South Carolina and North Carolina briefly paused their preparation for Thursday’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte to try out a different kind of adrenaline rush. And no, it didn’t have to do with finding the best strategy for dumping a bucket of mayonnaise on the eventual winning coach’s head.
While in the heart of NASCAR country, players and staff members from the two teams went for some wild rides on Charlotte Motor Speedway’s 1.5-mile oval on Monday — a tradition for bowl participants thanks to the NASCAR Racing Experience and the Charlotte Sports Foundation.
Those part of the teams competing in the bowl game got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be the passengers in a race car while it turns a few laps at the Charlotte track. And judging by everyone’s reactions this year — including South Carolina coach Shane Beamer’s — they had an absolute blast.
We wanna go fast 🤙 pic.twitter.com/hSdtZOWIGs
— Gamecock Football (@GamecockFB) December 27, 2021
“So the windows don’t go up?!”
“It’s fast! It ain’t as fast as me though!”
“We were flying. I don’t know how they do that.”
“Never doing it again.”
Mixed reviews from @UNCFootball. 😅@DukesMayoBowl | @GoHeels pic.twitter.com/9DHscad8xR
— Charlotte Motor Speedway (@CLTMotorSpdwy) December 27, 2021
Sure, some people looked awfully nervous, while others appropriately quoted lines from Talladega Nights. But it looks like it was (mostly) a great time all around after hitting about 170 miles per hour during their ride-alongs.
