By Harold Merton
Just a few years ago my youngest son Shannon mentioned to me that on one of my many jaunts to the State of Michigan I should keep my eyes open for a fabulous new restaurant that had actual NASCAR racing cars on display in the establishment. He said they were not replicas but the actual full-size cars that once sped around NASCAR circuits in the United States. When the racers built new cars some of the old ones went to this establishment so the public could enjoy being in their presence.
Photos by Harold Merton
Actually my son mentioned that if I liked, he would be glad to come along and help me search out this new eatery that auto racing enthusiasts were talking about.
We never did find the time to make a special trip to Michigan to search out what he referred to as the Race Rock Cafe and I didn’t hear any more about it until some time later when we had planned a family trip to Walt Disney World in Florida during their 25th anniversary celebration.
We no sooner hit the open road with our coach packed with seven members of our family (plus all of our gear) all eager to enjoy some family time together when my son announced that he had researched Race Rock a bit more and had found out that they had opened a location in Orlando, Florida, right in the middle of the area we were headed for. It was unanimously agreed by Shannon and his older brother Shaun (that in itself is a rarity) that they would really like to make Race Rock a mandatory stop in our vacation itinerary.
I must admit that I had not done much research on the attraction myself because I knew Shannon was looking after that. However when we got to Florida he picked up a Race Rock brochure. It was quite informative and alluring and it included a map to show us their exact location.
We knew roughly where it was and on one of the days that we were headed to Universal Studios, my sons spotted it off to the left of the super highway we were travelling to get to the day’s attraction. It was then placed on the schedule as a “for sure” because it would be easy to find again.
Race Rock is a 20,000 square foot full service motorsports themed restaurant and museum packed with racing memorabilia from all forms of racing. It does place a great emphasis on NASCAR.
It is a sight and sound experience with video walls, video monitors and interactive simulators depicting the world of racing. All this surrounds you while you dine on extremely generous portions of food served up by a delightful staff of young ladies and men who we felt were trying extremely hard to not only be efficient but make our visit as enjoyable as possible.
Race Rock houses NASCAR stock cars of Jeff Gordon, Dale
Earnhardt ,Rusty Wallace, Richard Petty, and Kyle Petty. It also is home
to what Race Rock describes as “Enough horsepower to shake the earth!•”
withfunny cars from John Force and Don Prudhomme, Michael Andretti’s CARTcar,
Scott Parker’s Harley Davidson and Steve Johnson’s drag bike. Race Rock
is also home to the world’s largest monster truck - Bigfoot, as well as
hydroplanes, top fuel dragsters, motorcycles and much more.
This “Shrine to Motorsports•” features celebrity owners such as Michael and Mario Andretti, Jeff Gordon, Rusty Wallace, Richard and Kyle Petty, Geoff Bodine, Ernie Irvan, John Force, Don Prudhomme, ScottParker and Dave Schultz . As you can see the racing celebrities are deeply involved and that might answer your question of how they ever got such a huge array of fantastic racing machines under one roof.
Race Rock is actually an international chain of racing themed restaurants and a new one is planned to open in Las Vegas this spring.
Bobby Moore, an elephant trainer, restaurateur and racing enthusiast brought the biggest names in racing together to create this fantastic attraction.
The Orlando Race Rock is located just down the street from Orlando’shuge convention center on International Drive, backing on to Interstate4 between Universal Studios and Walt Disney World.
Race Rock is actually several attractions under one roof. Outside the Orlando location the huge monster truck Bigfoot greets customers and passersby alike. This truck is so big that a child is dwarfed inside the wheel rim. We made a picture of our granddaugher Allyse that you will find with this feature. You have to be there to really experience the size.
Just outside the doors is another static display of cars and inside the entranceway there is another display of impressive vehicles. To one side is the large merchandising area where fans can not only drool over the memorabilia and accessories but buy a great selection of them to take home as well.
Like most good restaurants these days you leave your name with the hostess and she calls you when your table is available.
I must say that walking into the restaurant area towards the tables really is an experience. You look up and circling the dome of the rotunda are a number of full size NASCAR cars that they say have just had the liquids and batteries removed from them and then hoisted up into their display space. It really is impressive to look up and see all those famous cars parked above your head.
It sometimes takes some people a couple of minutes to make their way to their table, occasionally stumbling over another person because they were so intrigued with the massive display both above and around them that they didn’t look where they were going.
Once seated at the tables you were presented with a menu that I found surprisingly reasonable in cost considering the quality of the restaurant.
The racing theme has been continued in the food selection as well. In the “Start Your Engines” category you’ll find selections like “NitroWings”, “Race-Adillas”, “Chicken Dragsters” and “Baja Nachjos” (theappetizer menu) all in the $6 to $7 range.
There are a number of burgers and sandwiches offered in the “Stock and Modified” section including “Brute Force” John Force’s apparent favorite. Most sandwiches and burgers run in the $8 range.
Perhaps you might like a “Circle Track” (Pizza to those who don’t know) or a “Pole Position Pasta”.
When it comes to “The Main Event” you can choose from charbroiled sirloins with Jack Daniel’s mushroom sauce, “The Road Runner” a roasted bone-in chicken breast, “The Road Hog”, grilled pork chops, an “OffshoreRacer” (fresh salmon filet charbroiled) or even a half rack of ribs and chicken. Main event dishes ran from $14 to $18.
Then if you can still eat more you move to “The Victory Lap” with everything from a cinnamon peach crisp to “Victory Flag Cake”. They allare in the $5 to $6 range. If you have the youngsters with you they can order off the “Quarter Midget Menu” which includes a drink and costs only $5.
My selection for the evening was “The King”, a charbroiled steak that is Richard Petty’s favorite. It was fabulous and the “crushed potatoes” were extremely delicious as well. Race Rock billed it as “high performance dining” and they certainly lived up to that!
You can experience “The Taste of Victory” at Race Rock as well as bring home a number of both precious memories and memorabilia that will help you relive your visit to this truly unique dining establishment.
Whether you are a race fan or not, this is one stop you will probably enjoy. You do not have to be a restaurant customer to visit the display and merchandise area and even if you come after hours you can still enjoy the outside display.
Race Rock Orlando is located at 8996 International Drive, Orlando, FL32819 (Telephone 407-248-9876). They also have an extensive web site at http://racerock.com