Dec 27, 2002 4 min read

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) – Lance Nimmo fulfilled his need for speed. The 6-foot-6 offensive lineman squeezed into a race car and zipped around Lowe’s Motor Speedway at speeds nearing 150 mph Thursday.

The multi-lap ride along the 1.5-mile oval blew him away.

“Unbelievable,” Nimmo said, still dizzy from his ride in a replica of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 8 car.

“The way the forces pull you to the edge, you feel like there’s no way in the world that you can stick on that track,” Nimmo said. “It just pulls and pulls, and you just stick.”

Instructors from the Richard Petty Driving Experience also drove replicas of the No. 43 car made famous by Richard Petty; Terry Labonte’s No. 5 car, and the No. 36 M&M car of Ken Schrader.

The speeds were much slower than that of an actual race, but it didn’t matter. Nimmo was too excited to let out a scream.

“I couldn’t say nothing. It was just a rush,” he said.

The speedway visit included players and coaches from West Virginia and Virginia, who will meet in the Continental Tire Bowl on Saturday in nearby Charlotte.

West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez and Virginia’s Al Groh got to take rides around the track, and they each chose three passengers from their teams.

Groh picked offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave, wide receivers coach Mike Groh and special teams coach Corwin Brown.

“I had an idea who the daredevils were,” Groh said.

Rodriguez selected offensive line coach Rick Trickett, Nimmo and fellow lineman Zach Dillow.

“That’s probably the craziest thing that’s ever happened to me. What an experience. Whew!” said Dillow, tapping his stomach. “I don’t know how those drivers stay in there for 600 laps.”

Trickett chewed on a cigar and wore cowboy boots and a Harley Davidson jacket.

“I think he left one of his cowboy boots around turn 2,” Rodriguez said. “I think coach Trickett’s died and gone to heaven. I’ve got to get him cranked back up for the game.”

The speedway hosts The Winston, NASCAR’s annual all-star event; the UAW-GM Quality 500, and the Coca-Cola 600.

The size of the speedway alone was intimidating – big enough to fit several football stadiums.

Just hearing the roar of the engines, which could be heard well outside the speedway, was enough to convert any skeptic.

West Virginia quarterback Rasheed Marshall isn’t a NASCAR fan and earlier had questioned what all the excitement was about. Curiosity got the best of him, and he went along on the optional trip, saying he was there to watch and learn.

Seeing the cars fly around changed his mind. He went up to a speedway official and begged for a ride.

“I just want to get a couple laps around the track and I’ll be all right,” he said.

He never got the chance. After a few photos alongside a car that had each school’s helmet on either side, the players boarded their buses to return to their hotels.

Earlier in the visit, various players and coaches took turns in a race between the schools to change a tire just like NASCAR pit crews.

Participants wearing knee pads were timed based on how long it took them to remove the tire’s lug nuts, put them back on and run back to the starting line.

Rodriguez had the edge over Groh.

“Al had on his dress shoes and I had on my tennis shoes. I came prepared,” Rodriguez said.

Trickett beat his Virginia counterpart in the tire change but forgot to return to the starting line. He lunged at the last second and wiped out.

Nimmo is a veteran of tire rotation, but never before several dozen cheering spectators.

“My heart was going through my chest,” Nimmo said. “It wasn’t just me. I was representing my team against Virginia. I didn’t want to let anybody down. I know I wouldn’t have been able to sleep if I had lost.”