NASCAR buys Jeff Gordon’s Racing School

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) announced today an agreement to rebrand the former Jeff Gordon Racing School into the NASCAR Racing Experience. The multi-year licensing agreement brings an authentic racing experience to NASCAR fans, its sponsors and business partners at racetracks throughout the country.

The NASCAR Racing Experience (NRE) provides a menu of racing programs from a ride-along as a front-seat passenger to the full racing experience which puts fans behind the wheel of an authentic race car. The program will use current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racecars for all of its programs.

“We have provided more than 200,000 driving experiences to race fans and business partners since 1998," said Robert J. Lutz, President and CEO of NASCAR Racing Experience. “This new step in becoming an officially licensed NASCAR property further enhances the program to allow it to expand our reach."

“The Jeff Gordon Racing School provided an unequaled opportunity for fans to sit in the driver seat and – for a moment – become a race car driver," said NASCAR Sprint Cup driver and four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Jeff Gordon. “This move to become the NASCAR Racing Experience is a good step to expand the program throughout NASCAR working with more teams and tracks."

The NASCAR Racing Experience currently has 28 NASCAR Sprint Cup race cars, 40 professional instructors and is headquartered in Concord, N.C. NRE offers realistic racing action that includes timed racing sessions, no lead-follow and Personal Racing Instructors that provide constant feedback to each customer through an exclusive in-car radio communication system. Prices for ride-alongs start at $129 and the driving programs begin at $429.

“The thrill of riding in or driving a real NASCAR Sprint Cup car is an experience of a lifetime," said Blake Davidson, NASCAR managing director of licensed products. “This program allows fans, corporations and our business partners to get first-hand knowledge of what its like to race at speeds upwards of 170 miles per hour around the same tracks as the biggest stars of NASCAR. No other sport provides to its fans the chance to experience the realism of competition like a racing experience using authentic race cars on a NASCAR track."

The NASCAR Racing Experience will begin operating at 12 NASCAR Sprint Cup and NASCAR Nationwide Series tracks across the country before expanding to additional tracks in 2010. Current locations include: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Kansas Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway, Richmond International Raceway, Talladega Superspeedway and Texas Motor Speedway.