WRONG! I learned a lot about the business on our Wednesday "Where in the World is Larry"; we had an opportunity to visit one of the largest racing complexes in the world--Hendrick Motorsports. They're about a mile from Lowe's Motor Speedway. There you'll find the racing teams of Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson, Kyle Busch, and Casey Mears. Obviously, you're at the homebase of some legendary drivers and their crews and their owner, Rick Hendrick.

All of us from WCNC were really impressed by the size of this shop. "Shop" seems like such an insignificant word when you see the magnitude of this racing complex...over 600,000 square feet of building space on over 100 acres of property. Almost 600 people are employed by Hendrick Motorsports and they have over a 100,000 visitors a year!

Now, back to my original thought about jumping into a NEXTEL Cup car and joining the action. First of all, after taking a 15 lap "ride around" the Lowe's track, I found myself admitting that I loved the thrill of 183 miles an hour. But that's with just ONE car on the track, and only inches away from your "ride," ready to "blow the doors off"!!! How do they do that? How can you not just buckle under the pressure and pull into the pits and dive out of the car, head first, screaming "I'm scared. I'm terrified. Help! If my heart beats any faster, it'll explode into tiny bits of human sheet metal."

My ride was courtesy of the "Jeff Gordon Racing School." They conduct classes for want-to-be drivers and for those of us who just want to watch, a real pro can take the wheel. It was still an awesome experience and to see that wall only inches away, the adrenaline went sky high!

So, I'll stick to the stands or on TV or if I'm really lucky, in the pit area where there's enough action going on that you don't even need to actually watch the race. Thanks to the Hendrick gang for a great morning!

Tomorrow, our trek takes us to a place you'd love to "face."