driving101.com

Driving 101 LLC is the parent company of two racing-experience brands: NASCAR Racing Experience and Richard Petty Driving Experience. Through those brands, it sells hands-on stock-car experiences built around real NASCAR race cars. The core offer is a drive-it-yourself session on a racetrack; a passenger Ride Along is the alternative for people who want the speed without taking the wheel.

Who Driving 101 Is

Driving 101 describes itself as the parent company behind NASCAR Racing Experience and Richard Petty Driving Experience. Its stated mission is to offer "the most professional and technically advanced driving experience in the world" and to bridge the gap between fantasy and reality. In practical terms, Driving 101 is the corporate umbrella; the booking-facing brands are the two experience names.

The Main Experience: Driving a Real NASCAR Race Car

The flagship product is a session in a real NASCAR race car that has been driven by NASCAR drivers. According to the site, the format works like this:

• You drive alone. There is no pace car to follow and no instructor riding in the car with you.
• You suit up and train first. Drivers are fitted in racing gear and attend a drivers' training and instruction session before going on track.
• You get live coaching by radio. A personal racing instructor talks to you through in-car radio communications while you drive.
• Passing is allowed. You can pass slower cars as you catch them.
• You leave with proof. After the session, drivers receive a graduate certificate showing their top speed, plus a souvenir racing license.

That combination — solo driving, radio coaching, open passing — is what separates this from a typical paced "lead-and-follow" track day.

The Alternative: Ride Along

If you don't want to drive, the Ride Along puts you in the passenger seat with a professional racing instructor at the wheel. It delivers the speed and track time of the same cars without requiring you to control the vehicle, and it avoids the driving gear-up and driver training steps that drivers go through.

Which Option Fits You

Choose the drive if you want the full solo-on-track format and are comfortable following radio instruction at speed. Choose the Ride Along if you want the sensation of a race car without the driving responsibility.

What to Expect on the Day

Plan for a sequence rather than a single lap: check-in and gear fitting, a drivers' training and instruction session, then your time on track with an instructor in your ear, and finally your certificate and souvenir license. Because you drive solo with no pace car, the radio coaching is the main channel for guidance once you're rolling — listen for it and use the passing allowance when you close on slower traffic.

For current availability, locations, and booking, go through the NASCAR Racing Experience or Richard Petty Driving Experience brand pages linked from driving101.com.

Expect a structured, instructor-supported solo drive. After check-in, you suit up in racing gear and attend a driver training and instruction session. Then you drive a real NASCAR race car by yourself — no pace car ahead of you and no instructor in the passenger seat. A personal racing instructor stays in contact through in-car radio, and passing slower cars is allowed. When you finish, you receive a Graduate Certificate showing your top speed plus a souvenir racing license.

Before You Drive: Gear and Training

The session begins with preparation rather than driving:

• Racing gear. Drivers are suited up in racing gear before going out.
• Driver training and instruction. You attend a session described by Driving 101 as "Drivers for training and instruction" — the classroom and orientation portion that covers what to do in the car.

Plan for this to take real time. The driving itself is only part of the visit; the gear-up and instruction steps come first, so arrive ready to follow staff direction rather than expecting to jump straight into a car.

The Drive Itself: Solo, With Radio Coaching

This is the part that surprises first-timers most: you are alone in the car.

Your instructor coaches you over the in-car radio while you drive. Because there is no pace car and no passenger, the coaching is your main real-time guidance — listen for it and use it.

Passing is explicitly permitted. If you catch a slower car, you may pass it. That also means faster cars may come up behind you, so stay aware of traffic around you, not just the car in front.

After the Drive: What You Take Home

When your run ends, you receive:

• A Graduate Certificate with your top speed recorded
• A souvenir racing license

The top-speed figure on the certificate is the concrete result of the session — it's the number most drivers compare afterward.

Practical Points for First-Timers

• You drive a real race car that has been driven by NASCAR drivers, per Driving 101 — this is not a simulator or a street car.
• The experience is built around solo driving. If you would rather not drive, Driving 101 offers a separate Ride Along where a professional racing instructor drives and you ride as a passenger. Choose that option if being alone in the car with radio-only coaching isn't what you want.
• Radio coaching replaces in-car instruction. Ask questions during training, because once you're on track your instructor is on the radio, not beside you.
• Passing is part of the format. Expect to overtake slower cars and to be overtaken; the session is not a single-file parade lap.

