Full Throttle

Some people go to extremes, and some people only wish they could. Witness Steve Katz who runs the Grand Junction automotive shop:

Envision yourself as Jeff Gordon or Dale Earnhardt Jr. racing Daytona at 200 mph, banking the curves, speeding up on the straightaways. Not quite adept at driving 200 mph, you bounce off the wall. You crash the car, leaving skid marks on the track and puffs of smoke in the air. The crowd goes crazy. A deafening roar rises from the stands as other drivers burn by with earsplitting thunder.

But its OK, the sheetmetal is straight, your not running on the inner liners, and best of all its pedal to the metal again as you dive into the third turn at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Steve has the computer on the No Damage setting.

Katz has purchased two NASCAR vehicles, one with an engine and one without.

In his Mountain Dew No. 1 vehicle, a simulator was bolted in place where a 700-horsepower engine once stood. When hooked up to a computer, the ?driver? can take a spin around any number of racetracks around the country. There?s the Atlanta Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Indianapolis Raceway Park and others, all on a shiny disk placed in a computer at Katz Automotive.

The simulator is inside the 2002 Nextel Cup car raced by last year?s NASCAR Winston Cup champion, Matt Kenseth. It has a computer screen in front of a steering wheel as you sit in a replicated seat. The stick shift is only for looks, but the gas and brake pedals are hooked directly to the computer.

Katz? Pepsi No. 24 vehicle, a 2000 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, is now located inside the Redlands Albertsons store. It is a limited edition replica of four-time Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon?s NASCAR Busch series race car. It is one of only 11 made.

You know what they say; “The bigger the boys, the bigger their toys!

Source: CJSentinel