Las Vegas: Hellcat SRT Drifting Ride-Along at Speed Vegas

4.96

(214 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

“You ready for this?” That’s what the guy next to me—Mike, my driver—asked as I fumbled with the helmet straps. I’d barely finished my coffee before showing up at Speed Vegas, and suddenly I was strapping into a 707HP Dodge Charger Hellcat SRT. The whole place smelled like burnt rubber and hot asphalt, and you could hear engines howling even from the lounge. There were people milling around, some nervously laughing, others just glued to their phones. Mike grinned when he saw my hands shaking a bit—I guess he’s used to it.

Once we rolled onto the track, everything went kind of quiet inside the car except for that deep engine rumble vibrating through my seat. The pro drifter thing is real: first turn and we’re sideways, tires screaming so loud I almost laughed out of pure nerves. For those two laps, it was all adrenaline—the world outside blurred, but I caught flashes of the red desert beyond the barriers and felt every jolt in my chest. Honestly, I didn’t expect to trust a stranger with this much speed, but Mike kept tossing little facts about the car between turns (“707 horses under here,” he said—like I needed reminding). At one point I tried to say “thank you” but it came out as some kind of nervous giggle.

I’m not really a car person (my friends would laugh if they knew), but something about watching everyone else on the sidelines—some cheering, some just wide-eyed—made me feel like part of this weird little racing family for a minute. The helmet still smelled faintly of someone else’s shampoo (not bad though), and when we finally pulled back in, my legs felt wobbly stepping out. You know that feeling after a rollercoaster where you’re not sure if you want to go again or just sit down? Yeah, like that. Still thinking about those turns days later.