Terrible service, nasty old equipment, extremely small race track, and terrible location. You can’t even find the place when you drive by because they don’t have any signs on the main road or entrance. I would look elsewhere or just save your money.

Overall, great experience and friendly staff. Bought the 3 lap ride along Groupon for my Mom’s 50^th birthday — I had given them advance notice of this and they added extra laps, albeit they added the extra laps to my ride, not to hers hahha I felt it was scarier than sky diving but maybe that’s just me. My Mom does want to go back to drive!
Notes: The sign to the entrance is small. Rained morning of so we had a beautiful day (definitely pray for a nice day — the race car driver said the inside of the car is about 20 – 30 degrees hotter than outside). I felt that snacks could have been complimentary since there is quite a bit of standing around OR that we could have been recommended to bring snacks OR that they invite food trucks. Inside of the car is what I pictured it to be and getting in and out of the car was part of the fun! I wish I knew the Stockton track was ¼ mile where the Fontana Auto Speedway is 2 miles — would’ve been more strategic in where we rode/​drove in order to hit those top speeds. The one page handout says that 14 and older can do ride-​alongs with parent/​guardian presence.
Again, it was a great first experience and we look forward to hitting higher speeds!

WOW! WOW! WOW! What a RUSH!!! I had always dreamed of being a race car driver growing up but I knew that dream would never come to fruition since I never «officially» learned to drive a stick. Meh. But this was the next best thing! Besides, I would rather leave the driving to the professionals and get the most out of the experience than be too timid to really step on it if I were to drive one by myself. I know, I know «drive it like you stole it» but I’d be too worried about something happening and ruining the car! I definitely would like to do it again but on a bigger track. This short track thing is a little bit of a bummer. By the time you get up to speed, you’re braking and turning again. Overall a very fun experience though.

We had a fantastic time. The ride was exuberant. I always wanted to do this. The essence of speed is in my bones. I will recommend to have a billboard showing the track entrance. It is not noticible. The staff is very helpful.

I did the 15-​lap shoot out and added 5 laps the last weekend in October. The staff was friendly, informative and helpful. The safety training was effective.
Insurance is good for piece of mind only — but the chances of actually wrecking a car are tiny. They take your steering wheel through the window and guide you through the narrow passage onto the track, it is almost impossible to go fast enough to spin the car in the corners, and the exit of the track is wide enough that it would be difficult to crash the car there. I would have skipped paying the $ 60 had I known.
The only complaints I have are with the small track, very mismatched drivers on the track and the severely detuned car. These are NOT 500 HP Nascars — they have about the same power as a V6 Toyota Camry. Saying that however, they go as fast as most people could safely go on a ¼ mile track like Stockton 99.
Friends who were there watching me timed each lap at between 15 and 18-​seconds, so 20 laps were over in under 6-​minutes. The total number of those laps that I was able to drive the car to my comfortable limits were 5-​laps — and that was after everyone else left the track after 15-​laps, and I was the only car on the track for my last 5. It has to be that controlled with 5 inexperienced drivers on track at one time, and you must wait until instructed to pass.
Some of the drivers had radio problems, were black flagged and removed from the track because they were not allowing others to pass lap after lap, but this still counted toward your lap total. It is easy to say that they should separate drivers by ability level, but they are moving a lot of people through this experience every day, and it would be difficult to assess drivers quickly and accurately.
The best take-​away from this experience was not the driving as much as it was suiting up, the sound of the engines, smell of racing fuel and the photo plaque that I purchased and hangs in my office which people think is cool and ask me about it.
For someone who has never been on a racetrack, this is a fun experience.
For less cost than 5-​minutes on the Stockton track, you can spend a day in a high performance driving event with or without an instructor, driving your street or classic car around various tracks in Northern California, and it is a much more rewarding and REAL track experience.