Driving 101 LLC is the parent company of NASCAR Racing Experience and Richard Petty Driving Experience, so the same operating standards apply across both brands.

The core difference is who controls the car. In the Driving Experience, you drive a real NASCAR race car by yourself after driver training and suiting up in racing gear. In the Ride Along, you sit in the passenger seat while a professional racing instructor drives. Choose Driving if you want to operate the car yourself; choose Ride Along if you want the speed and track sensation without driving.

Driving Experience: You Are Behind the Wheel

According to Driving 101's site, this is a solo drive in a real NASCAR race car — one that has been driven by NASCAR drivers.

What the experience includes, based on the site:

• Driver training and instruction before you get on track.
• Racing gear: drivers are suited up in racing gear.
• You drive alone: no pace car to follow and no instructor riding with you.
• In-car radio coaching: a Personal Racing Instructor talks you through the drive over radio.
• Passing is allowed: you can pass slower cars as you catch them.
• Take-home items: a Graduate Certificate showing your top speed and a souvenir racing license.

The practical implication: you need to be comfortable handling a race car at speed with only radio guidance, and you should expect to follow the training and safety instructions before driving.

Ride Along: You Are the Passenger

The Ride Along is the passenger version: a professional racing instructor drives while you experience the track from inside the race car. The site presents it as the option for people who don't want to drive.

This suits visitors who want the sensation of a NASCAR lap without the responsibility of controlling the car, or who are not ready to drive solo.

Side-by-Side Comparison

How to Decide

• Pick Driving if your goal is to say you drove a NASCAR race car yourself, and you're comfortable with solo driving, radio coaching, and passing slower cars.
• Pick Ride Along if you want the track experience as a passenger and prefer not to drive.

The site does not publish pricing, scheduling, or eligibility details in the provided material, so confirm those directly with NASCAR Racing Experience before booking.

Yes. According to Driving 101, the parent company of NASCAR Racing Experience, participants drive a real NASCAR race car that has been driven by NASCAR drivers, and they drive it alone: no instructor rides in the car and there is no pace car to follow. Coaching happens over in-car radio with a personal racing instructor. Passing slower cars is allowed.

What "real" means here

The experience is built around actual NASCAR race cars, not street cars or simulators. Driving 101 describes its mission as bridging "the gap between fantasy and reality," and the cars are described as having been driven by NASCAR drivers.

The driving format reinforces this:

• You drive by yourself. No instructor is in the passenger seat.
• No pace car. You are not following a lead vehicle at a fixed speed.
• Passing is allowed. When you catch slower cars, you can go around them.
• Radio coaching. A personal racing instructor talks you through the drive via in-car communications.

So the answer to the common worry—"is this just a slow parade lap with someone babysitting me?"—is no. The instructor is present as a voice on the radio, not as a passenger or a car ahead of you.

What happens before you get on track

Drivers are suited up in racing gear and attend a drivers' training and instruction session before driving. That briefing is where the radio coaching setup, track rules, and safety expectations are covered. Expect to listen carefully there, because once you are in the car, your instructor can guide you but cannot physically intervene.

What you take home

After the drive, participants receive a Graduate Certificate showing their top speed, plus a souvenir racing license.

Driving vs. Ride Along

If driving solo sounds like too much, the same company offers a Ride Along: you ride as a passenger while a professional racing instructor drives. That option gives you the speed and the car without the responsibility of driving or passing.

Practical points to check before booking

The source material does not list prices, session lengths, age or license requirements, or track locations, so confirm those directly with NASCAR Racing Experience when you book. Two things worth asking about specifically:

1. Radio coaching format—how much instruction you get and whether you can ask questions mid-session.
2. Passing rules at your track—passing is allowed in general, but the specific procedure (which side, where) will be covered in the drivers' briefing.

If your goal is to actually drive a race car by yourself, with real traffic to pass and a coach in your ear rather than beside you, this experience is designed exactly for that.