So I went to Rev It Up today here in the Chicago area. It was a fun day. It's very much a rookie race driving experience, combined with a big Chevy sales promotion. But for 50 bucks, I'd say it was worth it. All I had was my crappy cell camera again, sorry...



It's set up in the round, with the center being the display of current model Chevy sports cars. This is basically where you buy your tee shirts and look at the display cars. They are all open and you can get in and look under the hood.



It's a live race course, so they have an on site shop to maintain the cars. Basically, they just go through a lot of tires. One guy smoked a clutch on an SS/SC while I was there and they swapped it out right there at the track. And no, they didn't ask the guy to pay for the clutch.



This is the staging for the start of the road course.



This is the driver set up area. All of the cars used are 2007 2.4 autos on the timed road course. There are separate practice courses with 2.0, Corvettes, and Impalas.

If you go, go early and plan to spend about 4-5 hours. Get a track time thats at least 3 hours later then your show-up time. That will give you enough time to use up your practice runs before having to race. My track time was so soon after I arrived, I didn't get to use all my practice runs before I had to race.

 

omg...why didnt i know about this?

 

It's going on tomorrow too. You can still go.

 

its about 15 minutes from my house :-) but ill be on the north side of chicago =/ lol

 

Looks like a fun event, Halfcent. How did they promote it...and how did you find out about it?

 

I first heard about it via a radio advertisement. Then I saw it later in a magazine ad.

 

What an excellent concept and event!

Thanks Halfcent...is there a URL you know where one can view the remaining schedule? I'd like to help get the word out via our website, etc.

 

I linked to the web site above in my first post. Just click that.

 

halfcent.... I was there.... did you compete? where did you place?

 

I was there too! Didn't do so well in the competition, but had a lot of fun. Really worth it!

 

My best time was around 31 seconds with about 550 points. I don't remember exactly. But I didn't get any cone penalties at all.

 

that's great.... what class did they put you in? I was there on sat. morning 9:20/10:20 run group and got a 30.020 1st run and a low 29 2nd run w/ 1 cone and only got 539... oh well, it was a blast regardless! I was impressed w/ the Impala SS, much better than I expected! Do you participate in local race events?

 

mmm, Impala SS...FWD V8, gotta love it!

 

Handled like a boat though...
I was impressed by the Trailblazer SS (handles better than both the Impala and Monte Carlo). The one car that surprised me with the handling is the Malibu Maxx SS, it just needs a tad more power and a decent interior...

 

sombody posted the info in the lounge area last month. I signed up for the FedEx field event, funny though they said originally they where going to use SS/SC cars for the races.

 

Yeah, I get a kick out of FWD's with power like that, they are aberrations, but wild! Ever since we turbo'ed a FWD 3800-equipped '88 LeSabre T-type back in the 80's, I've had a soft spot for them.

That's cool that you got to drive so many fun products. The Trailblazer SS with LS2 just flat rocks, and the Malibu's have been outstanding (and underappreciated!) cars since their intro.

 

yeah the Impala SS has that land barge effect.... but what fun w/300hp.... I did a few laps w/ it just to get use of the car control laps that were part of the practice, I wasen't going to wait another 45 mins for the vette line to re-open.
I'm kinda sorry I didn't drive the Malibu SS or Trailblazer SS (engine sounded sweet)..... I hate lines!