I wish I could give this 3 ½ stars, but I’ll err on the side of being slightly generous.
I bought my husband a 10+5+3 Rusty Wallace Racing Experience for his birthday. I bought the 10 laps, paid a little more and got 5 more, and that bought the Ride-​A-​Long (w/​instructor) which is 3 additional laps. Turns out, the most «fun» my husband had was in the Ride-​A-​Long.
If I could do it over again, I would have not given him this «experience» in Stockton. The racetrack is SOOOOOO SMALL that everything is different and so many precautions are made as a result of the small track.
Here are the not so great parts. You can only have four cars at one time on a track (again, because of the size). Unfortunately, my husband was out there with only 1 other car. That most definitely affects the experience and he said he kept waiting for more cars, but it was just two of them (there were PLENTY of other cars ready… so who knows why).
The next irritating thing was that the wife of the man that was in the other car on the racetrack with my husband bought 10 laps. Well, since I was a sucker and bought 5 more, they both got to go 15. Nice… what a waste of money. I wish I didn’t know how many laps he had purchased. They should realize people talk and that gives people sour tastes… nobody wants to feel like they paid too much.
And, speaking of paying too much, I prepaid for the picture/​plaque. It is a very nice plaque actually. It was only $ 59 and the pictures are high quality too. Imagine my surprise when I hear the gal tell a customer they are only $ 49 plus tax. Gee… thanks. Usually, you get a little price cut when you prepay… but again, I paid MORE because I prepaid. I won’t do that again.
The instructors were really good, very professional and they made the experience as good as they could… but they need to work on some of the inconsistencies. Find out who has paid for what (10 laps, 15 laps, 20 laps) and put those folks together. Don’t make anyone sorry for buying extra when you hand out the same thing for free (these extras were not cheap).
All in all, it was a fun day. But I wish I would have researched a little more and taken him to a track in Southern California. For the amount we paid, a couple more hundred dollars in cheap Southwest Airfare would have been worth it.

I just did the 15 lap package at The New Stockton 99 Speedway this past Sunday and had a freakin BLAST!!! I worked at this track for 2 years and finally got to drive it in a racecar. It was a great experience. The ONLY reason I didn’t give 5 stars is because I think they should put drivers with about the same experience on the track at the same time. I’ve done 2 other schools like this and let them know — both at California Raceway in Ontario. I was on the track with 2 other cars and had to keep slowing to pass them. I understand it’s a tough call, but I still had a GREAT time! All of the employees were helpful and took great care of the students! I would recommend it to anyone!

The worst parts about this experience seem to be related to the track or other circumstance and not the fault the «Rusty Wallace Experience».
CONS: It’s Stockton. It’s hot, the track facilities suck, there’s no shade, and the track is super small, so it’s definitely NOT the speedy raceway you think you’re going to experience.
PROS: Very nice, knowledgeable staff. They teach you everything you need to know and help you have fun even though they’re just as hot and tired of standing in the sun as you are. And if you buy a group on it seems like a really good deal.
Do note that they will regulate you though… even if you’re driving it’s a controlled experience (which, as a wife I appreciate).
I bought this as a gift for the men in my family for Father’s Day. They thought it was very fun, a good adrenaline rush – and although it was frustrating to wait – it was totally worth it. We had one little hiccup… I assumed since I bought them all the same time slot they’d get to drive together, however because of their sizes and the cars they could fit into it wasn’t possible. They were pretty upset at first, but realized that it’s obviously a safety issue, and the guys there gave them some extra laps for the mix up, so they were totally fine afterward — no big deal. I thought it was really nice of them to give the extra laps, I think it helped their experience a lot.
SUGGESTIONS: Go early, get the insurance so you don’t have to worry about it, get as many laps as you can afford — you really need them to get comfortable on the track, and go to a better race track to get a really good experience. All 4 of our guys said they wanted to do it again.

I drove in Homestead Miami as a ride along and had a blast! It felt like you were in nascar except without all the other cars racing next to you. Staff very professional and friendly helped my girlfriend get a better shot with the camera of me pulling in from the drive! Will defiantly go again except next time drive the car!

this was my st. Valentine’s gift to my bf. It was fun but not as fun as we expected.
Pros: you get to see real race cars, get cool picture and enjoy probably the last lap out of 5.
Cons: snack are made from rubber, long wait, couple guys in front of us scratch the car and will pay them quite a bit of $$$. Even if you buy insurance, you will still be liable for 1000 $. It is very easy to scratch a car on the entrance to the track and they seem to know that and keep that challenge on purpose to rip you off. I dont think we gonna be back

Purchased the 10 laps package for my husband on groupon. He loved it. Staff was really u nice and offered to take pictures from a closer view. That was really nice of them. We will be back. But next time I will be driving with him :)

