Lancet Jades
03-01-2004, 11:15 AM
02.28.04 Simulator provides thrills of NASCAR driving
By MARIJA B. VADER The Daily Sentinel
At Steve Katz’ 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.
No problem.
Katz has the computer on the “No Damage,” setting, so you gently touch the gas pedal and tear off again down the asphalt.
It’s a gas without the fuel, a simulated sally down Daytona without ever leaving Grand Junction.
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.
Katz and his family, wife Sherri and their kids, travel to NASCAR races throughout the country. Their enjoyment of the sport was born in California, where he raced and was a past track champion in Saugus, Calif., in the late 1980s.
He ran four-cylinder cars, smaller than NASCAR cars.
Katz’ top speed was “just 120. That was enough for me. I was coming up on a wall. I never got hurt, so I was pretty happy.”
Here, he has invested nearly $50,000 in the two vehicles and the other equipment. Like professional NASCAR drivers, Katz has the support of a sponsor; in his case, Pepsi Cola.
They are clearly his toys. Yet, he has taken the Nextel Cup car out for a “spin” only once.
And then, “I had it to 212 mph and crashed, of course,” Katz said. “I would love to see a real driver in here, like Gordon.”
That’s hardly likely, unless Stan Hilkey would be considered a “real driver.” Hilkey, the Mesa County sheriff, has asked Katz to bring the simulator to the sheriff’s department summer picnic this year.
Katz would like to have a contest between employees of the sheriff’s department, the Grand Junction Police Department and the Grand Junction Fire Department to see who’s the best.
The simulator even has a winner’s circle, where guys spray champagne on you and excitedly jump all over the car. Katz will donate the car for Kiwanis functions and other charity events, where he will charge $8 for a 12-minute, 18-lap spin to people dreaming of being The Kid or Junior. For now, though, it’s not open for the public.
By MARIJA B. VADER The Daily Sentinel
At Steve Katz’ 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.
No problem.
Katz has the computer on the “No Damage,” setting, so you gently touch the gas pedal and tear off again down the asphalt.
It’s a gas without the fuel, a simulated sally down Daytona without ever leaving Grand Junction.
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.
Katz and his family, wife Sherri and their kids, travel to NASCAR races throughout the country. Their enjoyment of the sport was born in California, where he raced and was a past track champion in Saugus, Calif., in the late 1980s.
He ran four-cylinder cars, smaller than NASCAR cars.
Katz’ top speed was “just 120. That was enough for me. I was coming up on a wall. I never got hurt, so I was pretty happy.”
Here, he has invested nearly $50,000 in the two vehicles and the other equipment. Like professional NASCAR drivers, Katz has the support of a sponsor; in his case, Pepsi Cola.
They are clearly his toys. Yet, he has taken the Nextel Cup car out for a “spin” only once.
And then, “I had it to 212 mph and crashed, of course,” Katz said. “I would love to see a real driver in here, like Gordon.”
That’s hardly likely, unless Stan Hilkey would be considered a “real driver.” Hilkey, the Mesa County sheriff, has asked Katz to bring the simulator to the sheriff’s department summer picnic this year.
Katz would like to have a contest between employees of the sheriff’s department, the Grand Junction Police Department and the Grand Junction Fire Department to see who’s the best.
The simulator even has a winner’s circle, where guys spray champagne on you and excitedly jump all over the car. Katz will donate the car for Kiwanis functions and other charity events, where he will charge $8 for a 12-minute, 18-lap spin to people dreaming of being The Kid or Junior. For now, though, it’s not open for the public.