The Richard Petty Driving Experience at the Walt Disney World Resort (UPDATED: It appears that this experience is now permanently closed) is an incredible opportunity for thrill-seekers of all ages to ride along in a real race car (or an exotic sports car) for three heart-stopping laps around the racetrack. The junior ride-along experience for children ages 6-13 (at least 48 inches in height) will now offer the chance to ride in two exciting new cars pulled directly from the Cars movie franchise starting on June 14, 2014. Yup, you’ll be able to ride along in a real piston cup racer – either, Gask-its or Nitroade (thanks for the heads up Dan the Pixar Fan).
The Disney Parks Blog also noted the biographies for the two race cars as:
- #80 VanDerSpin races for Team “Gask-its” and is the youngest winner of the Junior Piston Cup Pro Series.
- Axler is the #28 Nitroade racer who captured the Vitoline Rookie of the Year honors in his first full season of Cup competition.
As a fun side note, it’s a perfect combination that the Richard Petty Driving Experience is getting a real Pixar car on the racetrack as Richard Petty himself was featured in the Cars movie as “The King”, Strip Weathers. Junior Ride-Alongs do not require reservations and are given on a first-come, first-served basis. Visit Drivepetty.com for more info or call 800-237-3889.
CAR MASTERS WEEKEND
The two Piston Cup Race Cars featured in the Richard Petty Driving Experience were created by Cars creative director Jay Ward. If Jay’s name sounds familiar, he also head’s the Car Masters Weekend at Walt Disney World as well as started the car show, Motorama, at Pixar Animation Studios. The Car Masters Weekend (a high-speed event dedicated to all things auto) will be coming back to Downtown Disney on June 14 & 15 (9:30 AM – 6:30 PM EST).
The Car Masters Weekend will feature:
- Over 100 classic, muscle and exotic cars to view
- An appearance by Chip Foose (legendary car designer & pin-striper of Ramone’s House of Body Art at Cars Land.
- Photo opportunities with Lightning McQueen, Mater and Finn McMissile – as well as the two new racers (Gask-its and Nitroade).
- A Cars movie marathon at the AMC Downtown Disney 24
- Question and Answer session with Jay Ward
I have to say that the Car Masters Weekend sounds like a blast and what a rush it would be to ride along in one of the two new race cars. There’s something beyond magical when you can see the Cars characters in real-life – it is such a labor of love to view the detail put into these recreations. We can’t wait to see more photos of the real-life Gask-its and Nitroade popping up online soon.
very cool, just noticed that and really appreciate it!
Ha, that would be awesome to have all of the SotS race cars at the Racing Experience! By the way, I also updated the shoutout with a link to your site (sorry I forgot to link it before).
Thought you find this sweet! Really cool stuff. Thanks for the shout out! It'll be cool to see if they make more like this. I don't know how many cars are there at this attraction, but how cool would it be to have all the racers that were in the Speedway of the South race there?