The staff are all very nice & great (except for the fact that the young lady at sign-​in didn’t know what the regular pricing is — Just needs a little more training before dealing with the public). The only customer service issue I have is their reputation (I found out when there for race day) for returning calls is horrible. I had left a message a few weeks earlier & had called back a few times, never hearing anything in return.
They overall are EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY safety-​conscious (a great thing), very professional, and know their stuff!
I think for people who: a. Love race cars to death; b. Haven’t ever driven very fast; and/​or c. Don’t have other activities which are at least as equally exciting to experience, this is an AWESOME place to get your adrenaline rush!
I happen to have found the little ¼-​mile track drive dull. There’s no room to really get the cars up to much speed (if you’ve driven fast your whole life, as I have). You hit the accelerator for about 1.5 seconds & you have to move to the brake. For ME, I was bored.
Meanwhile, this is NOT a negative about the place — I think TONS of people should try it, and that MANY will have a blast!

It’s sad they have so little stars on Unilocal!
We went to the one in Stockton, CA. Yes, it is a small track but the staffs, drivers, trainers are all so sweet, funny and awesome!
If you don’t want to wait for too long, get up early and go to the 8AM group, you will be out by 11AM.
Go do it, check it off your bucket list, it’s worth it!

Pretty fun. Yes you spend most of your time waiting around and yes you are pretty well regulated but if you are looking to get the feel of being in a race this seems pretty close. Unfotunately the Stockton track is tiny so you don’t get to go very fast but it is still a lot of fun. The employees are very nice. I would say it was worth what we paid for it with the Living Social discount.
I would say that the insurance probably isn’t necessary as you’re so paranoid about crashing the car that you end up not pushing the car very hard. After it was over I was wishing I had pushed the car harder. But I still had a great time.

First, the car racing is a blast and this is a great place to get an adrenaline rush. They are overbooking themselves so everyone is backed up just so they could make money at the expense of our time. They said it takes 1.5 hours but we were asked to come at 9:40 for our 10am class and we didn’t get out of there until after 1pm. The pit boss said it was because they were missing 14 uniforms but I guarantee it was not the uniforms but the overbooking of too many people as there were enough uniforms. The bottleneck was the track time. I felt sorry for those still coming in later in the afternoon as it was like a slow group golfing and everyone is backing up at the 18^th hole. The place is in a dirt field so this is a far cry from the Las Vegas Richard Petty experience. But for a one time, probably never going to do it again experience, it was fine. It is a rather wild ride but I heard some say it was easy so I guess it depends on your ability to focus and still relax. I was pretty tense the whole time as I didn’t buy the insurance and I saw someone crash their car earlier in the day. Still gave it my all and it was fun.
Found out the next day on Unilocal that my car had steering problems and broke down Monday after my race Sunday. I was wondering why I was struggling with the steering as it was hard to turn the wheels. Now I suspect they didn’t fix the front end after one of the accidents ruined the steering mechanisms on car 11. Also saw they kept using car 14 until it broke the rear axle after I saw it crash on Sunday and it had to be towed off the track on Monday also. This tells me this place is using mechanically unsafe cars and they run them until the customer breaks down on the track.

My friend and I went here for what we thought would be awesome. NOT! RIPOFF! BORING! Put a quarter in a Merry-​go-​round and have just as much fun, but much less. If you have a day to waste and money to burn to buy boredom, then this is your place
They up-​sell you on:
1. Extra insurance etc saying that you get to drive as fast as you want and if something happens you will be responsible for the damages — they regulate you over the cheap ass earphones in the provided grungy helmets. No passing, no fast driving.
2. Video of your experience — unfortunately, there is only 2 9 second clips on the SD card they give you
3. Extra laps — Which you really need because you spend your time going around the racetrack being told what to do, not you driving on your own.
I was sad to see the bill come to over $ 350.00 plus the groupon value which was over $ 100 for a total of over $ 450.00!!. Customer service is horrible in trying to resolve anything. They keep you driving slow, and if you purchased the insurance, you just wasted your money. They give you a video that doesn’t work (which they know they don’t work most of the time) but refuse to give a refund. They say it will take 2 hours, NOT, it took us a little under 4 hours and thats because we rushed them.
Bottom line, if you’re looking to waste money on something, this is the place. If you want an experience, look elsewhere there are plenty of options for Kart racing etc… which by the way, you get everything that you pay for, unlike here.