Dream Racing: The Best Exotic Car Driving Experience?

When one owner is a Macau and Monaco-winning F3 driver and the other is a touring car champion, odds are it’s a pretty special company. Dream Racing opened their doors four years ago in Las Vegas to offer anyone the opportunity to pilot exotic cars and racecars alike on a legitimate race track. I was fortunate to experience firsthand how they have grown to be the premier full-service exotic car driving experience. Here’s how it went.

Disclaimer: Dream Racing hosted me for a day and put me behind the wheel of a Ferrari 488 GTB and 991 GT3 cup car. RFD has been invited to participate in other exotic car driving experiences, and you will find reviews on the site.

Upon first arriving at Dream Racing, you check in, sign some waivers, and wait for the rest of your time slot’s drivers to arrive. The staff is friendly, and the facilities are beautiful. Next, you watch an instructional video about your upcoming experience. It offers basic track driving instruction (i.e. slow in, fast out, apex, etc.), tips and tricks, and special instruction on operating the cars. This all prepares you for the next step – the racing simulator.

Before heading to the track, all drivers are offered the opportunity to practice on iRacing-equipped racing simulators. This allows drivers to lap the exact track they will drive at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. I’ve never been a big fan of simulators. The driving inputs aren’t exactly realistic, and Dream Racing’s are no exception. However, time spent on simulators is an absolutely invaluable opportunity in this case. Five laps go by very quickly during your actual drive. When you’re paying good money for an experience like this, you do not want to spend the first two or three laps memorizing the track (like with Dream Racing’s  competitors). I know this from experience. Dream Racing is the only company I know of to offer the use of simulators with the track that participants will actually be driving. Drivers were not rushed during their time on the simulators and enjoyed one-on-one instruction with Dream Racing’s professional driving instructors. While nothing will fully prepare you, upon entering the track for my first lap, I felt comfortable with the layout. This allowed me to push my skills in the cars earlier translating to a much more enjoyable experience.

The Track

The track is 1.2 miles long. It features nine turns and a 1,100-foot-long straightaway good for up to 135 mph in a GT car; my skill level allowed for roughly 120 mph in the 488 GTB. It sits in the center of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The location is special. You are surrounded by the Speedway’s 1.5-mile-long oval, the grandstands, and distant mountains in the heart of the complex’s infield.

What makes Dream Racing Different?

I’ve done my fair share of exotic driving experiences. Dream Racing’s biggest competitors are Exotics Racing and Xtreme Xperience. RFD has previously reviewed each, and content can be found here and here. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that not all experiences are created equally. Dream Racing stands out from Exotics and Xtreme, and that’s not a statement that I make lightly.

Until now, I have personally never participated in an experience that encourages driving on the track curbing and permits revving the cars out while manning the paddle shifters. I am only aware of a single other company that regularly allows both of these things, so this is a big deal. I have actually been told, “stay off the curbing, please” and instructed to short shift with some of Dream Racing’s competitors. If you’re paying a company that advertises genuine exotic car driving experiences on a real race track, you better be able to do both of these things. You can at Dream Racing.

Dream Racing emphasizes the “experience” they offer. From exotic car drives to battle drifts to the ready to race program, there is a package for every driver and budget. Battle drift allows two participants to go head-to-head as ride-along passengers in drift cars for hot laps jostling for position like a car chase scene in a movie. The ready to race program is a two-day experience where participants stay in a 5-star hotel, are flown to the track by helicopter, track cars under the lights, undergo extensive driving training, and compete in a race complete with podium ceremony at the end of the second day. Participating might just jumpstart a career in racing. In fact, one twenty-year-old won his ready to race heat and did just that. He went on to pursue a career in racing, competing in Lamborghini Supertrofeo and the North American Lotus Cup.

I can’t tell you how many exotic car driving experiences falsely plaster “biggest” or “best fleet in the world” across their sites. Dream Racing does, only it’s for good reason. They have the largest and most unique fleet. Period. They offer most any modern exotic you could dream of from the McLaren 650s to the Ferrari 599 and then some.

Dream Racing really differs from their competitors in their offering of 5 factory GT cars –  Porsche 991 GT3 cup cars, Ferrari F430 and 458 challenge cars, Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Super Trofeos, and Huracan LP 620-2 Super Trofeos. I have never seen another exotic car driving experience offer anything like this. The only thing that comes close is the formula or challenge car driving schools which usually costs thousands of dollars and are rare stateside. Generally, when other exotic car driving companies advertise race cars, they’re usually kit cars that cannot compete with the likes of a challenge car from Italy or Germany. To have some of the most legendary winning factory-built GT race cars available at a facility with staff on site that can maintain them is truly incredible. There’s also the small matter that Dream Racing has 1 of the 600 Lamborghini Aventador SVs in their stable.

In all, Dream Racing has twenty-nine models in their fleet. To my knowledge, the only other experience that comes close to this has nineteen models. Judging by a certain million dollar hypercar that Dream Racing nearly purchased a few weeks back, I am absolutely positive that they have their customers’ best interest in mind when it comes to building the fleet. You can bet I will be checking back often to see what they add to their lineup.

During my time with Dream Racing, I drove two cars – the Ferrari 488 GTB and a 991 GT3 cup car. Both were incredible. The 488 GTB was unbelievably quick, and I didn’t know what grip was until I lapped the cup car. Nothing prepares you for your first time in a genuine race car. Nothing. Full articles will be coming soon about each.

I’ve researched a lot of exotic car driving experiences and partaken in quite a few over the last six years. Frankly, Dream Racing is the one to beat. They set themselves apart from their competitors in their simulator training, their facilities, the packages they offer, and their fleet. If you’re in Vegas, do yourself a favor and visit Dream Racing. You won’t regret it.

For Dream Racing’s full fleet and more, check out their site here.